151 Rum Truffles

Two Christmases ago, our friend Matt gave us a bottle of 151-proof rum - a gift that we rather hoped was intended as much for giggles as actual consumption. Over the past year and a half, though, the 151 rum became a standing joke every time Matt visited, as he continually teased us for having not yet found a use for the puissant liquid. I wanted to put it in a buttered-rum pound cake, but Matt insisted that idea was "too girl-ish" The conversation quickly deteriorated into a debate regarding the potential manliness of pound-cake (with me arguing heartily that pound cake was a perfectly reasonable, adequately macho use for rum), and the actual pound cake never materialized.

A few nights ago, though, Zach and I were watching a movie, and decided to make rum balls. We had "regular strength" dark rum and spiced rum on hand, but something moved us to reach for the 151 proof bottle hovering at the back of a kitchen shelf - glowing slightly, I imagined fancifully, with its potency.

It seems somewhat antithetical to attempt to create a healthy dessert based upon rum, but, with a hearty sprinkling of dark chocolate,raw coconut, pineapple juice, and agave nectar, I believe we at least compromised... and the results were far richer and purer tasting than any traditional, purchased rum ball I've ever sampled.

We made a double batch, so we could give some to Matt at lunch the next day... Suffice to day, he only needed to take a tentative nibble of one innocent looking, truffle-shaped candy to discover these were Seriously Adult Confections.

These rum balls are wicked -

and man oh man, are they good...

151 Rum Truffles

1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 T cocoa powder
2 T agave nectar
1⁄2 cup pineapple juice
3 T rum - 151 proof, if you dare...
5 T light vegan margarine
1 cup vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup almonds
3/4 cup raw shredded coconut

~ Combine the dark chocolate chips, cocoa, agave nectar, pineapple juice, and rum in a medium saucepan, and stir over low heat, just until chocolate melts.
~ Add the vegan marg, and continue to stir over low heat until the marg melts and is incorporated. Remove from the heat, and set aside.
~ Whir the almonds in a food processor until they form a coarse powder, then stir them into the chocolate mixture along with the graham cracker crumbs.
~ Transfer the mixture to a glass bowl, cover, and cool in the fridge for 15 minutes.
~ Stir in the coconut, and drop the fudge mixture by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Chill again until firm, then serve festively...

*Currently, in a much less naughty fashion, I am working on matzah balls, sans rum... Happy Passover! Holiday recipes are soon to follow... (and I'm sure there will at least be a bit of wine involved... :-) On second thought, if you did want to make rum balls for Passover, just replace the graham crackers with crumbled passover cookies!