Rum Balls are a very popular Christmas sweet made during the festive eve. Some of the sweets I remember eating during Christmas are - Rose Cookies, Plum Cake, Marzipans, Jujubes, Bebinca, Bolinha, Coconut Barfi, Angels Ribs, Snowball (Naan Katai), Kulkuls, Nevri and Guava Cheese. Guava Cheese & Plum cakes are my favorite treats amongst all.
Rum Balls being a sweet, sinfully rich treat is prominently made amongst Anglo-Catholic communities in India during the festive eve of Christmas. These are also available in local patisserie & confectionery shops during the season. Use aged Rum for good results. I found the recipe here and was a good discovery! I've adapted it to befit our taste and improve the texture of the dish. I gave the goodies a generous coat of Cocoa powder and Coconut powder. Both were decadent and very flavourful. This is a no cook recipe and can be made very quickly. If making these for festival platters, prepare couple of days ahead thereby providing some sitting time for the flavours to mingle and mix.
~ Rum Balls ~
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Processing time: 10 minutes
Recipe: Adapted from Joy Of Baking
Yield: 15-18 Rum Balls
Ingredients:
Walnut/ Pecan/ Almonds/ Pistachio - 1 and 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder - 3 tablespoons
Light Corn Syrup or Glucose Syrup - 2 tablespoons
Crushed wafers (Vanilla/ Chocolate) - 1 and 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Aged Rum - 1/4 cup
Topping/ Coating - Cocoa powder/ Dry coconut powder/ Chopped nutsMethod:
Follow the basic process of mixing as observed in baking - dry and wet ingredients separately. First toast the nuts (I used Walnut) lightly till warm. Allow to cool completely. Remove the skin if desired and crush to a coarse powder but not a pasty one. Else, chop them into small pieces and keep aside. Crush the wafers to a fine powder. Preferably match the flavour of your wafers with the flavour of Cocoa powder.
In a mixing bowl, mix the chopped nuts with Cocoa powder. Add the crushed wafers and mix thoroughly. Add the Rum now and slowly mix in Sugar and the Corn Syrup now. Add more Rum now if desired. The dough will be a sticky dark collective one. Set in the fridge for 1/2 hour. Remove and make balls of 1" in diameter. Coat them with a topping of your choice - Cocoa powder or Coconut powder or powdered nuts. Store in the fridge in an air tight container and consume within 1-2 weeks. Thaw and bring to room temperature before serving.
The rum balls look decadent!!
ReplyDeleteOh how I miss christmas sweets from Goa, not to forget the baathika(coconut cake)and dodol.
My mom used to make gauva cheese or 'perraad' as it is called and it is my fav too, I do get it here though, so I am still enjoying it.
@ Mayuri - Thanks! They were a super hit and taste delicious. We don't get Peraad here and I really miss it a lot. :(
ReplyDeleteOh honey, you had me at rum! :)
ReplyDelete@ Cynthia - Thanks. These are simply decandent! :)
ReplyDelete