These are my version of Canadian Living’s Really Good Rum Balls which I wanted to add to my plate of holiday goodies for my friends because one of my friends tries to avoid carbs. Most rum balls are made with cookies but these ones are made with ground almonds bumping up the protein and bringing down the carb count.
So I cheated a bit when I made these. The recipe calls for 3 oz of bittersweet chocolate, grated. I tried but with my shoulder injury and hand pain, I just could not to it. I coarsely chopped the chocolate and put it in a food processor with the ground almonds, chocolate and icing sugar.
I pulsed in the rum and vanilla. I used a pale rum because I did not have dark.
Oh dear, very grainy and not just because of the nuts. I was afraid that was going to happen. I put the bowl of grainy goo in the microwave on 50% power for 20 seconds. Then I took it out and stirred to combine. I did this around five times and it saved the day! I chilled until firm.
I set up the “rolling station” by getting out the chocolate mixture and two small bowls, one containing more rum and the other the essential chocolate sprinkles. I had this mixture made ahead of time when I realized I had no chocolate sprinkles and it sat in the fridge for days until I was able to get out and get some. I wanted them to really look like traditional rum balls. I created a small ball of chocolate and rolled it in the rum and then the sprinkles. They can get too wet so make sure to add new sprinkles as you go.
I gave them some time to dry out and then added them as the last treat to my Christmas plate for my friends:
So here is my sweet holiday bounty this year: holiday hazelnut cookies, lemon sunshine thumbprint cookies, Latvian piragi, orange chocolate truffles and fudgy pinwheel cookies. I think I did pretty darn well and included a lot of variety of flavours and kinds of treats this year. The rum balls were pretty fantastic (not to mention strong!). Very chocolatey with fabulous nutty texture and chocolate sprinkles crunchy, I give them four out of five wooden spoons.
I hope everyone had a delicious and fabulous holiday this year! May we have many foodie successes in 2011.
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What a wonderful cookie platter!
Hey Suzie, Kenora and I had made those rumballs too. We had a nice dark rum (Cabot Tower 100 proof) and used a mix of white and milk chocolate sprinkles, and wow were they good! But as you also said, very strong!
However, the ones I took in to the office on Christmas Eve all disappeared 🙂
Thanks Debra! They were a hit with my friends which is nice. Nigel, did you actually grate that chocolate? I love the mix of sprinkles, great idea. Yes, so strong aren’t they? I couldn’t let Reg try one because he was driving, LOL. Very yummy though! Made a great treat for the holidays didn’t they?a
This is such a beautiful plate. Canadian Living never failed me. Happy New Year!
Those photos really pop out!
Any other spirit alternatives?
Would Cointreau work?
Hey Suzie, yep, I actually grated all the chocolate (except the sprinkles, those were from a jar). We have a little rasp that just loves chewing through chocolate (and garlic, and well, just about anything)
what a gorgeous platter:)everything looks so pretty. thank you for sharing.
Sure, you could totally change the liquor if you want, I don’t see why not. They obviously won’t be rum balls anymore but that’s OK. Even with a rasp I couldn’t do it Nigel, my hands hurt that badly. Thank you, so glad you like the look of the platter blackbook!
Boy, al those treats look great! Beautiful!
What a beautiful turnout of cookies you made, you’ve really been busy. I just LOVE rum balls, but never got a chance to make some this year. I stocked up on some lovely spiced rum though, so I can see making some in the near future a definite possibility.
Congrats on FoodBuzz Top 9! Your Rum Balls look fantastic.
I almost didn’t make them either Ava! I love them too, they are one of my mom’s favs and I always wondered how you make them. Hope you can get to them next year. Thanks mydanishkitchen! I just found out and am super excited to hear I made the Top 9! 🙂
These are beautiful! As are the rest of the treats on your tray. Yum! Good ol’ holiday goodies 😉
Congrats on the Top 9! The rum ball is basically the original trendy cake ball. Classic. Love your blog.
Looks amazingly tasty!!
wow, looks great. i love the way the balls look with the sprinkle coating.
What a wonderful twist on classic rum balls. I did rum balls this year, it is a tradition, but never made them this way, I may have to try, and I definitely like the choco sprinkles!
Oh Suzie – you are soooo Top 9! lol!
These rumballs are so cute! Can’t wait to try them. Congrats on top 9.
in brazil, it seems like a brigadeiro. =)
http://www.nestle.com.br/site/cozinha/receitas/Brigadeiro.aspx
A friend of mine from Brazil mentioned those to me too Marcia but she said that the ingredients are very different, they just look similar. Fascinating!