Coconut date balls

Ingredients

• 70 gram butter (salted or unsalted)
• 110 gram sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 80 gram dates (chopped into large chunks)
• 80 gram glacé cherries (halved)
• 30 gram candied citrus peel (or 'mixed peel')
• 1 tablespoons sherry
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 200 gram digestive biscuits (or other plain biscuit)
• 70 gram desiccated coconut

Instructions

1. 1

   In a medium saucepan, gently melt the butter, sugar and cocoa powder together over a low heat, making sure to stir continuously.

2. 2

   Once the mixture starts to look foamy and the sugar begins to dissolve, add the dates.

3. 3

   Continue stirring the mixture with a spoon to prevent sticking. As the dates start to soften, gently break them up slightly with your spoon.

4. 4

   Next, add the glacé cherries and candied peel to the mixture and stir them through. Let everything cook together for approximately 1 minute, then remove the saucepan from the heat.

5. 5

   Allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes before proceeding.

6. 6

   While the mixture is cooling, break the egg into a small bowl and whisk it until well beaten.

7. 7

   Crush the biscuits into pieces that are approximately the size of M&Ms.

8. 8

   After the 5-minute cooling period, place the saucepan back over low heat and gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Continue to cook the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously to ensure even cooking and prevent the egg from curdling.

9. 9

   Add the sherry and vanilla essence and stir through. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

10. 10

    Mix the crushed biscuits into the date mixture until well combined. Let the mixture cool down a bit before handling.

11. 11

    Once the mixture has cooled down enough to handle, start rolling it into equal-sized balls. You can make the balls as small or large as you prefer. As a guide, we usually roll ours to the size of small ping pong balls.

12. 12

    Place the desiccated coconut in a bowl. Take one coconut date ball at a time and roll it in the coconut until it is completely covered. Repeat this process for each ball until they are all coated with coconut.Top tip: After rolling the mixture into balls and coating them with coconut once, repeat the process. Re-roll each ball to perfect its shape and then dip them in the coconut again to achieve a denser covering. This is optional.