When it comes to drinks that work well with chocolate, rum has to be one of the greatest partners.

Whether it is an aged sipping rum alongside a piece of 100% Cocoa bar or you simply love to add a splash to your favourite bakes, we recommend you experiment this summer ahead of National Rum Day on the 16th August.

To provide a bit of inspiration, we’ve linked up with Happy Skin Kitchen and Guyana’s amazing rum brand El Dorado to create these utterly indulgent, super chocolatey truffles.

The combination of silky coconut milk, rich dark chocolate, gooey dates and aged rum means these truffles are the ultimate chocolate treat. They are also ideal to make in advance as you can store them in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk from a tin

200g of medjool dates – the softer the better

75g of MIA 75% dark chocolate

2 tbsp of maple syrup

2 tbsp of El Dorado Rum – 12 year old

3 tbsp of raw cacao powder

1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste

For the coating:

1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts or any other nut of your choice

1/4 cup of raw cacao powder

1/2 cup of cacao nibs

Method

• Pit the dates and place in a bowl. Cover them with the El Dorado 12 year old rum and let them sit for at least 30 minutes.
• In a small pan add in the coconut milk, dark chocolate, maple syrup and vanilla bean paste.
• Keep whisking the mixture on a very low heat (to prevent from burning and sticking to the bottom) until the chocolate has completely melted and you have a silky and smooth mixture.
• Add the soaked dates and the rum to a food processor together with the coconut milk chocolate.
• Add in the cacao powder and blitz until you have a smooth, thick and sticky kind of paste. You might need to scrape the sides of the food processor a few times and then blitz again.
• Place the truffle dough into the fridge to set for at least 2 hours or until it’s almost solid.
• Once the mixture has firmed up, using a tablespoon start to roll into a balls.
• Roll the balls between your hands and cover them in a coating of your choice.
• Repeat until you have used all the mixture.
• Store the truffles in a an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks.