It was the time to use blackcurrants, sitting in the freezer, and make sugar free confections with what I had available in my cupboard. On this occasion I tried to add shredded coconut to the list of usual fillers.
Ingredients:
It is a free range recipe. To make these confection squares, other fresh or frozen berries, as well as nuts and seeds as fillers, or natural sweeteners can be used, depending on your taste and season availability. The list below shows the quantity of ingredients used to make the above blackcurrant squares.
- 70g frozen blackcurrants, thawed
- 50g of organic shredded coconut (35g for squares, 15g to apply to squares sides), grinded to almond meal consistency
- 30g organic flaxseeds, freshly grinded
- 40g raw cashews, freshly grinded
- 50g raw blanched almonds, freshly grinded
- 1 table spoon of raw organic honey
- 2 table spoons organic date syrup
- 1 tea spoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tea spoon organic pure vanilla powder
- 2 table spoons lemon juice
- 50g chopped organic raisins
- 2 full tea spoons whole white chia seeds
Preparation:
- blend thawed blackcurrants with lemon juice, honey and date syrup using stick blender, until smooth thick liquid or runny paste
- grind separately flaxseeds, shredded coconut, cashews and almonds
- mix dry ingredients together, add cinnamon powder and vanilla powder
- add dry ingredients to blackcurrant paste, add coarsely chopped raisins
- combine well all ingredients together, depending on room temperature, it will be reasonably soft mixture (alternatively it can all be done in one go, if you have a powerful blender. I do not have one, and used stick blender and small cup Cuisinart blender)
- spread the mixture on a piece of glad wrap lined with baking paper, make a rectangle shape, or alternatively spread the mix into lined rectangular container
- apply chia seeds on top, cover and refrigerate for 3-5 hours
- turn over and apply chia seeds to another side, cover and refrigerate overnight
- cut the set mixture into squares using sharp knife, wiping it with a wet cloth after every cut
- at this stage you can roll each piece into round shape and present is as truffle in paper case, or dip the side of each square into grinded shredded coconut, and use pieces of baking paper to wrap each piece
- keep squares refrigerated, if planning them as a gift or for prolonged storage, freeze them in air tight container
These raw sugar free confections have the consistency of the soft fudge. I do not like them hard and on the dry side, I prefer them soft and moist. However, these free range recipes are very flexible, and once you have done raw confections, it is very easy to have a feel and change the taste and texture of the product, to get exactly what you want. The only rule I stick to, I have to have at least one ingredient with a very strong and sharp flavour and high pectin content. It can be cooked cranberries or non ripe apricots, sour apple puree or other fruit dense puree. If using pumpkin or carrot puree, lemon juice quantities had to be increased and lemon zest to be introduced. I am waiting for my own new season lemons, to cook, puree them and use as one of the main ingredients for tart sugar free confections made as truffles or jellies with natural pectin or added agar-agar. To make these square firmer add extra chia seeds, grinded and added to the mixture.
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