Friday, November 12, 2010

White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Cups


I'm not usually one to gush.  My emotions usually stay fairly well in check with the occasional real high or the incidental low, but for the most part I'm pretty darn straight and even.  However... today I'm going to gush!!!  WOW!  Wow!! Wow!!!  White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Cups are amazing!  Awesome!  Spectacular!  Dazzling!  Fabulous!  Magnificent!!!  And I could go on!

What a treat these little packages are.  Pumpkin Pie spiced filling surrounded with a crisp outer white chocolate shell and topped with decorative, seasonal sprinkles.  A bit labor intensive, but most definitely worth the effort.

Searching numerous stores for "foil lined" mini muffin cups proved unsuccessful, and I ended up experimenting with a last minute find of mini silicone cups.  The little cups worked like a charm and actually brought me around to appreciating the reusable factor as I'm thinking these treats will be oft repeated.  A dollop of melted white chocolate is spooned into the cup and swirled, then painted up the sides.  I rested mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes and the hardened shells popped out like a charm.

The filling whisks together in a flash, but actually filling the cups takes a bit of time and some care is needed with the fragile chocolate.  A little bit of a learning curve had some of my cups a bit lumpy on top or filling showing due to incorrect coverage, but now that I've got my groove down I know the next batch, which will grace our Thanksgiving table, will be beautiful in addition to delicious.




White Chocolate Pumpkin Cups
adapted from Healthy Food for Living


12 oz. good quality white chocolate (I used Guittard chips... they melted like a dream!)
1 Tbs non-trans fat shortening (I used Earth Balance Shortening)
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese (I used Trader Joe's whipped)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch cloves
pinch allspice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (7 sheets)
Seasonal sprinkles or edible decorations

12 silicone or foil lined mini muffin cups or other small silicone cups (I found a silicone tray with 18 small squares for candy making, a bit smaller than the mini muffin cups, and darn cute as well!)

Melt white chocolate and shortening in the top of a double boiler over medium heat on the stove, stirring constantly until completely melted.  Remove from heat.

Using a small spoon, place about 3/4 of a teaspoon of the melted chocolate in a reusable silicone mini cup or into a foil lined mini muffin cup, tilt the cups to swirl the chocolate to cover as much as possible.  If necessary, use a paint brush to paint up the sides of the cups with extra chocolate.  The chocolate should be thick enough that you can not see through it.  You should have left over chocolate when all the cups are done.

Place the cups onto a tray and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until completely hardened.  Remove from freezer and peel the silicone or papers off of the hardened shells.  (This step may be completed days before filling!)

In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese, pumpkin, spices and the vanilla, whisk or beat until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar and whisk until combined.  Stir in the graham cracker crumbs.

Using a small spoon, gently divide the mixture among the chocolate cups filling to just below the ridge.  Smooth the tops to create an even surface.

Re-heat the remaining melted white chocolate if necessary.  Spoon a small amount of melted chocolate over the smoothed filling surfaces, making sure the chocolate reaches all the way to the edges to seal the cups.  Sprinkle with decorative seasonal sprinkles or edible decorations.

Chill, to harden the tops.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Remove from refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.  Enjoy!




 

52 comments:

  1. You're killing me! I love these. Sounds amazing and looks fabulous. Please fedex me a dozen pronto!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yum and more Yum!! These look AWESOME and I love this surrounded by any type of chocolate. I am saving this recipe and hope to make them some time soon!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These look so good! What a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOVE THESE...these will be a great addition to my Thanksgiving snack table!! I can likely make these a few days ahead (like next weekend), yes?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kim, not only are those little cups beautiful, they sound positively delicious!! I mean how could you not love them, they would certainly be welcome at any table!
    Cheers
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm in a swoon! How positively dreamy! I am SO making these for the holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  7. These look sooooo good! I love the combination of white chocolate and pumpkin...I can almost taste them through your pictures :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great treat to bring to a hostess along with a pumpkin pie. Thnx for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  9. My son would flip over these, he is a white chocolate lover. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yet again you've published another recipe that has so many ingredients I love together! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. These cupcakes look so elegant. i love the white glaze on them, makes them very festive.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kim - I'm a total gusher so these would probably make me have a heart attack! I'm up for the challenge, though! I can't wait to make these - I may even try them with dark or milk chocolate! Better yet, can I just come to YOUR house for Thanksgiving?

    -Veronica

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lisa - a dozen overnighted!!

    Thanks Debbie! I hadn't thought about regular chocolate, I bet it would be great!

    Thanks, The Blog!

    Wendy, I don't know how far in advance would be OK, we've had them 24 hours and they are just like fresh. I will keep trying one a day for you!!

