THAI PEANUT TRUFFLES + A COOKBOOK REVIEW


Today I am sharing a special recipe from Amy Lyons' amazing raw vegan cookbook: Fragrant Vanilla Cake. Amy has a blog by the same name and it was one of the first sources of raw vegan dessert inspiration for me. She has the most glorious cakes, cupcakes and other sweet recipes that are put together like they're in a professional bakery. I was honoured when she asked me to review her book. Every page has a unique and creative recipe, along with at least one photo. There are instructions for everything from these Thai Peanut Truffles (that I adapted into cups because I am supremely lazy) to banana oat pancakes to red velvet cupcakes! Colours abound when your ingredients are raw from the plant kingdom. If you're into raw vegan desserts and you love to experiment with new and fun flavours, get this book! If you're not sure about it, check out Amy's blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake, and make a few of her recipes to see if you want more. 

I chose to make a recipe called Thai Peanut Truffles. Of course as mentioned above, I didn't wanna wait for the peanut butter mixture to harden (in order to roll into balls), so I just poured everything into cupcake molds. They're Thai because the peanut butter mixture also has lime, coconut, chili and ginger! Cover that all up with raw salted chocolate and you've got me drooling. My dad gave this his seal of approval! Actually he just said, 'yum!', but I'm choosing to leave the definition of "seal of approval" vague. 


THAI PEANUT TRUFFLES  
From Fragrant Vanilla Cake by Amy Lyons

Filling:
1/3 cup raw coconut butter (not oil!), liquified

1/2 cup raw peanut butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp chili flakes
1 Tbsp very finely minced fresh ginger (or 2 tsp dried)
2 Tbsp raw coconut nectar or maple syrup


Raw chocolate:
1/2 cup raw coconut oil, warmed to liquid
3/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup raw coconut nectar or maple syrup
a pinch sea salt

To make the filling, whisk together ingredients until smooth. Place in the freezer to firm up enough to roll into balls, about 10 minutes. 
Meanwhile, to make the chocolate, whisk together all ingredients until smooth.  Once the filling is set, dip each truffle into the chocolate and place on a foil lined sheet pan.  Place back into the freezer until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes. Store in the fridge.

(Alternatively you can do what I did and simply pour each mixture into cupcake paper molds, then set in the fridge or freezer until solid. Either way, these babies are delish.)

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