CARAMEL Spiced RUM BROWNIE TRUFFLES
1 box dark chocolate or fudge brownie mix (I like Ghiradellis best), plus ingredients called for on box
1 TB dark unsweetened cocoa powder..............................2 tsp. dark chocolate syrup
1 tsp. instant coffee (this intensifies the chocolate flavor)
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1 TB spiced rum..........................................................................2 tsp. caramel syrup
1/2 tsp. rum extract (to intensify actual rum without adding too much liquid)
OPTIONAL: 2 TB pumpkin puree..........................................2 TB flour (if adding pumpkin puree)
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CHOCOLATE GANACHE
1 good quality chocolate bar (semi-sweet, dark, or unsweetened)
(NOTE: This Lindt 90% Cocoa Supreme Dark bar has only 3 g. sugar per 4 squares, so it would have negligible sugar per muffin or cookie)
probably about 1/4 to 1/2 cup half-and-half (depends on size of your chocolate bar)
I use a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup and put the chocolate bar in there (broken into pieces or squares). Heat for 45 seconds in the microwave. Stir and see if it's melted through ~ if not, put back in for another 15 seconds. Take it out and stir with a small spoon, until all the chocolate is melted.
Now, gradually add in the half-and-half (stirring or whisking constantly). It WILL seize up (harden), but just add more half-and-half and keep stirring. After about 4 additions of half-and-half, it should be nice and smooth, and thick enough to spread (add a touch more half-and-half, if you want to drizzle it).
After I'm done using it, I put all of the leftover ganache (use a rubber scraper to get it all) into a small, covered glass container. When I want to use it again, take off the top and microwave for about 25 seconds. Stir and use. (I usually tape a label on the top because I have so many extra frostings in my refrigerator ~ but if you have "chocoholics" in the house, you might want to skip the label or label it something else because this IS delicious with a spoon right out of the refrigerator! it tastes like fudge.)
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DECORATIONS:
Decorator icing in tubes ~ M&Ms ~ Holiday sprinkles
bon-bon papers
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Make the brownies per package instructions (using the least amount of time indicated, so that they're softer); cool until warm enough to handle (don't need to be totally cooled). Then dump the pan of them into a large bowl and crumble them up with your hands. Add the rum, rum extract, and caramel syrup and mix it all together well with your hands until it's mushy and sticks together well. (If it's too dry, add a splash more rum or caramel syrup. If it's too sticky, add more unsweetened cocoa powder.)
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and set on the counter. I used a heaping very small cookie scoop (about the size of a melon baller) to make balls (and rolled them tightly in the palm of my hand); then put the balls on the cookie sheet. When all the balls are made, put the cookie sheet into the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (or the freezer for about 10 minutes), while you clean up and make the ganache.
Take out the cooled cake balls and set the ganache next to them on your counter. The next step is a little messy, and I haven't found the perfect way to do this yet. I use 2 long iced tea spoons ~ 1 to dip each ball into the ganache and the other to spoon more ganache over each ball while it's in the ganache. Then hold the covered ball up over the dish of ganache and let the excess drip off. Slide it off the spoon back onto the waxed paper, and proceed with the rest of the cake balls. (You might want to dip the cake balls into the ganache on a fork, so it drips off easier, but I found that the tines of the fork leaves indentations in the bottom of the cake ball.) When they're all done, put the cookie sheet back into the refrigerator to harden the ganache up before you decorate the tops.
Depending on the size of the balls, you could get as many as 75 balls.