Hazelnut Cherry Relleno
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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~
I love the combination of crunchy, chewy and sweet and these little morsels are a one-bite wonder of just that! I would like to tell you that will be fully satisfied by eating just one, but I am here to say; it just isn’t possible to eat one… it might take two, three or six. :)
One neat thing about these is that you can make them in phases. Start by stuffing the cherries with the hazelnuts. Pop them in the dehydrator and once done, store them in a sealed, freezer-safe container… in the freezer for up to a year. Then when the mood or occasion strikes you, remove from the freezer, make your chocolate, dip them, allow to harden and ENJOY!
If you are a true lover of all things chocolate, feel free to dip them in the melted chocolate several times. Just be sure to let the chocolate harden in between dips. This will create a nice thick coating. Personally, I like dipping them just one time because I don’t want to overpower all the other tastes. I want the cherry and the taste of the hazelnut to shine through as well.
Blessings from my kitchen to yours… amie sue
Ingredients:
Preparation:
- Wash / dry, remove the stems ( you can leave the stems on for fun if you wish, I did on a few ) and pits from the cherries.
- Stuff a hazelnut into each cherry.
- Place the stuffed cherry on the mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator.
- It is important that the stuffed cherries are dry before placing on the mesh sheet. I pat them with a paper towel. If they are wet going into the dehydrator, the water will bring out the juices in the cherry and create a sticky puddle underneath it.
- Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour, then reduce the temperature to 115 degrees and continue to dry for approximately 24 hours or until dry. Remove and allow them to cool to room temperature.
- If making this raw – Prepare the hardening chocolate recipe.
- If using store-bought chocolate chips –
- Melting in a double boiler – Bring the water to a simmer, pour the bag of chocolate chips into your double boiler. Stir constantly, once most of the chocolate chips are melted reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Continue stirring until all of the chocolate is melted. Be careful that you don’t allow any moisture into the pan, this will cause your chocolate to seize. Once melted, turn the heat off and start dipping your cherries.
- Dip each dried stuffed cherry into the chocolate, coating it well, tap off the excess chocolate.
- I used a small fork as a platform to hold the cherry, tap it on the side of the bowl, scrape the bottom the fork with the edge of a spatula and slide the cherry onto the tray with a toothpick.
- Place on a solid surface (etc. cutting board, tray, teflex sheet, wax paper).
- Allow the chocolate to harden.
- Store in an airtight container. If your house is warm, store in the fridge or freezer, just be sure that they are well sealed. I kept a jar of them in the cabinet for several weeks and they stayed fresh.
Dip in chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry.
© AmieSue.com
Tags: Dairy Free, Dehydrated, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, Vegan
amie I have been meaning to ask you where you get a couple of the things you use
first the chocolate chips
second the dried cranberries you use so often
everything I have found on the cranberries so far are sweetened with cane sugar
help please LOL
constance
Good afternoon Constance,
I either make my own chocolate chips: https://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/sweet-treats/raw-chocolate-chips/ or I might use these: https://nouveauraw.com/ingredients/chocolate-products/sunspire-chocolate-chips-organic-semi-sweet-9-oz-pack-of-3/ or https://nouveauraw.com/ingredients/chocolate-products/enjoy-life-semi-sweet-chocolate-chips-gluten-dairy-nut-soy-free-mini-chips-10-ounce-bags-pack-of-6-2/
For cranberries, I am always shopping around…the last batch I ordered were these: (and they were great) https://nouveauraw.com/ingredients/dried-fruits/eden-organic-dried-cranberries-4-ounce-pouches-pack-of-5/ Hand harvested cranberries infused with organic apple juice concentrate and slowly dried.
Here are some unsweetened ones: http://www.amazon.com/UNSWEETENED-lb-Moisture-Dried-Cranberries/dp/B007A2LQRM/ref=sr_1_3?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1406144717&sr=1-3&keywords=dried+cranberries+no+sugar Spendy and not good to eat alone.
Have a great day and always a pleasure to hear from you Constance. :) amie sue
Oh joy of joys. These look scrumptious. And just in time for the cherry season. I am going to make these as soon as I get back to CA in a week…. hopefully cherries will still be around a bit longer. I loooove that little red fruit and with nuts and chocolate~~can’t get much better than that!! Thanks again.
Linda St Angelo
Your welcome Linda. I love the flavors and textures of these little morsels… and I hope that you will too. Keep me posted if you try them and have safe travels. :) amie sue
Amie-Sue, I had a few cherries left so I immediately shelled some hazelnuts, soaked and dried them.
I just finished pitting the cherries carefully by doing a hinged slice on the blossom end to pit them with most still with stems. The nuts weren’t completely died when I stuffed them but once dried most of the 3 dozen will go immediately into the freezer.
I will dip a few once dried to enjoy immediately.
Sounds wonderful Jeannette, I hope you really enjoy them. Please let me know what think when they are done. They are great to have tucked away for special occasions or snacking. :) Blessings, amie sue
I found that the bottom end where I sliced the cherries to pit them were almost dry in just over 24 hours but the stem end that was not opened had barely started to dry after 48 hours so I made several nicks with a knife point around the stem end and 24 hours later they are almost dry now.
So I suggest anyone else stuffing cherries to poke holes in the cherries after they are stuffed to greatly speed up the drying process.
Thanks for sharing this Jeannette. I didn’t have to go through that process but I can see that each batch can differ due to the cherries, the humidity, how full the machine is, etc. Have a great day, amie sue
My hazelnut stuffed cherries are nicely dried and in a jar.
I stuffed more cherries, this time some with shredded coconut mixed with date paste to form small balls and some with soaked and dehydrated walnut pieces.
I came up with these stuffing choices by thinking of what is paired with cherries often in baked goods.
Once these are dried which should take less time than the fist ones since I poked the cherries several places with a knife point before starting the drying process, I will dip some of each type to enjoy now and freeze the rest for later.
Since these are just a small quantity, I am drying them, like the fist stuffed cherries I did, in my oven with just the oven light on, a 40 watt bulb with the door cracked open with a jar lid for more circulation. Close to the light it gets up to about 115 degrees, but 5-6″ away, it is about 105 degrees. I just turn the tray around every 3-4 hours. It is what I do to dry small quantities since I don’t want to run my large Barron dryer with 10 trays (14″ x 17″) with only a quarter of a tray, especially when I don’t need more heat in the house at this time of the year!
I have never had anything spoil by drying it in the oven with just the light on, it just takes a little longer than in my dryer with a fan to circulate the air.
Amie Sue, suggest to those that want to try a dehydrated recipe but don’t have a dehydrator that they check how warm their oven gets with just the oven light on. If it isn’t in the 105 – 115 degree range, they can try a higher wattage light bulb to see if that brings up the temperature. A friend with an Excalibur dryer does small quantities in her oven with just the oven light on like I do.
Great tips Jeannette. I would have never known that the light bulbs in the oven are strong enough. I will have to test mine and see if they do as well. Thanks for sharing this with us. Blessings! amie sue
I chocolate covered some of my 3 types of stuffed and dried cherries last night. They are all good but my favourite is the date and coconut stuffed cherries as well as plain dried cherries that I used to finish the last of my melted chocolate chips.
Awesome Jeannette, thank you for sharing the out come :) Have a happy day. amie sue
You are A-MAZING! These gorgeous treats look SO delicious…love that they can be made in steps. So beautiful.
Awe thank you Kathy. :) They look strange while you make them… shoot they actually just make a person giggle at how odd it looks. hehe Enjoy and have a blessed weekend, amie sue