Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles

and Martha Monday’s Luminaries!

 

I’ve made many truffles before, like my Cinnamon Chipotle Truffles, Eggnog Truffles, and Coconut Truffles, but I was looking for something a little different. So I tried some Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles to serve at an upcoming dinner party that I’m throwing. I wanted something to serve with a red wine or a port, so I used dark chocolate for these gems.

 

 I used a  bar of 70% cocoa  Artesian dark chocolate  that I got in my goodie bag from Scharffen Berger when I went to the Blogher conference in Sanfrancisco. I can’t think of a nicer way to use this delicious chocolate.

I added pumpkin pie spice to my ganache and I got a little bit of an oily residue. I just gave it a little stir a couple times as it was cooling, and it did just fine.

 

They scooped easily and then I put them in the refrigerator to chill.

 

These chocolate transfer sheets were my inspiration to make these truffles and I used them for the decorations. They turned out beautiful (in a homemade kind of way!), tasty, and perfect for sharing with a few friends. I cant wait to see what my people think of these.

 

Now for my Martha Monday Project!

 Luminaries!

These turned out so cute and were so easy!

 Brette from Martha and Me choose this weeks Martha Monday project. She gave us our choice between pot stickers and/or  Halloween Luminaries.

I picked Luminaries! But I cheated a little bit. I didn't make them according to the directions. I decided to use paper bags instead of cutting out Martha’s template. I cut out little windows in my bags and taped printed vellum sheets to the inside of the bags. Using both gold and white vellum sheets, I got the clip art from Martha Stewart. A small candle or a battery operated tea light makes them glow.

I’m going to line my deck with these for my party next weekend.

They will set the mood for truffles and red wine under the Harvest Moon! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Chocolate Truffles

(Printable Recipe)

Makes 16 truffles

Ganache:

• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream*
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 8 oz dipping chocolate wafers

Bring cream just to a boil. Turn off heat and chocolate. Let sit without stirring for 5 minutes. Stir till smooth. Add pumpkin pie spice. Let cool, stirring every 15 minutes till almost set. Scoop into balls. refrigerate till firm.

Melt chocolate wafers. Dip truffles in chocolate.

How to use a Chocolate Transfer sheet

Last Christmas was the first time I ever used chocolate transfer sheets and fell in love with them. They have every thing from snowflakes to music notes and there is a transfer for every occasion. I ordered mine on line at Country Kitchen sweet Art . A sheet measures 15 x 11.5 inches and is like a thin piece of plastic. On one side is an edible design made of food colors.

I cut mine into little squares to top my truffles. I flattened the tops a little to get a flatter surface for the transfers to adhere. You have to dip the truffle and apply the transfer design side down before the chocolate has a chance to set.

Once the chocolate sets, you just peel off the plastic.

Works like magic! I have also just spread melted chocolate on a sheet of wax paper, applied the transfer, let set and then brake it up to make a chocolate garnish on a dessert. But, I can also tell you from experience, chocolate transfers don't work on chocolate ganache. I made a cake once and poured ganache over the top. I thought it would be so pretty to have the design on top. Wrong. It was a muddled mess. I ended up making a circle of chocolate and used the transfer on it. Go check it out. Go ahead, I'll wait. Click here!

Here is what the paper looks like after peeling it off the truffle. I tried to cut the transfer sheets into circles with my circle puncher but it made straggly edges and didn't look as pretty as when I just cut them into squares. It wasted a little bit but made the finished product much nicer.

Cousins boxing the truffles for the birthday party favors!

Look at all those curls ! Lucky girls!!! It's the portugese in them.

Boxed and ready for the party.

The holidays are coming and what a perfect opportunity

to try using a chocolate transfer sheet.

So easy yet so impressive!

Chocolate Peppermint Truffle

I'm wrapping up this truffle series with the peppermint truffle.

Two trys later and I'm happy with it.

Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
The first try: I thought I would be clever and buy those green mint chips. Add butter and cream and let set up. Well, these ugly green blogs didn't set up. Not even over night in the freezer. And the color! I couldnt get pass that green.
So, I dumped out all the blobs and started over with semi-sweet chocolate. Added my butter and cream, a little peppermint extract and everybody was dancing the happy dance.

Much better.

What was I thinking?

No more green chips for me!

I got all my little boxes in a row.

They didnt hold as many as I would of liked them to.

But all in all, I think my Truffles are pretty and they are a labor of love.

Which goes hand in hand with Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup butter

1 cup heavey cream

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Melt chocolate butter and cream in microwave. Stir to blend. Add extract. Let sit in fridge for 2 hours. Roll into balls

Dip in melted dark chocolate.

