Chocolate Cake Truffles

Sometimes when you bake a cake, it comes out of the oven with a top that is slightly rounded - not perfectly flat. So if you want to have a perfectly flat top on your cake, you'll need to trim the top with a sharp knife to level it. I don't think good cake should ever be wasted. Please don't throw it away! Make some cake truffles. I promise you'll love them.

Chocolate Cake Truffles

1 1/2 cups crumbled chocolate cake

2 teaspoons chocolate buttercream frosting (or any frosting of your choice)

8 ounces chocolate, chopped

2 teaspoons Crisco vegetable shortening (optional)

First, make sure your hands are clean. I've found that the best way to make cake truffles is to just use your hands for all of the crumbling, mixing, and forming.

In a large bowl, use your hands to crumble the cake into little bits.

Add a small amount of frosting. Start with about a teaspoon or two and get it mixed in well, using your fingers. This part takes a little practice. You have to find the right consistency. When the mixture will hold the shape of a ball easily when squeezed in your hand, you've got it right.

    

I use a melon baller to get consistent amounts of the mixture, work it into a small ball, and place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. You could also use a teaspoon and just roll the mixture in your hands to form the balls.

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl. You can do this by either melting it in a double boiler (a bowl set over a small pot of simmering water) or melt in your microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each interval.

HINT: If your chocolate is melted, but seems kind of thick, you can add a small amount of crisco to thin it. Be sure to stir it in until it is completely melted. You'll notice that the chocolate will get smoother and thinner. Add about a half teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Using a fork, carefully place each ball into the chocolate and turn gently to coat. Remove the ball from the chocolate using the fork and allow excess chocolate to drip off. Carefully place the truffle back on the sheet to harden.

I like to add a little drizzle of chocolate to the top of each truffle. It hides and imperfections in the chocolate and makes it look just a little more fancy. Just place some of the melted chocolate in a small ziplock bag. Snip a very small hole in one corner and gently sqeeze some chocolate out into a drizzle.

You can refrigerate if your truffles are too soft. But they will also keep just fine at room temperature once the chocolate sets.  

You can use any combination of cake, frosting, chocolate coating you like. Let me know what you try! Enjoy!!

This is also the basic idea for cakepops, you just add a stick to make the cake truffle turn into a cakepop. Hopefully I'll have some to share with you soon.