Unless you lived under a rock in the 90’s (or unless you were too young to remember or NOT EVEN BORN YET which makes me feel so old I can’t even bear thinking about it), you’ll remember that advert where the butler walks around an ambassador’s party with a pyramid of Ferrero Rocher. Brilliant marketing though this was (given that just about everyone seems to remember it) it upset me for a number of reasons;Firstly, how on earth did they build them into a pyramid!? It’s simply not possible – believe me I’ve tried.

Secondly, if they did somehow manage to do the impossible (which I sincerely doubt), how did the butler keep the pyramid from falling over while walking around with it? I can barely carry a bowl of soup from my kitchen to the table without it sloshing everywhere so he must have had some mad balance skills.

Anyway, I’m kind of over it now (kind of). I can only assume there was glue involved, which upsets me a little but I’m not losing any sleep over it. Any more. These days what upsets me about Ferrero Rocher is that they are full of sugar and bad fats and not so great for your health.

So I’ve come up with a healthy version, which in my opinion tastes even better than the original. I still can’t make them into a pyramid, but like I said, I’m over it.

Makes about 12 balls

Ingredients

For the balls

• 1 cup hazelnuts, plus a handful of extras for the centres
• 1 cup dates
• 2 tbsp cacao powder (I used this one from Creative Nature Superfoods)

For the chocolate coating

• 4 tbsp chopped toasted hazelnuts (you can buy these all ready chopped and toasted in most supermarkets)
• 3 tbsp cacao powder
• 1/2 cup cacao butter (or coconut oil)
• 4 tbsp maple syrup

To make the balls, simply pop the dates, hazelnuts and cacao in a food processor and blend until it all starts to stick together. Using a hazelnut as the centre for each one, roll the mixture into balls and place them in the freezer to cool while you make the chocolate coating.

For the coating, melt the cacao butter in a saucepan, then stir in the other ingredients until all nicely mixed together. Remove the pan from the hob and pour the mixture into a bowl (don’t forget to lick the spoon!). Remove the balls from the freezer and one by one roll them around in the chocolate mixture and then pop them back on a plate for the chocolate to set (it will set quicker the longer you’ve had them in the freezer for). Once you’ve coated all of the balls once, start again and continue one by one until you use up all the chocolate mixture.

So there you have it – a healthier version of Ferrero Rocher – who would have thought it!?

Love, Mrs H xx