Our daughter turned one yesterday and I have a few photos that I would love to share with you.

We had such a lovely day and I managed to only cry once….when everyone was running late for the party and I had a little ‘moment’, but then everyone arrived and the baby couldn’t believe that the house was full of so much laughter and joy and that there were even more presents!

She loved her day so much and was thrilled to wake up from her nap to a birthday table and a big cake and balloons. I would love to say that my cake captivated her, but honestly the balloons were a huge hit. We kept things simple with a big play area strung with bunting and then a table filled with popcorn, chocolate truffles, bowls of berries and little apple bites. We had coffee and fritz apfelschorle to drink our of liberty print beakers. The kids crawled and toddled and played happily for two hours and then we packed a happy toddler (!!!!!!) into the bath and into bed. It was such a happy, cosy affair. It was filled with new friends and people our daughter adores, honestly we couldn’t have asked for anything more.

One of the big hits of the afternoon were my three ingredient chocolate truffles. These are a golden oldie in our house and I can whip them up with my eyes closed. They were a constant during the exhausted, ravenous first months of breast feeding and they also are a perfect pre workout bite. They are a simple mix of walnuts, dates and cocoa and I then dip them in melted chocolate for extra deliciousness. They are a real treat as they lift your spirits but also deliver a lot of nutrients per bite. The walnuts are packed with brain healthy fats and dates are a fantastic source of fibre as well as the anti inflammatory mineral magnesium. They are suitable for little ones of 12 months and upwards as they contain both cocoa and nuts, which can be allergens and I have to say that they were happily gobbled up by the 15months olds and the 2.5year olds yesterday!

Ingredients
12 walnut halves
4 medjool dates
2 tsp raw cocoa

Pulse the walnuts & the cocoa in a food processor until you have a fine crumb
Add in the dates & pulse until a sticky dough forms
Roll the dough into balls & either place in the fridge or dip in melted raw chocolate first and roll in toppings of your choice

NB  – to make the raw chocolate all you need to do is melt 50g cocoa butter with 3tbsp raw cocoa