Tippsey Eggnog Truffles: Part Three

If you love nutmeg, You'll love this sweet morsel. Again this recipe came from my friend April. She was nice enough to tell me the truffle recipes she had from Chocolatier. When she said Eggnog, I knew I had to try it. And I'm glad I did. This one is a winner!
This recipe was a little more intimidating then the others. When I read it through, the "Be sure not to over-mix, or filling will break and take on a grainy appearance and texture." scared me. So I did exactly what they said, and all was well! The white chocolate ganache behaved better then my dark chocolate. Different texture and it didn't melt in my hands when I rolled them. It was very nice to work with.
These truffles called for both Rum and Bourbon. But you couldn't taste the booze. There wasn't that much in them.


Look at the cute music notes on the truffles. If you haven't guessed by now, I used chocolate transfers again. I think these will make a couple of music teacher I know, very happy this Christmas.


Eggnog Truffles
Chocolatier Magazine
7 Tbsp heavy cream
1 whole nutmeg, cut in half and then quartered
14 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp bourbon
1 1/2 tsp rum
1 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Pour heavy cream into stainless steel or non reactive saucepan. Add quartered half of nutmeg, reserving other half for future use. Place pan over medium heat and bring cream to scalding point. Allow nutmeg to steep in cream about 30 minutes. Place white chocolate in bowl that fits double boiler. Position bowl over barely simmering water in double boiler. Stir regularly over very low heat until completely melted, and then remove bowl from double boiler. Take care to apply heat no longer than necessary. Gently reheat cream to scalding point. To remove nutmeg and any skin that may have formed, strain hot cream through sieve directly onto melted chocolate. Immediately add bourbon, rum and grated nutmeg,without stirring. Once all ingredients are added, gently stir until cream and flavorings are evenly incorporated and mixture is smooth. Be sure not to over-mix, or filling will break and take on a grainy appearance and texture. Turn filling into small bowl, cover tightly with plastic and refrigerate several hours or overnight, until mixture is very firm.

Dip in white chocolate.

Chocolate Chipotly Cinnamon Truffle: Part Two

Today's inspiration came from a candy bar.

A Vosges Red Fire Exotic Candy Bar.
The texture of the chocolate on the palate, the evolution of flavors in the mouth. In what order do they reveal themselves to you? Sweet cacao, fruity and acidic with spice rounding out the finish. Watch how the chili warms you after you have swallowed.
ht:vosges

I just wanted to just buy the candy bars and melt them down for the middle of the truffle. .
But at $7.00 a pop, I had to come up with an alternative. So I made my own. I first added 1/2 a teaspoon chipotly chili powder to my chocolate mixture. Do you know how scary that was? I didn't want to ruin my beautiful ganache. But it actually needed more! I ended up using 3/4 teaspoon of both cinnamon and chipotly powder. Next time I'll go for a whole teaspoon of both.

I let the chocolate mixture set in the fridge for a couple of hours but it was still really soft. It was a mess rolling them into balls but that wasn't surprising. Next time I will roll them and then let them sit in the fridge overnight before dipping.
Again because I used chocolate transfer sheets, I had to flatten the tops. They melted a bit when I dipped them.
They turned out a little bit to big and were a little sloppy looking. They didn't fit in my little paper cups very good so I think I'll have to make a second batch. The flavor you ask? I am soo happy with the results! The sweet chocolate with a hint of the spicy cinnamon and the heat of the chili's. These would go excellent with a glass of red wine.
Edit: Typing out the recipe, I realized I only used 4 tablespoons of butter. No wonder my ganache was so soft. I'm off to make that second batch. Correctly this time!

For the Ganache Filling:
12 oz. good-quality bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
4 oz. (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chipotly chili powder

Melt chocolate, butter, and cream in the microwave. Stir till smooth. Add cinnamon and chipotly powder. cool. Refrigerate till firm enough to roll into balls. Dip in melted chocolate

For the Dipping:
2 lb. good-quality bittersweet chocolate




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Coconut Truffles: Part One

Coconut truffles! One day I was inspired by April of Abbysweets.

She had made the cutest little candy turtles for a bake sale. I commented that they were the cutest little things and a conversation began. She told me about a place where she gets some of her molds. Country Kitchen SweetArt So as I was checking out the site, and I came across chocolate transfer sheets. I always wondered how those expensive chocolates with the cool designs did it. Well, come to find out, it is super easy. So I ordered five different sheets and began planning Christmas truffles. I also used Aprils recipe for Coconut Joys.
Only I dipped mine instead of drizzling chocolate over them. And because I used the transfer sheets to decorate, I had to flatten the top of my truffles.
These set up really nice and were easy to dip. I just rolled them, flattened the top with the bottom of a glass, and let them set up in the fridge. Dipped them in chocolate, placed a piece of transfer sheet on top, and let them set up again. Pull of the transfer sheet and...
DA-Dah! Like magic!
Look how cute. I'm so excited they turned out so well! They are excellent in taste and appearance if I may say so myself.
My daughter gave me an A+ on the coconut ones. I didn't fare so well with the next flavor in her opinion. But I absolutely loved them. Stay tuned for part two! Chocolate Chipotly Cinnamon Truffle.





So a great big Thank You to April for your friendship, conversation, and the great link to Country Kitchen SweetArt!
This one is for you! Enjoy!




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