I didn’t realise that Easter 2022 was next weekend !
So given the week that is coming I decided to do a bit of a search for healthy chocolate ideas, or healthy Easter chocoalte gifts. To my surprise some of the most commonly googled things about chocolate were questions like:
Is chocolate good for you? And will chocolate kill a dog?
This chocolate recipe is definitely one of the healthier ones (although not for the dogs!). It uses dark chocolate and studies show that dark chocolate is in fact good for you. Dark chocolate is full of polyphenols which are antioxidants that can lower the stress hormone cortisol. In fact, a January 2022 study found that participants who ate 85% dark chocolate daily maintained better overall mood than others who ate chocolate with less cocoa*
On that positive note the recipe is perfect for Easter, the basic method is below, and if you wish you can then customise them with additional flavours, and we've given some suggestions. We are also suggesting replacing the maple syrup with chicory root syrup which has a much lower glycaemic index, and therefore might make a diabetic in your life smile. There is a lovely small Irish company called Homespun who have a delicious brand of this syrup. Finally I also saw a lovely gift idea where the truffes had been rolled into egg shaped ovals, and presented in a real hens egg box, a lovely idea for an Easter gift.
Homemade Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 250g of dark chocolate
- 50ml maple syrup or chicory root syrup
- 100ml yogurt
- Cacao powder for dusting
Method
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over pot of boiling water. Add the maple syrup and yogurt, stir until everything is melted and well combined. Let the mixture cool down and place in the freezer for an hour to harden. Prepare a plate with the cacao powder and an empty plate. Scoop out some of the chocolate mixture with a melon baller or a teaspoon. Roll into a boll between your hands and then roll in the cacao powder. Place on a plate. Repeat until all the mixture is gone. Place the truffles back in the fridge. They will keep for up to 4 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. You can also freeze them.
You can customize the truffles by adding one of these:
1 teaspoon of peppermint oil
- 1-2 tablespoons of fine orange rind + 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 3 tablespoons of freeze dried raspberries
- 1-2 tablespoons of fine lime rind + 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lavender extract
- 2 shots of fresh espresso
- 1 tablespoon of Cointreau or Rum
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli oil
As well as rolling in cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts of different colours, finely chopped chocolate white or dark or sprinkles of your choice.
The truffles are so delicious, and a lot healhier than most of the commercial Easter Egg or chocoalte options out there. If you would like more delicous recipes using our products, havea look here.https://velvetcloud.ie/blogs/recipes
On the off chance you dont already know why sheep's milk is so good for you, you can read about it here https://velvetcloud.ie/pages/why-sheeps-milk
And I nearly forgot, the reason chocolate is bad for dogs is because it contains a chemical called theobromine, as well as caffeine. Dogs can't metabolize theobromine and caffeine as well as people can and are more sensitive to the chemicals’ effects.
* https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955286321002746
