Pumpkin Tangerine Chocolate Truffles

Sooner or later I promise I will get to a healthier selection of recipes, but for the time being its going to be a little bit on the side of later.  At least you can rest easy knowing that this is my last Christmas cookie recipe!  Yes, there were other cookies on my plate, but they were either tried and true favorites or, quite honestly, the pictures were way less than stellar or I wasn't a big fan of the cookies themselves.

That's right, I failed miserably and I will (slightly hesitantly) confidently admit that.  I. Failed.  I tried making "bulls-eye cookies," alternating rings of red, green and white sugar cookie dough rolled up and cut into medallions.  To jazz it up a little, I thought I might roll the logs in chocolate sprinkles or crushed up candy canes.  Chocolate sprinkles were a good idea (they held up to the temperature of the oven) but the crushed candy canes melted everywhere.  This made the edge of the cookies sticky and to add insult to injury, the outer ring of those cookies were green.  You can guess what that looked like… toxic green Christmas sludge cookies.  Yum.  As I've mentioned earlier, my oven is a little finicky and sometimes things come out burnt even if I baked them 5 minutes shorter than the recommended time.  Ironically, these cookies were way under-baked even though I kept them in for almost 8 minutes longer than suggested.  I bet you really want to keep reading my blog now, but hey, I think admitting my defeat makes me a more credible source, no?

You aren't here to read about my failures,  you want to eat with your eyes and find delicious recipes!  Cut to these Pumpkin Tangerine Chocolate Truffles, in the words of an unnamed and slightly annoying Food Network television personality "DE-LISH" (I can't believe I just said that, but this is post of banishing norms).  I had originally intended to use a recipe I found on Annie's Eats, but I soon realized I had no oranges nor did I have any white chocolate.  Instead, I had over a pound of dark chocolate and more tangerines than I could ever need.

I was slightly disappointed that the truffles didn't have a stronger pumpkin flavor, but I did like that they took on the flavor of the traditional Christmas chocolate orange.  Even though the pumpkin flavor was more of a afterthought, the puree did help contribute some 'lightness' to the texture.  If you want to make the original recipe, head on over to Annie's Eats: http://annies-eats.net/2010/12/08/pumpkin-spice-truffles/



Pumpkin Tangerine Chocolate Truffles


Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 5 oz)
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
• Pinch of tangerine zest
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• For dipping:
• about 16 oz. chopped dark chocolate, melted

For garnish:

• Additional graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. To make the truffle filling, melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Add the pumpkin, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and cream cheese. Mix well until completely blended and smooth.  Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator or freezer until it has thickened up enough to scoop and roll into balls (about 1 hour).
2. Scoop the filling mixture and roll into balls, about 1 inch in diameter.  Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and let chill until firm, about 2 hours.
3. When you are ready to dip the truffles, melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.  Melt the chocolate and whisk with a fork to ensure smoothness.  Carefully dip one of the balls of filling into the chocolate. Turn quickly to coat and balance on the tines of a fork to shake off the excess.  Transfer to a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with additional graham cracker crumbs, if desired.  Repeat with the remaining filling balls.  Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and chill until the coating is set.