AND, quick announcement - big threshold crossed, 9,000 Steem Power!!

It could have been with my favorite flowers sprouting up in the yard, or possibly with one of the sporadic hail showers that I love so much this time of year, but nope, it was with bugs that Spring finally decided to announce to me it’s arrival this year.

More specifically, it was with this ginormous beetle banging against my window last night, attracted by the light no doubt, that the season decided to tell me it was ready to stop being so fickle and end the cold-shoulder treatment it’s had going on. Wouldn’t you know it? I mean, wasn’t it just last weekend that I was saying how I hoped the weather would stay cold a little longer so that our holiday week would feel like it’s supposed to in November? It’s not like I was dreaming of a white Thanksgiving or anything outrageous like that. Although when we lived in northern Idaho there was a high probability snow this early and I loved it. But no, I just wanted a tiny second longer of the mild cold that was already lingering way past its life expectancy. Was that too much to ask? I guess I shouldn’t open my big mouth when I’m hoping for something like that.

So yeah, I had this huge bowl of homemade pumpkin puree to use and a bunch of things I wanted to use it for. The first thing I made was my family’s favorite pumpkin bread, but I’m going to be straight with you, only half the gang is into the pumpkin stuff so I ended up with way too much of it at once. When that happens with something it always makes my wheels spin about how to use it because I love to re-purpose a great recipe. Yep, and as I said we had way too much pumpkin bread so my immediate inspiration was cake balls. It’s been way too long since I made them last and they are so much fun during the Holidays.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. Most every time, I cross post on my personal blog which you can find in my INTRO POST.

For these I wanted to highlight my slight addiction to making anything and everything with a salty/sweet contrast. I figured this week it’s likely some of you already have extra pumpkin bread on hand from your own recipes, but if not then I’ve included my own. These would be great for so many things guys. For example, gifting, sharing, and um EATING! Don’t be surprised when they disappear.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: about 36 truffles

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
cups powdered sugar
vanilla extract
whole milk
1 1/2 cups crushed snack pretzels
4 cups of your favorite pumpkin bread or cake, in cubes (or recipe follows)
200g (about 1 1/2 cups) white chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup additional crushed snack pretzel pieces

Pumpkin Cake:

Instructions

A. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream butter with 1 cup powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and milk and mix until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute until light and fluffy.
B. Use two forks or just your hands to crumble up the cake cubes. Add the crumbs to the mixing bowl along with the pretzel pieces and mix until just combined. You should have a thick dough-like mixture.
C. Use a tablespoon or dough scoop to spoon out balls that are about 1 inch in diameter (any size is fine if you want them bigger). Drop them onto a tray lined with parchment and place in the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.
D. Once the balls are chilled, melt the white chocolate and butter in a double boiler and dip each of the truffles into it and place back on the tray. After every few truffles sprinkle the additional pretzel pieces on top before the chocolate has hardened. E. After dipping, scrape any extra white chocolate into a fine tipped pastry bag and drizzle little it over the truffles to finish them. Allow them to completely harden. Store in an airtight container at room temp for up to one week or in fridge if keeping them longer.