Vilca balls - an award winning energy ball recipe
As I type this sentence, we are now well and truly into my Raw Food & Soul Adventures Retreat in Vilcabamba, Ecuador.
Every day has been jam packed with adventure, workshops, excursions, laughter, detox, yoga, meditation and food, glorious raw food!
Something in particular, which was a heap of fun for everyone- also happened to be the activity during which I came to the conclusion, that we have a group of creative geniuses on our hands…
An energy ball competition!
First, I had everyone pull a team name out of a 'hat'.
Teams were either Macadamia, Pumpkin Seed, Walnut, Sunflower Seed, Almond or Brazil Nut.
Then I introduced all the ingredients that everyone would get the chance to play with. These included everything from Goji berries and Dates, to a whole variety of Superfood powders, like Baobab, Acai, Spirulina, Barley grass, Violet Fig powder, Raspberry powder and about 15 others.
They were to be judged on taste as well as presentation and everyone was encouraged to forage through my parents' garden for decorations.
Plate decoration in process:
Energy ball mixing in process:
The teams then presented their recipe to the group.
And then everybody tasted and casted one vote for the best decorated plate and one vote for the best tasting ball:
I'm only glad I didn't have to make that decision, I would've struggled big time! Just take a look at all the creativity that went on:
I've no idea how they managed to choose with all that variety, but we had a clear winner on all accounts:
The gorgeous Sue, Suzanne and Bill wowed all 17 participants with their taste pairing. And luckily for us, they were only happy to share their 'Vilca Balls' recipe with Better Raw readers too!
VILCA BALLS
Makes 30 small balls
1 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cup dates, soaked 2-8 hours
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup Goji berries
1 Tbsp Acai berry powder
2 Tbsp Spirulina
Desiccated coconut for rolling in
-Put all the ingredients, apart from desiccated coconut, into your food processor and process until well combined.
-Roll into equal sized balls and coat in coconut.
-Serve right away or dehydrate for 5 hours so they last longer and get a dense chewy texture.