New Recipe – Orange and Red Currant Slices Served with Hot Chocolate Vienna Style

Even if I have a sweet tooth I am quite sure I couldn´t take these two sweets together (my husband can of course!). But I love both, the orange and red currant slices and the hot chocolate. For this post I wanted to create something very typical for me who comes from Vienna, lives in Styria and misses the Cafés. You will certainly know that there are millions of coffeehouses in Vienna, most of them in the City, and it is a tradition for everyone to have “her/his” coffeehouse – you are known there and you get everything without ordering it.

What the blog concerns, recipes have to meet my requirements: sweets must not only be sweet but healthy too. So you can make both sweets at the same time and need not feel guilty. The one thing you should own is a powerful blender. If you don´t have one ask a friend who owns one to make this with you. She or he will be very thankful to know this recipe. The slices taste amazingly good.

• Ingredients (serves 4)

• 150 g mixed nuts (cashews, macademia nuts, walnuts, almonds)
• 4 dates (pitted and soaked)
• 3-4 tbsp freeze-dried red currants
• 6 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 1 tbsp grated orange peel (must be organic!)
• 3-4 tbsp orange juice (freshly squeezed)
• ½ tbsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• about 6 tbsp desiccated coconut (for the covering)
• 3 tbsp freeze-dried strawberries (finely ground in the blender, you can also do it with a mortar)
• 

Mix nuts in the blender until they are coarse. Add the other ingredients, one after the other, until the mixture becomes a sticky dough.

Put the dough onto a parchment paper, another parchment paper on it and roll with a rolling pin. It should rest for half an hour in the freezer to become stiff.

Cover on both sides (upper and bottom) with desiccated coconut. Before serving sprinkle with some red currants and – this is very important for the taste and to become eye-catching – with the finely ground strawberry meal.

Keep left-overs, if there are, in the fridge.

The hot chocolate is most easy to make. Heat almond milk (¾ of a cup is enough) in a pan until it is boiling. Set aside. Add 2 squares vegan chocolate (at least 70 %) and let it melt. Stir with a fork until it is creamy. Serve in a cup and sprinkle with cinnamon. The smell is absolutely irresistible.