Vegan Raffaello
It was time for another round of "Make a Wish," and this time the majority of you requested this wonderfully creamy coconut-almond confection: vegan Raffaello. I was thrilled about this, because I'm a huge coconut lover and have always adored Raffaello!
- 1.5 vegan waffle plates (each 25 x 25 cm)
- 50 ml vegan whipped cream
- 25 g coconut milk
- 35 g coconut oil
- 200g vegan white chocolate
- 45 blanched almonds
- Coconut flakes for rolling
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Moisten the waffle sheets with a little water. Then, using a 5 cm (2 inch) round cutter, cut out circles from the waffle sheets. Place the waffle circles in a silicone mold and gently press them into the mold. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the waffles are crispy again. Then, allow them to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cream. Combine vegan whipping cream, coconut butter, coconut oil, and 100g of vegan white chocolate in a saucepan and heat gently until all ingredients are melted and blended into a smooth, liquid mixture. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature or in the refrigerator. It's normal for the cream to be very liquid at first; it will thicken as it cools.
- Once the waffle sheets and cream have cooled, fill each waffle half-sphere with approximately 1 teaspoon of coconut cream. Place a blanched almond in half of the waffles. Then sandwich one waffle half-sphere with an almond to one waffle half-sphere without an almond, pressing gently. Refrigerate.
- Melt the remaining vegan white chocolate and dip each vegan Raffaello individually into the white chocolate until completely coated. Then roll them in shredded coconut and chill again. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving so the coconut cream inside softens. The vegan Raffaello will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.
And this is how it's done:
The vegan coconut cream inside Raffaello chocolates is easy to make. Simply melt all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir until smooth. Then refrigerate until it thickens slightly and is easier to work with. The real challenge of the recipe lies in the fact that the cream in the original Raffaello is encased in a thin wafer, which is itself coated in shredded coconut. But how can you easily make vegan wafer balls yourself and then fill them?
I consulted the internet, and after reading countless Raffaello recipes that all simply omitted the wafer, I found the solution. If you moisten wafer sheets, they become pliable and can then be turned into little Raffaello wafer balls. More precisely, the wafer sheets are first moistened with a little water, then cut into small circles using a round cutter and pressed into hemispherical silicone molds. The wafer hemispheres are then baked until crispy again. Afterward, they are left to cool briefly, filled with coconut cream and a blanched almond, and a second wafer hemisphere is placed on top of the first, completely enclosing the cream. If you then dip the wafer balls in melted chocolate and let them cool, the wafer halves even stick together. Before cooling, of course, they are rolled in shredded coconut. Delicious!
Vegan waffle plates can often be found in Russian or Arab supermarkets. Coconut butter, for example, is available in organic shops.
