Chocolate and Cognac balls

Then the newspaper rustling stopped and the light went out. That was the sign for us that the path to the refrigerator was safe and that no one would hear us. Quietly, we would sneak into the kitchen, open the refrigerator door and pull out the white plastic bowl that always sat on the upper shelf on the left.

From the cutlery drawer we pulled out some spoons, then we began to scrape the mass. This taste of broken biscuits in a brown blend with a delicate aroma of cheap cognac is the first umami I experienced, or maybe perhaps the second after the Ragu my mother learned to make from her neighbor in Bologna. Of course, the scratching marks left in the batter gave us away, and when Mom woke up she turned a blind eye to the top layer.

A few days ago, I asked Mom to look for the recipe in her stained recipe notebook. After a few minutes, she sent me a photo of the recipe written on a yellow page that literally smeared with cocoa, cognac and jam. I eagerly read the script and apart from savoring the taste memory, I realized two things that changed my worldview for years. First of all, the amount of cognac in the recipe is very appropriate for adults :-). The second thing, they are not really chocolate balls, but real sin balls that you steal from the fridge without leaving any marks.

So here is the recipe we grew up on, and thanks to it, all the other chocolate balls felt too sweet and less addictive. Of course, we turned the margarine into butter and the amount of cocoa grew a little, but I tried to keep the original as much as possible.

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Chocolate and Cognac balls
25-30 balls

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Ingredients

100 grams butter, very soft
150 grams sugar
250 grams biscuits, chopped
50 grams Cognac
2 tbls apricot jam
30 grams cocoa powder
50 grams walnuts, chopped

Decoration: toasted coconut flakes/chocolate sprinkles/caramelized almond flakes (pralin)

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Preparation

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add biscuits and Cognac, mix until well combined.

Add apricot jam, cocoa powder and walnuts. Mix or knead until well combined.

Refrigerate until firm.

Take small amount of mixture and roll into a ball, then roll through extra coconut or sprinkles or pralin.

Continue with the rest of the mixture, chill in the fridge.

Bon-Appetit
Sharon