Festive White Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles

Very nice for a holiday goodie platter, and especially adorable if you can find the little sugar decorations shaped like tiny gingerbread men to adorn them (I think they're made by Wilton, and can usually be found in party supply stores). Fight the urge to omit the extra spices because of the gingerbread cookie crumbs -- the added spice helps to cut the sweetness of the white chocolate and gives the truffles a bit of warmth (important in all things gingerbread). I omit the nuts when I make these, so to make up the bulk, I just crush up a full 1lb box of gingersnaps. If you like the nuts in these, then just use the amount of gingersnap crumbs in the ingredient list. Sorry, I forgot to count how many truffles I ended up with when I made these, so the amount is a semi-educated guess. Cooking time is actually chilling time here, all other steps are included in the preparation time. Adapted from a recipe originally found on about.com.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Yields: 36 truffles

Ingredients

• 1  cup  white baking  chips
• 3  tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1⁄2 cup  evaporated skim milk (or whatever evaporated milk you have on hand)
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon ground ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1  cup  finely chopped  nuts (optional)
• 2 1⁄2 cups  gingersnap crumbs (approx. 12oz of gingersnaps)
• 3  cups white chocolate, melts such as Mercken's (approximate, if you run out of chocolate for dipping, you can just melt some more, or use any extra )

Directions

1. FOR THE TRUFFLE MIXTURE:
2. Melt the white chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl. I typically do this in 45 second intervals on 50% power, stirring after each interval. This should take about 3 intervals. The chips will hold their shape even once they're melted, so you'll need to stir them smooth. If you try to microwave them until they are smooth, you'll burn your chocolate.
3. Once the white chocolate is melted, mix in the corn syrup, evaporated milk and vanilla extract with a whisk until well-blended.
4. Now add the gingersnap crumbs, powdered sugar, spices, salt and chopped nuts (if using). Stir until everything is mixed well.
5. Press a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the truffle mixture and place the bowl in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. Mixture is ready to use when it feels very stiff when pressed.
6. FINAL ASSEMBLY:
7. Once the truffle mixture seems ready, leave it in the fridge while you melt the dipping chocolate. I prefer to do this in a double boiler to lessen the chance of burning, but you can do this in the microwave if you prefer, using the previously mentioned method (it will take longer than the chips because it's more chocolate).
8. While your dipping chocolate is melting, you can start rolling your truffles. Remove the bowl from the fridge and scoop your truffles using a regular teaspoon, or a #60 cookie scoop. You'll need to roll each scoop around between your hands to round and smooth them out. Place your truffles on a wax-paper lined sheet pan.
9. Bring your melted dipping chocolate pan over to your work surface. Drop each rolled truffle, one by one, in the melted chocolate. Quickly roll the truffle around to coat, then remove from the chocolate with a spoon (or a candy dipping tool, if you have one). Allow the excess coating to drip off over the pan, then carefully place the truffle back on the wax paper without rolling it over (you'll have naked spots if you allow them to roll while the coating is wet, and will need to re-dip them). These will harden up pretty quickly, so it's best to add your decorations (sugar crystals, little sugar-mold decorations, sprinkles) while your coating is still pretty wet. Don't worry if your coating hardens up too quickly for you, though, because you can always add a dab of wet coating, or redip your hardened truffles (this will just give you a thicker coating, no big deal).
10. Once fully hardened, you can place these in little confection cups for presentation. Store truffles in the fridge, but allow them to warm up a bit prior to serving.