Rolat od cokolade i kafe (Roll of Chocolate and Coffee)

From: tortekolaci.com

Rolat od cokolade i kafe (Roll of Chocolate and Coffee)

Author: Marijana Milic

Translation, with added kitchen notes provided by Rachel Nedic

Helpful Tools:

• digital kitchen scale

• food processor

• whisk(s)

• rubber spatula(s)

Ingredients for the chocolate coffee dough:

• 500 gr ground dairy free biscuits (I used Lotus brand. Each package is 250 gr so you need exactly 2 pkg.)

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 200 gr dark chocolate, melted (I used semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips)

• 1cup, prepared, very strong black coffee (I took a tablespoon of french roast coffee grounds and put it in a small sauce pan with 1 cup water, brought it to a boil, then turned the heat down and let it simmer a few minutes, stirring continuously. Strain with a coffee filter.)

• 200 gr sugar

• 4 tablespoons rum

Ingredients for the fill:

• 250 gr margarine (I used organic coconut oil)

• 250 gr powdered sugar

• 100 gr white chocolate (this was a tricky one; all of the white chocolate I could find in the supermarkets had dairy, but I was able to find a nice vegan one here. It's also included in this post at the bottom.)

• 200 gr shredded coconut

Directions:

Mix the ground biscuits with the cocoa and add the melted dark chocolate; mix well (I prefer to start with a spoon, then mix thoroughly with my hand - messy, but it really does the job!  Like Andrew Zimmern says, "Best tools in the kitchen"). 

Heat the coffee with the 200 gr sugar and the rum until the sugar is disolved, remove from heat and allow to cool, then pour over the biscuit/cocoa/chocolate mix. Mix well.

Prepare the fill; combine the margarine (or coconut oil) and the powdered sugar (if you are using cocount oil, and are having trouble getting the oil and sugar to be smooth, place your bowl over an OFF but SLIGHTLY warm-to-the-touch burner and stir. This will smooth it out very quickly.) Add coconut and melted white chocolate. Stir until well blended.

Split the chcolate-coffee dough evenly into 2 parts (for 2 rolls). Roll out the dough on plastic wrap (about 1/8 of an inch thick)  You can use Parchment paper here too - it's stiffer and makes the rolling-up easier when you've only got two hands (wishing I had 3 or 4 sometimes). Spread the fill evenly over the dough. (Note: the original recipe does not say this, but I found it helpful, especially when working with coconut oil, to put it in the fridge to firm up just a bit before rolling. It seemed to make the roll-up part a bit easier - it was messy when I first tried to roll it.) 

Roll up & place in the refrigerator. Unwrap and slice when needed. 

(Another Note: If you do decide to use coconut oil, it will be easier to slice the roll if you leave it out on the counter for a bit. If you slice it when it's still very cold, the slices have a tendency to crumble.)

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Chips

as written by: Chocolate Covered Katie

(can be sugar-free)

2-inch cube cacao butter (30 grams, or 2 tbsp after melting)

scant 1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract

stevia or powdered sugar to taste (2 tbsp if powdered sugar)

1 tbsp raw cashew or macadamia butter (can omit; it’ll just be less creamy) (15g)

very tiny pinch salt

optional: If you can find it, I highly recommend adding 1/2 tsp dry milk powder—such as soy or ricemilk powder—to the ingredients for optimum creamy texture, as this is one of the basic ingredients in every white chocolate bar I looked at during my aforementioned research. However, knowing that a lot of people would have trouble finding the powder, I also tried omitting it. And then I tried adding protein powder instead (increasing to 1 tsp). Omitting or adding the protein powder instead will yield a texture that’s a little different than store-bought white chocolate, but both ways still work! (Just please don’t add liquid milk. I tried that too, and it doesn’t work.)

Melt the cacao butter (either in the microwave or on the stove). Turn off heat, then stir in all other ingredients.

Pour into candy molds or a plastic container, and freeze until it hardens. Healthier and vegan white chocolate chips.