Vegan Chocolate Espresso Truffle Frosting

• Vegan
• Gluten free
• Paleo

• Produce

  • 3 tbsp Pumpkin puree, canned

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/8 tsp Sea salt, fine
  • 2 cups Semi sweet chocolate chips, Mini
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

• Drinks

  • 1/2 tsp Espresso, instant ground

Found on thevegan8.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups (406 g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life )
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons canned “lite” coconut milk , room temperature (shake can well before measuring, Im sure cashew or soy milk would work too. Creamy is necessary or it will make your frosting more runny)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use 1/4 teaspoon for a peppermint flavor)
• 1/2-1 teaspoon instant ground espresso powder (I used 1 teaspoon, the more you add, the stronger the flavor and darker of a chocolate flavor it will give)
• 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, use the less watery part
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Note: You can make these as actual truffles too if you want! Just decrease the milk to only 1/2 cup and chill probably at least an hour or so, until the mixture is firm enough to scoop out into balls and not too soft. Roll them into cocoa powder, sugar or crushed nuts.

Directions

• This will make enough to decorate 12 cupcakes or one single layer cake.
• Add just the chocolate chips to a large, preferably tall bowl (for whipping later). Add them to a microwave and heat at 30 second intervals 3 times, stirring well after each 30 seconds. This helps to prevent the top burning. After the 3rd heating, add the milk (make sure it’s not cold) and heat for just 30 more seconds. At this point, stir all of the chocolate and milk together well until completely melted and smooth and no more bits left. I found this exact time heating session to be perfect to get it all smooth, melted and not overheated, but if yours is not melting after stirring a minute or so with the milk, heat it only at 10 second intervals until nearly all melted. You want to be careful not to burn the chocolate or it will ruin it.
• Now add the remaining ingredients and puree with a hand immersion blender. You can use a food processor if you don’t have one. You just want to make sure the chocolate is completely smooth.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. You have a few options now depending on the type of frosting you want. If you chill it for about 15-20 minutes only, it should be firm enough to pipe through a bag and leave a smooth, flat, decorative glaze on the cupcakes. If you chill it 30 minutes, it will be firmer to pipe out and leave a more stacked, icing style swirl texture. Chill for 45 minutes and then it should be firm enough to whip with an electric hand beater to resemble a whipped buttercream frosting look. If it’s too firm, let it sit at room temp for just a few minutes. If it’s too liquidy and not whipping up to a thick frosting texture, chill it just a few more minutes. I would suggest the 3rd option to serve to guests because it’s visually appealing. Just whip it for about a minute and it should be fluffy, it doesn’t take long. I used a piping tip, but you can cut a small corner off of a plastic baggie if you want to as well. Or, just use a knife to spread the frosting on after it’s whipped, which would work best for a full cake. Each one will firm up nicely like a soft truffle as it sits a bit at room temperature.