I AM A MASTER CANDY MAKER - Pumpkin Pie Truffles

OK, credit (should she be willing to accept it) for this effort belongs to Kerstin at CAKE BATTER AND BOWL! She recently posted the photo on the left, along with her recipe and technique for making Pumpkin Pie Truffles. Click on the photo and follow the link to her page about these delicious sounding treats. As soon as I saw them, I wanted to see what I could do. After all, I have master baker title under my belt, if this (my first attempt at candy making) works, I can proclaim myself a master candy maker! Read on, and I will let you decide...

Here's what I did...

First, of course assemble your ingredients... Here's what I used (slightly adapted from Kerstin's ingredient list)...

1/2 cup butter (two sticks)
1 cup Pumpkin pie filling
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flower
1 teaspoon salt
a big package of Almond bark (not sure how much, but as you will read, it was not enough).
several drops of orange food coloring (again, not enough, as mine came out more pink than orange).
several pieces of pecan to act as stems (If you cross your eyes and look at mine, imagine them orange you can see them as pumpkins can't you???)
AND A SECRET INGREDIENT...

I followed Kerstin;s directions...

"Mix butter, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice in a small nonstick pan and heat over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup."

But then, I also added my secret ingredient...

about 20 caramels added to the pot...
melted and mixed, making these...

Caramel Pumpkin Pie Truffles!

Armed with my secret ingredient (a secret no more), I continued to follow Kirsten's directions...

"Mix cooked pumpkin, brown sugar, flour, and salt in medium bowl until well combined. Chill dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Shape chilled dough into 15 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator while preparing chocolate."

Kirsten used white chocolate chips, instead I used what I had in the pantry which is a hunk of almond bark, other than that, I followed her instruction...

"Melt white chocolate chips in a shallow bowl on High 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds; stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Mix orange gel food coloring with the melted chocolate until smooth. Using 2 spoons, dip pumpkin balls into melted chocolate and cover evenly. Place on waxed paper and top each truffle with a pecan piece “stump”. Serve after chocolate sets, about 5 minutes. Makes 15 truffles."

I used as much of the orange coloring as I had... and made a lovely pink... ah well, only supposed to be pumpkins if you tell people they are pumpkins. As Julia Child says... "Who's to know"?

Also, I believe my Almond Bark mix was thicker than Kirsten's Chocolate chip mix. I still had about a third of the pumpkin/caramel balls left over when I ran out of bark.

BUT, that's the negatives. HERE's THE POSITIVES -

Perfect taste! They tasted of a little caramel, they tasted of a little pumpkin pie, they tasted of a little white chocolate. They tasted wonderful! So, unless I told people of what I intended them to be, instead of what they became, (say this with that Julia Child warble)...

"Who's to know"

Thanks Kirsten, Today I am a MASTER CANDY MAKER!

So today, I am pleased to pass on my award to Kerstin at CAKE BATTER AND BOWL! Here original post looked and sounded so good that I was inspired to step out of my comfort zone, add a new skill to my expanding abilities because I started blogging, and I want to honor her commitment to maintaining her wonderful blog...

So.. (THA TA TATA), I present my newly created award...


To this wonderful blogger, and remind her of the simple rules...
1) Take inspiration from or outright steal a recipe from a fellow blogger
2) Actually make the item, or make a close copy of the item
3) Blog about your efforts, giving proper credit and links to the inspiree
4)If you receive the award, be honored, as there is no greater feeling than having your efforts not just recognized, but duplicated! That is the only real rule, is to feel honored. BUT, feel free to post this in your side bar and to pass it on to one of your favorite bloggers which you have made one of their recipes.

And another BTW, I am leaving you for a bit... Not as a blogger, I have fresh posts in the can as they say, and will be posting original content each of the next few days til I get back. But I am having a bit of a family thing going on, and need to spend a week with my sainted Mother (will try to give her a cooking lesson or two, but you know Mothers). So, I will not be able to visit your sites, nor comment on the wonderful things you will be doing. I will miss you all, and will be back in a week (but remember to check back here daily for that fresh content I mentioned).

And consider serving Truffles for your Thanksgiving dinner... You will not be sorry!

And now a couple bits of advertising/reminders. I have had terrific response to The O Olive Oil contest announcement. (for me) a record number of people commented, and my second most popular post ever (that "post that must never be mentioned again" was my most popular... But you can go to by clicking HERE)). The Good folks at O Olive Oil are allowing me to give away 3 SETS (not three bottles, but three sets of bottles) of their gourmet top quality oils and vinegars. Each set is worth over $30, and $100 plus worth of oil will be given to the winners. Stop over at this post (CLICK HERE to get there), if you haven't yet, leave a comment, if you haven't yet, leave a recipe link. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO POST AN ORIGINAL RECIPE ON THE COMMENT PAGE, POST a LINK to your site, with the page you think the judges would like. right now, I only have a handful of recipes, best odds to win go for recipe posters and that is the BEST prize (one of their seasonal collections, YOUR choice). TOP TOP TOP quality, and a terrific opportunity to try their products FREE!

I mentioned several gadgets during the past week, as well as books... Pus, I am including links for Julie & Julia pre-release (and even a link for a free JULIE & JULIA shopping bag with your pre-order). Take a look at the discounts Amazon.com offers (have I mentioned I am cheap, save a little here and there and you can live and eat like a king!