While recently browsing the delicious recipes featured on Noble Pig Vineyard & Winery’s food blog, I stumbled upon a recipe for Zinfandel Port Balls, a yummy dessert that requires absolutely no baking, but still combines two of my favorite things: chocolate and wine. So with extra downtime over the recent Christmas holiday, my boyfriend and I decided to give the port ball recipe a try.
Despite being a somewhat messy cooking experience (due to the abundance of cookie crumbs and sticky dark corn syrup), they were very easy and quick to make. At first, the taste reminded us of uncooked brownie batter, but the texture was smooth and there was a nice hint of wine. Next time, we plan to increase the amount of cookies or decrease the amount of corn syrup to help the balls retain their roundness longer…ours melted onto the plate after a few hours!
Zinfandel Port Balls
Ingredients:
1 package (12 oz.) vanilla sandwich cookies
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 cup pecans, whole
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup Zinfandel Port or other Port
1/2 cup powdered sugar
In a food processor, mix vanilla wafers, cocoa powder and 1 cup whole pecans until fine crumbs form. Add Port and corn syrup to the crumb mixture and mix again until blended. Scoop out the very sticky mixture into a bowl and add 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans. Mix in pecans with a spoon until fully incorporated. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on parchment paper, then roll each ball in powdered sugar and place on a nice dish.
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