I have a bit of a thing for lemons at the moment.
This has nothing to do with our own lemon tree, which is still too young to be producing fruit (or at least that's the story I'm sticking to, given that we don't have any fruit). Others' lemon trees, however, seem to be producing enough fruit to share. There have been lemons at work, at my parent's house, and at my other work. As a result, ultimately there have been lemons at my house.
A fortnight ago I took three lemons home. I spent a week looking at them. They sat in the fruit bowl and looked back. Eventually I stopped asking them what they wanted to be (they weren't very communicative) and decided their fate for them. One lemon went to truffle balls, one lemon went to a dinner dish, and one lemon went to a side dish.
For today, we have the truffle balls. You may be able to deduce that more lemon recipes will be coming soon.
Let's focus on one thing at a time though. After all, these lemon-cashew-sesame balls deserve full attention. They are delicate, truffle-like, and might make you shut your eyes as you eat them. (Or maybe that is just me.) They go well with tea, and could justifiably be eaten at just about any time of day.
I'm pretty taken with them.
As a bonus, they are vegan, low in sugar, almost raw, and have an ingredient list that packs a healthy punch.
Also, you can have fun licking the bowl.
Lemon-cashew-sesame truffle balls
Inspired by lemon
Makes about 20 balls
Vegan
Ingredients
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup oats
2 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon (~1 tsp grated lemon rind)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp agave (I used 1 1/2 tbsp, which gave a just sweet result)
1 - 2 tbsp water (I used 2 tbsp)
Method
Place the cashews, sesame seeds and oats in a food processor and process until fine and starting to clump together.
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and agave and process briefly to combine. Add the water gradually, whilst processing, until the mixture is smooth.
Roll into small balls and set in the fridge for a few hours. Store in the fridge (they taste 'duller' when frozen).
The flavours of these come through in stages. Lemon, first, delicate but definitely present. Then the sesame, combining with the lemon to allude just slightly to tahini. The cashew comes through last, lifting the flavours and bringing them together in a very pleasing way.
The result is slightly sweet. Very moreish. Soft yet chewy.
Highly recommended.
How is the lemon situation at your house?
Submitted to Rikki's Wellness Weekend.
