Fancy a Rum Ball? Oh Yes please!

Well you don't need me to tell you that Christmas is just around the corner (although in a round-a-bout way I just did) and from here on in you'll no doubt see more and more people getting crazy leaving gift buying, family arrangements, food prep and more til the very last minute. Personally, I like to think I'm pretty well organised each year however I'd be lying if I said it was totally cruisey for me - I think I just go crazy a little earlier on as my default mechanism to then later cruise through the finishing line to the 25th. 

That's my personal life though. I know in past years my blogging life has not been so well thought out; posting photos of what I HAD for lunch and what I MADE for Xmas AFTER all the festivities were had. So... this year I wanted to give you guys one of my favourite recipes early so you can save yourselves a little time and a little sanity by making this ahead of time; even then they will only take you 15 minutes to make. And what's great about these are they are
gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, dairy, free, egg free, vegan and raw! You can make them nut free too buy substituting the nut meal for coconut flour.


You will need:

1/4 cup nut meal (almond and cashew work great)
1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted and chopped)
1/4 cup raisins*
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp rum
1 Tbsp cacao powder
2 Tbsp other dry ingredient (I have used oat flour, coconut flour, even additional nut meal works)

In your food processor throw in your nut meal, dates, and raisins (*if you'd like little chewy raisin bits in your rum balls only put half the raisins here and pulse or hand mix the rest through at the end) and process until bitsy. Then add everything else and process until the mixture forms and is well combined. If you decided against the delicious rum in this recipe you will need to substitute another liquid so the balls are moist enough.

Taste test - I'll be honest here, with this recipe it is so hard not to eat half the batch.

Roll the mix in the palm of your hand into any size you like and then roll in cacao powder, chocolate sprinkles, coarsely ground cacao nibs, coconut or leave them naked.

This recipe makes 12 small rum balls so by all means do as I always do - and make MORE!

If you're making these now for Xmas, store them in a well sealed container in your freezer to prevent them from drying out. Then after that fridge or freezer, and they are able to last for a month or so - but as if that's going to happen!

Take them to your family Xmas get together or wrap them up and gift them to work colleagues, friends, family or your nan - I know she'll love them!

I would love to see photos of your rum balls when you make these so please comment below or share your pics on our Facebook page Eat.More.Plants

Enjoy these scrumptious little morsels of joy and happiness

Got 10minutes to make an awesome Carob Cake?

Last month Brock and I celebrated our anniversary (remember my post here about our memorable evening lying in bed with him feeding me mango pieces as my exhaustion had hit rock bottom?), and as it was only a  week after his birthday (when we shared this amazingly delicious and super easy Coconut Cream Pie), we never celebrated our anniversary with a cake (and I'm not a cake-whore having to make one for every occasion... but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy doing so because it's always a win-win-win; I win by getting to spend my time getting creative in the kitchen and having a ball doing so... the person who I am making a cake for win's obviously - they get a cake... and then everyone else wins by getting to share in the marvelous delectable creation made [and yes, that includes me again too])

So when B said "let's have a cake to celebrate our anniversary" I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier! Wanting to come up with something super quick (I had assessments coming out my ears as usual, and some cakes can take a day or so; that and we wanted to eat cake pronto!) and something inexpensive using as much straight out of the pantry as I could (as these assessments come with hefty school fees), this is what I came up with!

4-Ingredient Carob Cake and 4-Ingredient Carob Frosting

In the cute shape of a little love heart, small enough to share, but big enough that half was plenty :)

You will need:

1 1/2 cups almond meal
3/4 cup raisins
1 tsp carob powder
2-3 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Blend using a small food processor until it is all combined and looks deliciously gooey enough to eat straight out the container (well you all know my rule by now - you gotta be taste testing!)

Then mould, push, poke and prod your mixture into a (coconut-oiled) small cake tin (this love heart was no bigger than the size of a CD; the plate in the picture is a tea cup plate). Alternatively, mould it into a square or a circle shaped cake straight onto a small plate.

For the frosting you will need:

2 small avocados (1 extra large one will also work)

2 medjool dates (chopped finely)

2 tsp carob powder

2 tsp honey (agave, maple syrup, stevia, etc)

Mash your avocado to speed up the process here. Then blend all ingredients into a small food processor (I find these work better than blender as the avo gets stuck easily). Keep blending until your frosting is smooth and creamy. You can add a drizzle of water if need be but be warned here; too much and you're then going to need to add more avo again. Start with 1/4tsp water and go from there if you find you need it.

Frost your cake and decorate as you wish. I only had cacao nibs and wanting something red to brighten it up, I chopped up a few dried cranberries. Goji berries would look cool also, or fresh strawberries! Yum!

 If you're sharing with a loved one, cut your heart in half and enjoy a delicious afternoon tea or dessert in the evening :)

Buon-appetit!