    Thanks Dennis! They are divine!!

    Reeni, perfect description!

    Thanks Allison and Taylor!

    Mary, excellent idea!

    Gitte, he will love these! I haven't really worked with white chocolate before, these were great!!

    Thanks Stephanie!

    Thanks Lizzie and Letizia!

    Katerina, for Christmas they would be great with red and yellow sprinkles!!

    Enchanted, I can't wait to hear how you like them!! We'll expect you about 4:00??!! =)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your recipe didn't include a step for the pumpkin. Where does that fit in?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese, pumpkin, spices and the vanilla" ...
      It happens to me all the time that I read too fast and can't find where one of the ingredients fit in... ;-)

      Delete
  15. Nice, I like the white chocolate with the pumpkin idea, Kristen just suggested that to me today! I have to be on the look out for one of those molds! I can't wait to eat tons of pumpkin desserts!
    -Gina-

    ReplyDelete
  16. Liese, add it at the same time as the cream cheese and spices. I changed it above and spelled it out!!! Hope that helps! :)

    Gina, I found a mold at a little kitchen shop, it's brown silicone with little 1 inch squares. About 16 per mat. I think I prefer the squares!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm so glad you enjoyed the white chocolate pumpkin pie cups! Yours look fantastic :). I think I need to make another batch sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  18. These look amazing! What a great idea, the joy of pumpkin pie minus the soggy crust plus chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow, these really caught my eye! They look like trouble, but the kind that's worth getting into :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. My good heavens girl these look amazing. I gotta have dessert. This is making my sweet tooth even WORSE.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a fun little pumpkin treat.
    Mimi

    ReplyDelete
  22. What an unusual and amazing little treat. I am so impressed!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. These look so yummy! I love pumpkin season!

    ReplyDelete
  24. This post made me crave dessert! Holy delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I saw these on foodgawker and they nearly blew my mind just looking at them. Holy schmoley, they look delicious. I am saving the recipe for a future treat.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Pumpkin cakes covered in white chocolate? I'm in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh, Kim, thank you for sharing another awesome recipe! I can't wait to try these out :-)

    ReplyDelete
  28. These are sooooo cute! You've got me thining how delicious these would be with a little ginger-cookie crunch....hmmmm.

    Thanks for a great post!

    ReplyDelete
  29. We made these today! Something happened to the white chocolate when melting -- so there were difficulties - and we had to melt regular choc chips to fill in the bottom of them - but they are really great!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Zoe, I have stayed away from anything with melted white chocolate for years. In the past I've had the chocolate melt into a sticky blob that was unusable. The Guittard chocolate is the first one that I've tried that worked!! Melted smooth and creamy. Love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Check out my post! I took a picture of the final product! (It is already a crowd favorite!)

    ReplyDelete
  32. These little cups are so creative & cute and there's pumpkin pie filling in them besides.

    ReplyDelete
  33. These are like the ones in fairy tales. So good to be real! Lovely treats for any occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  34. These look terrific and completely cute! Love the mini things. Perfect with pumpkin and white chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  35. These look amazing!! Another fabulous recipe that I going to have to make! Yummy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. All these fabulous pumpkin recipes and I'm going to miss Thanksgiving since I'll still be in Peru. I may have to have Thanksgving dinner for Christmas this year.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Oh my goodness they are just perfect! They are so gorgeous and I bet they taste even better than they look...thanks so much for sharing Kim!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thanks for the recipe! I made these tonight and they are DELISH!!! I had to double the filling recipe to have enough and now I have some of the filling left over....thinking it would be good spread onto apple slices or gingersnap cookies....this is a KEEPER!

    ReplyDelete
  39. my kids will surely love to eat this white chocolate pumpkin pie

    ReplyDelete
  40. Oh my word those look beyond incredible!!!! I love the combination of white chocolate and pumpkin, what a great idea. Not only do they look delicious but they're absolutely beautiful as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  41. WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT!!!!!!!

    Now I need the equipment to make these!! Omg Omg!

    ReplyDelete
  42. These are adorable, a perfect treat to make with the kids!

    ReplyDelete
  43. These are INSANE! I am just about hopping out of my chair! I can't wait to make them!

    ReplyDelete
  44. they are so cute and yet a killer, don't know anyone who could resist the temptation.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I could easily devour these! Wow, they look wonderful! I've been looking for some other little bite to serve at Thanksgiving and this is calling my name...and loudly! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  46. I tried these for the first time this week and I added some cinnamon and a dash of pure vanilla to the melted white chocolate. That gives the chocolate a bit of colour and also a touch more flavour that goes well with the pumpkin.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments make our hearts sing!