Monster Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles

A fun and delicious treat for Halloween made with a filling of smooth and spiced pumpkin cheesecake. Plus, it’s fun for the kids to help make these Monster Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles! When it’s time to decorate, the more hands, the better! Truffles must be done relatively fast before the chocolate sets; nothing sticks to it anymore. So make your little sous-chefs help decorate them with googly eyes and sprinkle while you dip the truffles in chocolate!

The Filling

The pumpkin cheesecake filling’s texture is smooth, almost airy, and not overly sweet. The sour touch of the cheese and pumpkin spices comes through beautifully! I added one special ingredient to the pumpkin spice mix to make it more vivid orange: turmeric! It is a lovely and healthy spice that gives tons of colour but very little taste. This way, you’ll get a gorgeous bright orange filling for your Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles. This part is purely aesthetic, so no worries if you do not have turmeric powder in your pantry.

Chocolate Tempering

Tempering chocolate ensures a smooth, glossy finish for your truffles. But no worries if it’s not perfect because, for Halloween monsters, there is no obligation to be perfectly smooth. Here is the specific technique to melt correctly and a few recommendations:

• Ensure the bowl you use (in metal or glass) is larger than the pot of water underneath and doesn’t touch the water directly.
• Ensure the bowl is perfectly dry because usage, even a single drop of water, could make your chocolate turn.
• Use quality chocolate with pure cacao, and avoid chocolate chips made to stay intact; they have stabilizers that prevent them from melting correctly.
• Slow and Steady is the key! Keep the bowl moving up and down from the shimmering water pot to prevent overheating, and continue moving it with a spatula to prevent it from sticking or burning.
• If you have a candy thermometer, it is better to use dark chocolate: Melt to 115-120°F (46-49°C), then cool to 88-90°F (31-32°C). Milk or white chocolate: Melt to 110-115°F (43-46°C), then cool to 86-88°F (30-31°C).
• Try keeping the chocolate warm to dip it. If it gets too cold, reheat it gently.

The Technique

Here are a few points to make everything goes according to plan without hassle:

• To make them perfectly round, form the ball with a scoop or oiled hands, and freeze the balls for 30 minutes before dipping them into the warm chocolate. You’ll make a badly formed ball at first, but it’s normal; let them set in the freezer, and then you’ll be able to create a perfect ball with each of them! However, since the filling is cold, it will make the chocolate set faster, so each time you do a dip, be ready to decorate right away otherwise, the eyes and sprinkles won’t stick.
• Use a spoon to turn them in the chocolate so your warm fingers won’t melt and deform the balls.
• Let them drip their excess chocolate on a grid to make them as round as possible, or on parchment is fine, but they won’t be perfectly round.

Decoration

Of course, you can buy these googly eyes, but they can be expensive, and sometimes you want a different size or form. Why not make some ahead of time with the kids? Here is the link to my three methods of googly eyes, depending on what is in your pantry. Two versions are made of sugar but take longer to set, and a chocolate version is ready almost instantly. Don’t forget to decorate the bites when they come off the chocolate dip.