Chocolate and Wattleseed Bliss Balls

Nothing makes me happier than the random text messages with photos I receive from my boys in the early evening. Links to recipes on Instagram or Tik Tok, photos of that night’s dinner or just a question tapping into their personal ‘help desk’ service all pop up on my phone at random times. If you’ve been around a while you’ll know that both boys are traveling around Australia and currently live in far flung locations away from home so these little messages make my heart sing. They make me proud of the men they’ve grown into, able to look after and nurture themselves with good food and do the same for their partners. Much of their cooking is inspired by recipes they find on social media, if they’re not ones they’ve grown up with, many of which chosen by what I believe is a key ingredient in cooking and food and indeed my own greatest inspiration…curiosity. If you have an appetite and a little bit of curiosity,.. ‘I wonder what that tastes like? I wonder if the family would enjoy that? Would that be easy to make?’ ..then cooking becomes a little bit easier. That curiosity hangs out with your appetite and desire to feed yourself, your family or your friends and drives you forward to cook something that’s sparked your interest and with every success your confidence grows.

Seemingly social platforms have a similar driver. Foodie content creators always hunting for success on their chosen platforms are constantly evolving to achieve their own goals and in doing so need to also follow curiosity. From all this innovation, hits and misses, comes waves of food trends that can sweep the world. Remember monster shakes, the many guises of ‘dude food,’ butter boards, frothy coffee or Dalgona, green goddesses in your salad bowls or smoothie bowls at breaky. Some take hold and remain on menus and in home kitchens other fade as fast as they arrive. If you don’t jump on those trains as they steam into your feeds you often miss the ride but other dishes are absolute stayers. I learn a lot from the messages my kids send me with their dinners. Sometimes I follow my nose as it were and try the latest and greatest dish and sometimes I metaphorically scroll on by filing the newest trend away as exactly that.

When one of these trends stays around though I’m more inclined to sit up and take notice. ‘Maybe there’s something in that one,’ I’m often led to wonder. ‘Am I missing out?’ I wonder other times and there it is right there friends, food FOMO. Maybe I’m not curious after all just a chronic sufferer of the foodie’s modern affliction of the taste bud equivalent of one of modern life’s great conundrums, fear of missing out!

Last week a friend and I took a day trip as a belated joint birthday celebration (a story for another day). After a delicious and super healthy lunch (we were at a hot springs/day spa) we prepared to start the drive home. I stopped at the kiosk to grab cold drinks and some snacks in the display grabbed my attention. Bliss balls, one of those food trends that have become firmly planted in cafe menus, were displayed in a variety of different flavours. A little snack for the drive seemed like a good idea. I was curious, I’d never actually had one…I know I know. Never had a Bliss Ball?! Anyway, I bought some for our drive and nibbled happily as we set off for home. They were delicious and my curiosity was piqued.

So with a little research and trial and error I’ve hopped on that particular trend train. Now that I’ve made one, ideas for more are rolling around my brain with all sorts of different flavour ideas.

Maybe I should send a picture to the boys and show them my latest recipe and maybe they’ll roll their eyes at me and remind me that bliss balls are nothing new.

Ingredients:

150 gm hazelnut meal

1 Tb chia seeds

1 tsp ground and roasted wattleseed (instant coffee will work too) I use this one

1 Tb cocoa, unsweetened dutch process

2 Tb pumpkin seeds

220 gm pitted dates roughly chopped

2 Tb pure maple syrup or rice malt syrup

2 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Pinch extra wattleseed

Pinch of salt flakes ground between your fingers as you sprinkle it in

Method:

In the bowl of a high speed blender (I use a Vitamix) or food processor, combine nut meal, chia, wattleseed, cocoa and pumpkin seeds and blend on high briefly. We want to begin braking up the pumpkin seeds and crack the chia seeds while blending the dry ingredients well.

Add dates, syrup, oil, vanilla and blend to combine ingredients. You will need to stop and scrape down a few times, particularly if you’re using a blender. Blend until it’s a thick paste similar to play doh. Allow to sit for a few minutes in the bowl while you complete the next step.

Place a dry small pan over a medium pan and tip in the coconut. Stir with a spatula constantly to roast, do not leave it as it will cook very quickly. As soon as it’s golden-brown add the pinches of wattleseed and salt, stir and remove, tip onto a cool plate to arrest cooking and allow it to return to room temperature. We’ll also use the plate it’s cooling on to roll them in.

Roll tablespoons full of mixture into balls and roll in the coconut mixture. Place on a plate or in a tub and allow to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours. They will set to a fudge like texture.  

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Finds and Forays

On the subject of food trends have you noticed the return of focaccia to menus? I am not at all mad about it. I didn’t think twice about jumping back on that train, steaming into the trend. Our first Christmas gathering is next week. We’ll be kicking off with drinks, hopefully in the garden if the weather gods are kind. I’m going to try this foofy focaccia recipe to have with some nibbles, maybe I’ll make some dips to go with it.

And with Xmas in mind, I thought I might drop a few ideas here for you over the coming weeks. All things I’ve found and loved or found and put on my list.

I’ve been using this gorgeous face oil for years. I first found it on Instagram (some influencing and trends I’m easily drawn in by) and as someone who’s always been lucky enough to have resilient skin and able to try anything, I gave it a go. Years later I still use it and love it, even better, it’s an Australian family owned and made business. They’re having a generous sale next week so maybe you’d like to use the opportunity to shop small and tick someone off your Christmas shopping list.

Finally I think I’ve cracked the audiobook code. ‘What on earth is she talking about?’ I hear you wondering. Well, I’ve never been able to settle into audiobooks which as an avid reader really frustrated me. Having loved reading Stanly Tucci’s latest memoir which I mentioned last week I thought I’d try another of the genre, though on audio. I struggle to concentrate and not let my mind wander off with audiobooks, but memoirs narrated by the author are apparently my thing. Anyway, famed Kiwi/Aussie chef (you know we always claim successful Kiwi’s as Aussies) Ben Shewry’s new book Uses for Obsession has been the perfect companion on my morning walks. His journey from suburban chef in New Zealand to internationally famed chef and restaurateur has been anything but linear and completely fascinating. At times funny and often inspiring it’s turning out to be a surprising delight. Another good one for a Christmas gift too especially for a young gun in your life with big dreams and ambitions.

As always friends, thanks for reading and of course please feel free to share with a pal who you think might enjoy a read.

Enjoy your weekend,

S x