Little Nuggets of Decadent Chocolate and Rum
Loving these Vegan Rum Balls filled with desiccated coconut, almond flour, cacao and dates. Let’s not forget the spiced dark rum that makes this a special sweet treat for the Holidays. This is a fast way to make special finger food morsels for your festive party table. Just throw it all in the food processor and blend. Make them into about little 2 inch balls roll them in cacao powder or dissociated coconut and your ready. Although, the longer you wait to eat these the more intense the rum flavor. So this is a recipe you can make ahead of time because it will be saturated in the best aroma and flavor for your palate.
A Little History On Rum Balls
Let’s go back in the day, about the mid-nineteenth century and peep into the windows of the Danish bakeries. They made so many delicious cakes they couldn’t sell them all. So, they ingeniously reinvented their left over cakes by rolling them out into crumbs with cocoa and sometimes raspberry jam and of course rum. This sticky little ball was then rolled in coconut or more chocolate and resold the next day. They called these uncooked truffle like cake balls Romkuglers. Nobody even knew they were made with leftover cakes. Needless to say the baker and the customers were happy.
I am not sure what kind of rum was used for these Danish rum balls. The history of rum was first mentioned in records in about the 1650’s in Barbados. It is known that it originated in the West Indies. It was mostly made for a lot of consumption and serious dealings with trade. Rum was first called “rumbullion” or “kill-devil” and then by 1667 they removed the complexities and narrowed it down to just rum. Maybe people were too drunk to remember what it was called and rum was just easier.
I don’t think it matters what kind of rum is used in these little morsels I’m making today. Although, my guess is that the sweeter the rum the better. I use a Dark Spiced Rum, or Black Strap Rum would be very nice.
How To Make Vegan Rum Balls
Today there are many ways to make these rum balls. I like this easy vegan recipe. It is about as simple as it gets. Just throw it all into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Ok that sounds too easy. Right? But it is true. The one question I get is about the dates. The dates have to be a little fresh and soft. This is not a recipe where you soak the dates. It makes a very wet rum ball when you do that. Just blend up the fresh dates. Make sure to look for any little bits of pit inside of the dates even if they say they are pitted. Sometimes there are little pieces left in the them.
How To Coat Rum Balls
The rum balls can be sticky so it is ideal to coat them with something. I used powdered cacao, but you can use a variety of toppings. You can use desiccated coconut (very small ground shredded coconut) for the outside as well and that is very popular.
Cool the rum balls on a tray in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes for the coconut oil to be harder. Then take them out to roll. Just put the cacao or desiccated coconut in a small bowl and roll the rum ball around in it. Fully coat the rum balls and place in a plate or a lid container to store until you are ready to serve them.
Some other options are crushed nuts, chocolate sprinkles or white sprinkles and of course smothered in melted chocolate like a traditional truffle. Let’s not mix these up with truffles though. Slightly different delicious morsel.
How To Store Vegan Rum Balls
The question is, “Do Vegan Rum Balls need to be stored in the refrigerator?” The answer is no! The alcohol does not evaporate out of the rum balls because they are a no bake recipe. Although, the recommendation is to make these a couple of days ahead for the flavors to mingle and become robust. Then store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for several weeks.
I hope you like this Holiday treat as much as we do. Enjoy!
More Recipes You May Like:
Rich Dark Chocolate Salted Olive Oil Cookies
Fig Date Nut Prune Christmas Cake (With Grand Marnier)
Gluten-Free Pudding Cookie Crumble Trifle
Print
VEGAN RUM BALLS
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: Raw/No Bake
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No/Bake
- Cuisine: Danish
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Vegan Rum Balls are full of robust chocolate and rum enhancements. These festive rum balls are perfect finger foods for the Holiday table. Make these delicious morsels ahead of time and let them sit to absorb and mingle all the tasty flavors. Throw all the ingredients into a food processor, roll into balls, roll and coat with your favorite coating and serve or store for a later date. Makes 14 to 15 balls.
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Scraper
- 1 Spoon,
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Tray
Ingredients
Vegan Rum Balls
- 10 Medjool Dates, pits removed
- 1 cup Organic Almond Flour
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup Organic Cacao, add more cacao if it’s too sticky wet
- 5 Tbsp Rum, of choice, I used spiced dark rum
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil, melted
- 1/2 cup Organic Desiccated Coconut,
- 1 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
Topper To Roll In
- Powdered Cacao, bitter sweet chocolate flavoring
- Desiccated Coconut, makes it a little sweeter
Instructions
- Vegan Rum Balls
- In a large food processor add the dates, almond flour, rum and maple syrup and blend together until the dates are in small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it becomes a paste like consistency.
- Form the paste into balls about 2 inches wide. Place on a tray.
- Place in a cold place or refrigerator for about 15 minutes for the coconut oil to harden a little.
- In a small bowl place the organic cacao powder or if you are using desiccated coconut. Roll the balls in it until they are completely covered. The balls might absorb some of the organic cacao powder because of the oil in the balls.
- Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks. The longer they are stored (about two weeks) the better the mingled flavors.
- Enjoy!
