Watermelon Coconut Truffles With Chervil Dark Chocolate

These are fairly simple truffles using non-dairy, low allergy ingredients. The sweetness of these truffles is very light and clean with ripe in-season watermelon. they should be kept chilled until served and though they will hold their shape at room temp, the center will become very soft are more of a melt in you hand kind of chocolate.

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients (center):

Watermelon (you will need about 2 cups of juice)

Honey (2 Tbsp)

Can of full-fat Coconut Milk (refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight if possible)

finely shredded coconut (1 Cup)

Tapioca Starch or Corn Starch (2/3-1 Cup)

Powdered Sugar (optional)

Shell ingredients:

Cocoa Butter** 8 oz

Coconut oil (provides the melt in your mouth texture) 2 Tbps

Cocoa Powder** 8-10 oz

Honey** to taste

Chervil 3 oz

**in stead of making your own chocolate mixture you can use prepared chocolate for melting, my allergies prevent me from using store bought chocolate but it will work just as well.**

Step 2: Processing the Watermelon

Chop the watermelon into cubes to be processed with either an blender or a juicer. I use the immersion blender simply because it is easier to clean but any blender will work. If you use a juicer you will not need to strain the pulp out of the juice. You will not get too much pulp as watermelon is mostly juice.

Warm lightly over very low heat on stove to add the honey, stir well to incorporate. remove from heat immediately and let cool.

Step 3: Adding the Cream and Dry Ingredients

Your can of Coconut Milk should be chilled for at least 2 hours, overnight if you can, because it will separate and this is what we want. when you open the can scoop off the cream portion of the can (the top 2/3rds of the can) and discard the "water" in the bottom of the can. the water makes a very nice Popsicle liquid if you want to find something else to do with it. Fold the cream into the watermelon and honey liquid until just mixed.

taste the mixture and determine if you would like it to be sweeter or not. If you do want it sweeter replace a portion of the starch with powdered sugar, mix finely shredded coconut and starch (or starch/sugar) together and fold into wet ingredients.

place the center mixture in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 4: Chocolate Shell

Add just enough Boiling water to the chervil to cover the leaves, let steep for about 10 minutes. This will help the chervil to release is flavor enough to not be over powered by the chocolate.

In a double boiler melt the cocoa butter till liquid. Add the coconut oil and honey#, mix well. slowly mix in the cocoa powder till fully incorporated. Put chervil in blender and blend till very finely chopped, add to chocolate.

#for sweeter chocolate you may use powdered sugar (or a sugar syrup heated to soft ball stage).

Step 5: Rolling and Dipping

Remove your watermelon mix from the refrigerator and with clean hands, portion out centers using a spoon or melonballer and roll into ball shape. while centers are still cold dip them into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. coat well and remove with a fork to let excess chocolate remain in bowl. place coated balls on a silicone sheet or parchment paper. Let them set in a cool room or put in fridge before removing from sheet.

Store in the refrigerator till serving.

The Chervil will add a light licorice flavor to the chocolate while having the fresh summer sweetness of the watermelon.

If you can not find Chervil you can try using Fennel seeds to get a similar flavor. I hope you like the truffles as much as my Family did. Try it with different fruits as well, I have had great success using fresh cherries and cantaloupe.