Chocolate Rum Balls~ Guest Post from Priya Ranjit

Today I am extremely delighted to share with all of you this wonderful guest post-A perfect chocolaty treat for Christmas.

It is an honor to have as my guest, my cute and bubbly friend Priya Ranjit, who is the author of Cook Like Priya. There is no need of an introduction, Priya is everyone's favorite. She lovingly calls me chechi and for me she is my little sister in this virtual blogging world.She started blogging in July this year and we first came to know each other through the group- Baking Partners.

Priya lives in UK with her husband. She is a great cook with innovative ideas and is a passionate blogger.Her space features versatile recipes which are delicious and easy to cook and the highlight is her photography and presentation. You cannot stop visiting her space and every time you go there, you find an inviting fresh look. Some of her recipe which I really admire is her Rose Cake, Rose flavored Coconut ladoo, Hyderbadi mutton Biryani and her recent 100th post,Chocolate Beetroot cake. Priya has shared a lot of recipes and there are even more wonderful recipes to come, this Christmas. I wish my friend all success and joy!

Thanks Priya, I am so happy to have you here :)

Now let's hear from Priya..

When Chechi asked me to do a guest post I was so thrilled and excited since it is my very first guest post. Ever since I started blogging I have been following Chechi and her lip-smacking recipes. I am so happy to share your space Chechi with this wonderful chocolate treats for Christmas. Christmas is very close to my heart and from my younger days I used to get really excited about this season right from buying new clothes, putting up the star (In India Christmas have the tradition to put paper shaped stars fitted with a light bulb inside as a sign of Christ's birth), decorating the Christmas tree and not to forget the yummy sweets, cakes done by amma. But Christmas is not just all these things its a little bit more, its about giving. So today's post is all about little treats that can be given to others as an expression of love

Chocolate Rum Balls

Chocolate Rum Balls are made with crumbled chocolate cake, filled with rum, cherry juice and centered with a glazed cherry, coated with chocolate and topped with dessicated coconut/ cocoa powder. This is a very versatile recipe that can be tweeked as per your taste. Nut lovers can use nut centers and even chopped nut chocolate coating too. Its simple and can be done with any cake/ brownies. It has a lovely crunch on the outside and soft inside with a surprise of the cherry in the center. The store or upto a week in an air-tight box or for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Makes - 10 small- medium balls

Ingredients

Chocolate cake pieces - 8 squares, crumbled
Cherry juice - 1 tbsp
Rum essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Glazed cherry - as needed (for center)
Dark Chocolate chips - 1 cup
Dessicated coconut/ cocoa powder - to garnish

Method ( please follow the picture above)

1. Keep ready the brownie/ cake pieces and make sure it is in room temperature
2. Glazed cherry also should be in room temperature
3. Crumble the cake and pour the cherry juice, vanilla extract and rum essence and mix well, if its too wet freeze it for 20 mins/ add more cake crumble and continue
4. Take little of the mix and center the cherry and roll it into a ball
5. Arrange it in a plate and freeze for 20 minutes
6. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute and mix well. You can also use double boil method and melt the chocolate chips. Give it 30 seconds to cool down a little then roll the balls in the chocolate with the help of two spoons and place them on a plate with butter paper
7. Top them with cocoa/ dessicated coconut and let them harden/ refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firm

Wrap them as goodies and give as Christmas gifts/ treats.

Cooks Wisdom

- chocolate cake recipe is taken from here
- make sure that the climate is cool else the completed chocolate balls would melt
- alternate centers could be nuts, raisins, dry fruits or even gems
- alternate juices could be orange, apple or even milk/ condensed milk
- rum essence can be replaced with vanilla extract only
- original rum can be used instead of essence
- using butter paper helps in removing the set balls easily

Love
Priya Ranjit