Recipe: Mint Pralines – approx. 15 pieces depending on the size of molds used.
Chocolate ingredients:
1 dl coconut oil/ cacao butter
3 tbsp lucuma
3 tbsp cacao powder
1 pinch of stevia powder (green), liquid stevia or xylitol.
1 pinch of vanilla
1 pinch of salt (preferably Himalayan)
Mint filling:
1 dl cashew nuts (or other nuts of your choice)
2 tbsp lucuma powder
Leaves from about 4-5 sprigs of peppermint
1 pinch of stevia powder (green) or xylitol.
some tbsp water
Chocolate preparation:
Gently melt the coconut oil or cacao butter over a water bath. We prefer the taste of coconut oil, but if you're making pralines to give as gifts, it's better to use cacao butter instead as it doesn't melt at room temperature.Pralines made with coconut oil need to be stored in the refrigerator.
2.Add lucuma, cacao powder, stevia, vanilla & salt, stir until the chocolate is smooth. Let it sit at room temperature until the mint filling is ready.
Mint filling preparation:
1.Soak the nuts for a few hours before starting. Then drain the soaking water.
2.Mix the nuts, lucuma, stevia & mint leaves with a tablespoon of water. Since this is such a small amount of liquid and the filling should be quite thick, it's best done with an immersion blender.
Assembly:
Fill the first layer, about 1/4 of the praline mold with chocolate. If you don't have praline molds, soft ice cube trays, silicone molds, small paper ice chocolate molds, etc. will work. Let it set for a few minutes in the refrigerator.
When the first layer of chocolate is hard, you can "dollop in" or pipe in the mint filling, remembering to leave space for a second chocolate layer on top and around the sides. When the pralines are finished, they look best with an even layer of chocolate all around. Let cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
Fill the pralines on the sides & top with chocolate.Refrigerate well before removing or pushing them out of the molds (otherwise they can easily break, as the filling is softer than the chocolate). Store in the refrigerator. Recipe and photo by Katrin Petersson from the course center Levande Föda (Living Food).
