Family friendly

Cooee's rum balls

Name: Chocolate cherry rum balls recipe
Yield: 22
Ingredients: 200g good-quality dark chocolate; 1/2 cup (120g) creme fraiche or sour cream; About 22 glace cherries (you will need a 100g packet); 180g packet coconut macaroons, finely crushed in a food processor; 60g icing sugar, sifted; 45g good-quality cocoa powder, sifted; 90g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly; 2 tbs dark rum; 3/4 cup (60g) desiccated coconut; 250g good-quality dark chocolate; 125g unsalted butter, roughly chopped; Chocolate sprinkles or edible gold leaf, optional, to decorate

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by Belinda Jeffery

Cook and author

Oct 03, 2015

This recipe makes a celebrated appearance on our holiday table every Christmas. My mum, Cooee, always made rum balls at Christmas time but unfortunately never wrote down the recipe. The ones here are a little more sophisticated than her originals, what with their chocolate coating and cherry centre, but they are absolutely delicious.

200g good-quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup (120g) creme fraiche or sour cream
About 22 glace cherries (you will need a 100g packet)
180g packet coconut macaroons, finely crushed in a food processor
60g icing sugar, sifted
45g good-quality cocoa powder, sifted
90g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
2 tbs dark rum
3/4 cup (60g) desiccated coconut

Chocolate coating

250g good-quality dark chocolate
125g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
Chocolate sprinkles or edible gold leaf, optional, to decorate

Method

1.

Combine the chocolate and creme fraiche in a saucepan over low heat, until melted and smooth. Pour into a bowl and chill until firm (about 1 hour).
2.

Scoop out about 1 teaspoon of chilled mixture and mould around a cherry. Place on a baking paper-lined tray and repeat with remaining mixture and cherries. (This moulding part is a pretty sticky business because the chocolate melts in your hands.) Once they’re all done, chill for about 30 minutes or until firm.
3.

To make the coconut layer, combine macaroons, icing sugar and cocoa in a large bowl. Stir in butter and rum, then thoroughly mix in coconut. Mould about 1 tablespoon of coconut mixture around the chilled chocolate centres so they’re completely enclosed. Pop them back into the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up again.
4.

To make the chocolate coating, melt the chocolate, butter and 50ml water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until it’s silky smooth. Leave it to cool to a thick coating consistency.
5.

Using a fork or skewer, dunk the balls, one at a time, into the cooled chocolate coating so they’re completely covered. Drain them briefly over the pan, then put them back on the baking paper and, when they’re all done, chill them again to set the coating.
6.

At this stage you can leave them as is, or decorate with chocolate sprinkles (or gold leaf, by pressing tiny bits of gold leaf on the surface using the tip of a fine paintbrush). Store the rum balls in an airtight container in the fridge until you serve them – they keep well for weeks.