I think in life you get certain people that you will encounter that just click with you. People you spend time with and that you feel you have know for a lifetime even if it has only been a day. One such person is Talya Goldberg from Shades of Gold. A fellow blogger whom I met over twitter and our encounter with me winning a Nifty250 voucher (You need to check them out here) I decided I wanted to meet the face behind the Vegan beauty and lifestyle blogger so I tweeted her that we needed coffee.
I must admit I wasn’t expecting the easy company that is Talya nor the fact that we both take coffee rather seriously. I once ordered decaf and I will never live it down! We ended up laughing and chatting away as if we had visited before and truth be told, I am a fan. She is a mover and a shaker. A young entrepreneur and co owner of Nifty250 and Talya tops it off with being vegan. All the while doing it in Prada sunglasses. I decided I wanted to do a simple vegan recipe that was both delicious and fun to make. This is the result of our collaboration!
serves 6
Ingredients:
2 cups desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons maple syrup
5 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice and pulp of 3 granadillas
2 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves
200 grams Lindt 85% dark chocolate (or any dark vegan friendly chocolate)
Instructions:
Line a baking tray with grease paper.
Pulse the coconut in a blender or food processor until the texture becomes like thick flour.
Add this to a bowl and mix in the maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix until a thick paste forms.
Half the mixture and add the mint leave to one half and the granadilla pulp to another.
Using your hands, squeeze the mixture into about 18 small balls. The mixture should be sticky enough to roll into balls but if not squeeze between your palms and then shape them from there into rounder balls. Place the coconut balls in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until firm. If you can see a small white ring of coconut oil at the base then you know they are ready!
Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over some hot water. Do not let the water touch the chocolate as it can seize. I find it best to put the chocolate in the bowl and let it sit over the heat for at least 5 minutes before stirring.
Next is the fun part! You will probably get best results using two forks. Drop the coconut bites into the chocolate and roll them around using forks. Once completely covered in chocolate lift the balls out with the fork allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Place them on the grease paper and allow them to set. If the chocolate cools too quickly just pop it over the steam again.
Once all your balls have set they are ready to be enjoyed!
-Melissa