Christmas Rum Balls and Chocolate Rum Truffles

 

Fragrant and sweet, Rum Balls are a Christmas tradition in our family, and I can't imagine Christmas without a batch of these in the refrigerator to enjoy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However it's never too early to eat them. Rum balls are the quintessential Christmas treat. They can be served as a dessert, for afternoon tea, or as an edible gift.

 Weet-bix made by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, and incidentally 97 % whole grain and low in sugar, are often a standard cereal packet to be found in most Australian household pantries. The slogan on the packet reads, "Aussie kids are Weet-bix kids".  At the bottom of every large weet-bix box or packet in the pantry, you will find some crushed biscuits and crumbs which have fallen to the bottom. These are great to use for rum balls. 3 crushed weet-bix are the equivalent to 1 cup of crushed biscuits if you want to use some of those for your rum balls.  By the way this post isn't an ad for Weet-bix, but it is a very versatile and healthy cereal.

I've increased the amount of rum in this recipe this year, no surprise there say my friends. I've almost doubled it in fact.  J & D called in for a cuppa a couple of weeks ago and I had just made my first batch of Christmas Rum Balls. After a taste test, Mr. HRK and J & D thought they were delicious, but all agreed that more rum was needed. So I've taken note, and this batch has the spirit of Christmas in each delectable mouthful. Just halve the amount of rum if you wish though, they will still be delicious, and this goes without saying of course if they are being eaten by children as well. We only drink and cook with Bundy rum in our part of the world, a Queensland spirit which has its origins in the sugar cane fields grown around Bundaberg, since 1869. The Bundaberg Rum Distillery and museum are still open, offering tours to the public almost daily. This is on our list of things to do when we start travelling south again.

Roll these little balls  in coconut or chocolate sprinkles, I like to do a batch of both. We are just home after a small holiday up North, and so now it's time for some traditional Christmas cooking.

Ingredients for Christmas Rum Balls:

10 Weet-Bix Cereal biscuits
1 packet glace cherries, finely chopped
395 g can sweetened condensed milk
6 tablespoons Queensland Bundaberg Rum
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup raisins (chop them up if you wish, I don't anymore)
1 cup desiccated coconut 

Method:

Makes 40

Crush weet-bix with your hands for a bit of crunch, or crush finely in your food processor. 

.Finely chop cherries. Mix together all ingredients except coconut. 

Place mixture in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or even overnight to allow the flavours to infuse the fruit. If you have the time, the rum can be poured over just the fruit in a covered bowl, to macerate overnight, before adding to the rest of the mixture. 

Place coconut in a separate bowl when you are ready to assemble the rum balls.

Remove weet-bix mixture from the refrigerator, and using a small biscuit scoop, remove scoops of mixture and roll into balls with wet hands.

Roll rum balls in coconut or chocolate sprinkles one by one, and store in the refrigerator in a covered container until ready to eat. Some coconut may infiltrate into the rum ball mixture, and that's okay.

They will keep refrigerated for a month in advance.These also freeze well..

The photo below is from a Christmas post, where I added more cocoa and used biscuits as the base. Still delicious. However my family still prefer traditional Rum Balls made with Weet-bix, they love the family traditions of Christmas.

Find the recipe for these Christmas Rum Truffles at this link:

HAPPY RETIREE'S KITCHEN : Chocolate Rum Truffles or Christmas Trumffles (happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com)

Warmest wishes,

Pauline

Chocolate Rum Truffles or Christmas Trumffles

It's Christmas Eve and it's starting to feel like Christmas, especially when these delicious chocolate truffles are made and sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be enjoyed. My first batch only had 2 tablespoons of rum in them, however when they are refrigerated as we need to during a hot Queensland summer the flavour of the rum tends to reduce so I doubled the amount in the next batch and Mr. HRK and Shannon gave them the thumbs up, after trying a couple of them of course just to make sure. They are delicious with an afternoon  cup of  tea or coffee or an evening aperitif.

I hope you are enjoying the lead up to Christmas and that the commercial frenzy of the event hasn't affected you too much.

I have to admit that when I first starting making these  little balls I was calling them Rum Balls. However as often happens, the recipe evolved into more of a truffle like mixture so that is what I have called them. Shannon also reminded me that my classic Rum Balls used to always be made with Weetbix and had coconut in them. So do you prefer to make Rum Balls or Truffles at Christmas time or is there another traditional sweet family treat that you like to make?

Shannon has named these Trumffles as they are a cross between a Rum Ball and a Truffle, ha, ha.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Ingredients:

250g sweet biscuits, such as Mcvities Digestives Milk Chocolate biscuits or Arrowroot biscuits
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons rum (I used Bundaberg Rum
Chocolate sprinkles and extra fresh desiccated coconut for coating in two separate batches

Method:

Drop your biscuits separately into the food processor through the chute whilst motor is running to make fine crumbs.
Place the biscuit crumbs into a mixing bowl. Stir in all of the other ingredients until well combined.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour until mixture is cold and firm.
Roll level tablespoons of the mixture into bowls. This may be easier if you dampen your hands first.
Lightly roll each truffle in either coconut or chocolate sprinkles or cocoa powder.

As these may be served at a family gathering over Christmas, a special Kid's edition can be made minus the alcohol by replacing the rum with 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and reduce the cocoa to 1/3 cup.

(This recipe is loosely based on one I saw on a Jamie Oliver Website, and then for some reason I couldn't find it again. )

I'd like to thank you for reading my blog and supporting me with your comments throughout the year. I'd also like to thank those bloggers who have inspired me throughout the year with their enjoyable and inspiring posts. We are all part of a very diverse, global and supportive blogging community, which I look forward to being part of in 2018.

This will be my last post for a while now, possible until mid-January.

Wishing all the best for a wonderful Christmas with family and a healthy, safe and rewarding 2018.

Bye for now

Pauline xx