Old World Sugarplums

Veghead's Note:

From nourished kitchen blog on foodbuzz.com The sugar plum recipe below calls for soaking walnuts overnight in slightly salty warm water – a traditional process that not only improves flavor by releasing some of the nuts’ bitter tannins into the water, but also improves digestion of these foods by neutralizing enzyme inhibitors naturally present in nuts and seeds; moreover, the simple process also helps to facilitate the degradation of food phytate – a naturally occurring antinutrient which binds minerals in the digestive tract preventing your body from reaping the full complement of minerals offered by nuts, seeds, grains and legumes.

• Total Time: 12 hrs
• Prep Time: 12 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 36 sugarpl ...

• 1 cup shelled walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
• 1 orange, zest of
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 cup chopped pitted dates
• 1/2 cup chopped unsulphured apricot
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted prunes
• powdered unrefined unbleached cane sugar or unsweetened desiccated coconut

Directions:

1. Toss walnuts into a mixing bowl with one-half teaspoon unrefined sea salt and add warm water to cover by two inches. Allow the nuts to soak, covered, in salty water overnight between eight and twelve hours.
2. After the nuts have soaked between eight and twelve hours, drain them in a colander and rinse them well. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
3. Toss the soaked nuts into a food processor with the zest of one orange, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coriander as well as chopped pitted dates, unsulphured apricots and pitted prunes.
4. Pulse the mixture three to four times to combine, then process the dried fruit, walnuts and spices until a paste forms – about four or five minutes.
5. Transfer the paste to a mixing bowl and form the sugar plums by rolling about two tablespoons of the paste in the palms of your hands until a round ball forms. Dredge the sugar plum in powdered unrefined cane sugar or unsweetened dessicated coconut.