Swedish chocolate balls

If you haven't already heard, Swedes love coffee.  And they love having their fika - that lovely tradition of having coffee or tea with freshly baked pastries such as cinammon rolls, biscuits and other sweet treats.  Having a sweet tooth (or two) myself, I had no trouble embracing this tradition.  The best part is, fika is enjoyed at any time - after breakfast, after lunch, before or after dinner.

Another thing that I've learnt is that they are very bold in using spices in their pastries.  In their quintessential pastry, the cinnamon roll, ground cardamom is used together with cinnamon.  And they do use it aggressively, almost.  The first time I bit into a roll, the distinct heat of the spice almost gave me a rude shock.  I mean, it is called 'cinnamon roll' not 'cardamom roll' so I was totally unprepared for the taste of the spice, which is not exactly my favourite ingredient.  Another pastry that is usually found during Christmas, called lusse katt or saffransbröd, uses saffron.

Another common ingredient in the pastries is grated coconut.  The flakes are used to top squares of chocolate sponge cake called kärlek mums, one of my favourite Swedish pastries.  Pete's mum made some for our wedding and I couldn't stop eating them.  Another popular pastry using grated coconut is chokladbollar or chocolate balls.

I love them.  The first time I had them was on my first visit to Sweden last June.  I found a box of these among other sweet treats in a welcome basket from Pete.  With that first bite, I fell in love - with the balls, not Pete (well, I was already in love with him by then).  The balls are moist and had a winning combination of chocolate and coffee.

Since then, I would buy a box whenever I had a craving.  There are many brands selling the balls but we only buy Delicato balls which is the yummiest, according to Pete.  And it's available everywhere.  Every time we go to the supermarkets, I would always eye the blue boxes and start to drool.  But I don't always buy them.  What I wanted to do was to make my own.

In fact, Swedish kids would make them at home with their mum since it's a simple recipe and there's no baking involved.  I have come across recipes for these balls but they are not anything like the Delicato balls.  These recipes would call for rolled oats, the main ingredient, but if you bite into the Delicato balls, you don't get the grainy oats.

Finally, after researching countless recipes, I put together my own recipe and with the first bite of my homemade chokladbollar, I was very happy with it.  The balls are very close to the taste and texture of the Delicato balls.  Yes!  Now I could make them any time I want.

Chokladbollar or Swedish chocolate balls

100g butter, soft

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 - 3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)

1 tbsp strong coffee, cooled

50g dark chocolate, melted

1 1/4 cup rolled oats, chopped 

1/2 cup grated coconut to coat

Mix all the ingredients except the oats and coconut.  Add the oats and mix well.  The texture should be of wet sand.  Chill in the fridge for about 30mins.  Form balls and roll in the coconut.  The balls can be served cold or at room temperature.

You can omit the coffee if you want.  Or for coffee lovers, you can also add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder.  Instead of coconut flakes, you can roll the balls in chopped nuts or colourful sprinkles to make it more attractive for kids.  If you use sprinkles, reduce the amount of sugar slightly.