Pumpkin Ganachness- The Recipe for the below Pictures!

This is Rick. Those who know me know that confections are a small hobby of mine, and that making chocolates is a passion. The scent of a freshly opened package, the mixture of sweet and bitter flavors, the perfectly smooth texture...chocolate, I'm convinced, was brought to earth by divine influence.

Not only do I love chocolate, but I also love pumpkin, especially pumpkin pie. Given that this is the time of year when pumpkin make up an increasingly large potion of our daily food pyramid, I figured that there had to be some way of infusing that amazing pumpkin pie flavor into a seasonal bonbon.

The difficulty with using pumkin puree is that the liquid content of the ganache (the truffle center) increases dramatically, necessitating a decrease in cream volume. The liquid of a ganache is usually maintained in a 1:3 ratio with the chocolate (a little less with white chocolate). This requires that the pumpkin puree must be heated along with the cream, as the liquid is the source of the heat needed to melt the chocolate. Using white chocolate as the ganache base sweetens the pumpkin mixture, and sour cream provides a thick, rich flavor balancer to the sweetness of the chocolate. Even with all of these amazing elements, the ganache was still a little too soft, and required refrigeration in order for the ganache to firm up.

I hope this recipe is as enjoyable for you as it was for me!

Pupkin Pie Truffles

“Pumpkin Pie” Ganache
1 oz. heavy cream

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

⅛ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground ginger

8-9 oz. white chocolate, chips or coarsely chopped (add more if ganache has too much liquid)
3 oz. pumpkin pie filling/puree
2 oz. crème fraîche or sour cream

½ oz. unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Cocoa powder/powdered sugar blend for rolling

1. Heat cream, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger over medium until boiling; do not burn.
2. Stir in sour cream and pumpkin puree, and continue to heat until bubbling
3. Immediately pour hot pumpkin/cream mixture over white chocolate, and let sit for 5 min.
4. Wisk chocolate into cream mixture until fully melted.
5. Add butter and mix slowly until fully melted and incorporated.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator until firm enough to roll into balls.
7. Pipe or scoop ganache into balls and enrobe in dark chocolate.
8. Option 1: Immediately roll dipped truffles in cocoa power mixture until evenly coated.
9. Option 2: Immediately set on parchment/silpat; if desired, top each truffle with a cocoa dusted pumkin seed (See below).
10. Allow to cool completely before serving