Rum balls
OK, Rum ball recipe as carefully used by my family for generation... well as long as I remember. Definitely the version found at tupperware parties and cake stands in the seventies...
This makes a biscuity cakey texture rather than a truffly melted chocolate texture.
1 x packet arrowroot biscuits
1 x 300ml-ish tin of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dessicated coconut
Dark Rum (I use about half a cup... ok I use more)
4 x tablespoons of cocoa
Extra coconut for rolling (and spare)
Crush or mixmaster-destroy arrowroot biscuits into a fine crumbly powder
Mix in cup of coconut and cocoa until evenly distributed.
Sprinkle and stir rum around through mixture until it's dampened
stir in sweetened condensed milk gradually (holding back a couple of tablespoons at first in case you need to adjust consistency) until you get a very very firm crumbly dough. Dough will be very sticky but not at all sloppy and will hold a ball shape properly when rolled without slumping. Add more coconut if required to make it firmer, add more sweetened condensed milk if you've made it too dry.
Check taste, and add more rum if required (rum taste does develop over time - I like lots of rumminess though)
Roll teaspoonfulls of the mixture into balls with your hands (some latex gloves are always useful here), and then roll in coconut until they are not too sticky to handle.
Store in an airtight container or they will develop a mild crust.
Variations:
Instead of finishing by rolling in coconut, roll in chocolate sprinkles
Consider adding half a cup of chopped nuts or sultanas or glace peel if you like. Back off on the coconut in the mixture accordingly.
Try making the balls around a centre made of a whole nut, such as hazelnut, or a whole glace cherry.
This makes a biscuity cakey texture rather than a truffly melted chocolate texture.
1 x packet arrowroot biscuits
1 x 300ml-ish tin of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dessicated coconut
Dark Rum (I use about half a cup... ok I use more)
4 x tablespoons of cocoa
Extra coconut for rolling (and spare)
Crush or mixmaster-destroy arrowroot biscuits into a fine crumbly powder
Mix in cup of coconut and cocoa until evenly distributed.
Sprinkle and stir rum around through mixture until it's dampened
stir in sweetened condensed milk gradually (holding back a couple of tablespoons at first in case you need to adjust consistency) until you get a very very firm crumbly dough. Dough will be very sticky but not at all sloppy and will hold a ball shape properly when rolled without slumping. Add more coconut if required to make it firmer, add more sweetened condensed milk if you've made it too dry.
Check taste, and add more rum if required (rum taste does develop over time - I like lots of rumminess though)
Roll teaspoonfulls of the mixture into balls with your hands (some latex gloves are always useful here), and then roll in coconut until they are not too sticky to handle.
Store in an airtight container or they will develop a mild crust.
Variations:
Instead of finishing by rolling in coconut, roll in chocolate sprinkles
Consider adding half a cup of chopped nuts or sultanas or glace peel if you like. Back off on the coconut in the mixture accordingly.
Try making the balls around a centre made of a whole nut, such as hazelnut, or a whole glace cherry.