Skinny Chocolate Truffles

Before I made these, I had previously thought that making truffles was a longwinded job. Seeing as these are my only experience of ever making truffles (as far as I can recall), I was definitely wrong.

Naked Chocolate

Over the past few weeks I've developed an increasing addiction to Nakd bars, which are essentially made up of dried fruit and nuts.

I actually found them in the uni library, grabbing a couple before my library lectures, but now I'm hooked.

I found this picture floating around on Tumblr, it verges on my ideal snack collection to nibble on, mmmm.

The basic chocolate recipe goes by

2 cups of pitted dates

1 cup almonds

2-3 tbsp or more if needed of cocoa powder

Then you can add whatever extras you'd like, in the photo below the bar shaped ones (I tried my best) are chocolate and orange, where I zested one large orange and added about a teaspoon of the juice.

The unsightly sausage shaped one is chocolate and lime, where I added the juice of one whole lime.

Put the dates and nuts into a blender and keep it whizzing until they start sticking together in clumps.
Here is now a good time to add your cocoa and any extras, give it a really fast whizzy burst and then slow it down so a ball of fruity/nutty dough can come together.

Wrap it in cling film and pop in the fridge for a while to set, once it has firmed up a bit you can shape it into bars like I tried to do, by sandwiching it between 2 layers of cling film and rolling it out, or roll it up into a big sausage like I did this time, cutting into disks.

All you have to do to keep them is to wrap them up in cling film and keep in the fridge so they stay harder which makes them a bit chewier.
I find they're useful to have on hand for a grab-and-go breakfast or a snack, plus you're saving lots instead of just buying Nakd bars too, as tasty as they are!

Mincemeat Popcorn

Now that I'm back I get to see everyone that I've missed while I've been away, earlier in the week Charlotte and I went to Maisie's for lunch and she pulled out some mince meat popcorn.

Granted, it does sound rather odd at first, but it's so delicious and as I write this I'm snuggling down after all the Christmas activities with a bowl just before I watch Harry Potter (it isn't Christmas without Harry Potter).

You'll need:

Approx 5/6 tbsp plain popping corn

1 tbsp oil (we used sunflower, but you can use any)

At least 2 tbsp mincemeat, enough for everything to be nicely covered

First make your popcorn..

 Being an eager beaver, I opened it up too early and got a face full of flying corn.
Only take the lid off when you can count to three between pops!

Once you've poured your popcorn into a bowl, plop in two or three tablespoonfuls of your mincemeat (we used some homemade one),

.. Then mix together with a spoon, or, like Maisie, with your hands.

Once it's all nicely coated, put it all onto a baking tray, make sure its all nice and flat and even!

Pop in an oven at 180 C for about 10 mins, or so it isn't wet anymore.

Then you're left with spicy, crunchy popcorn with soft and chewy raisins!

If I had found this out before Christmas it would have been perfect to put into little bags and tie with ribbons, but it's going to have to remain a secret until next year!m

Horses For Courses

I returned to Suffolk this weekend to eat something that wasn't a stir fry, get some doggy cuddles from Nellie and the spaniels, and also jump judge at the local team chase with mum.

The team chase is one of several (I think) and basically you get into teams of four riders, then you bomb around a cross country course as fast as you can, and you have to get to the finish with no less than 3 horses and riders.

Armed with a huge steaming flask of chai latte, plus tonnes of snacks, I settled down for what I thought would be a leisurely morning ticking boxes, eating, nattering on the radio, and doing some more eating.

As soon as the first team thundered past I knew I was wrong.

Mum had to walkie talkie to say the horses were over the jumps as they whizzed past,

 And I was left in charge of the ticking off of the teams, and of course, the most important job, whistling at spectators when a horse was coming.

Mum and I were rooting for team 30, RAW Botswana, especially as Lucy used to ride one of Ginny's ponies, Smartie!

 Kudos to Ollie to getting into the only good photos of Clifford!!!!

Smartie is on the left!

After a day in the wind and cold, I got home, popped some comfy clothes on and got down to cuddling my little pal.

Then we made a huge batch of sausage rolls to cheer some friends up.

Grab a packet of puff pastry, cut it in half and roll it out so its about 7 inches wide, and very long.
De-skin a packet of sausages and lie 1/3 in, drizzle a bit of mango chutney on top, and brush the extra 2/3 of pastry with a beaten egg.
Tightly roll it up, chop up, place on a baking tray with the seam at the bottom, and brush with the egg again.
Put in the oven for about 25 mins at 180 C

A little random, but that was my weekend!!!

American Bacon Pancakes (D-F)

When I didn't have to avoid dairy, I made these every weekend, but when I had to stop eating dairy I thought it unlikely that I'd ever get to eat these again.

Last week, I whipped up these pancakes for my housemates and I, and who knew one could be full from three pancakes?

I made double the quantity which fed seven:

270g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp caster sugar

260ml soy or almond milk

2 large eggs

4 tbsp Pure spread

1 pack of bacon

 Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the milk and the eggs.

Then melt a lump of Pure in the microwave and measure out 4 tbsp, Hilary found this in ASDA and it's definatley the best butter replacement that I've found. She's made lots of cakes for me with it and they taste even better than usual.

Plus, it makes exceptionally good buttercream.

Mix that in and keep mixing until it's all smooth.

Whilst that's going on you can be cooking your bacon.

Welcome to my student kitchen..

Once the batter is ready, and the bacon is sizzled, heat up a pan.

Lay a strip of bacon in the pan and pour over a ladle of batter.

I know that bacon and pancakes might seem like a weird combination initially, but they're SO good.

Drizzle with honey or maple syrup and tuck in.