Allergy Friendly Rum Balls

Super rich, spiced (& boozy) rum balls.

Posted by Emily T.

About

My family's Christmas lunch this year is catering for an ovo-vegetarian, two coeliacs and a diabetic. After a whole lot of pondering what desserts might be safe for everyone, and a few experimental recipes, I settled on these easiest and Christmas-iest little things that are amazingly good.
They remind me of traditional Christmas cakes and puddings, loaded with dried fruit and spices and alcohol, but they're a tad healthier and a whole lot quicker to make.

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You Will Need (6 things)

  • Mixed Spice
  • Rum the darker the better
  • Dates (or raisins, prunes, apricots etc)
  • Chocolate Cake or cupcakes
  • Cocoa Powder
  • Desiccated Coconut

Steps (4 steps, 120 minutes)

  1. 1

    Whip up a chocolate cake (or cupcakes) with whatever recipe caters for your allergy needs. In my case, gluten- and dairy-free, with reduced sugar. I wish I could post tutorials for perfecting these baking problems, but alas I just turned to google to find and tweak a recipe.

  2. 2

    Let the cake(s) dry out a bit (I waited about an hour after they had cooled), then pulse in a food processor to make cake crumbs.
    While the cake is cooling/drying, soak your fruit in rum. For every cup of crumbs you have, you'll need a half cup of fruit and 1/4 cup of rum.

  3. 3

    Blend together the fruit, the rum it soaked in and about a teaspoon of mixed spice for every cup of crumbs used with the cake cumbs. Everything should come together and be nice and sticky.

  4. 4

    Roll teaspoon-ish sized balls from the mix, then roll in cocoa powder or desiccated coconut spread on a flat surface.