Chocolate Cake Truffles

Ever since I first laid eyes on Bakerella’s blog, I’ve wanted to make these cake truffles (or cake balls, as she refers to them).  Bite size pieces of cake covered in chocolate!  How can you go wrong?

I decided that these would be the perfect contribution to our holiday dessert potluck at work.  Bite sized treats always go over well, since they’re easy to grab and don’t require hunting down the necessary utensil.  Plus, cake truffles look fancy and are super easy to make!

I was a little intimidated at first, since this requires dipping the cake mixture in melted chocolate.  It did get a little messy, but was actually quite a bit easier than I had anticipated.  I bought a bag of dark chocolate candy melts at Michael’s, and supplemented it with my favorite Ghirardelli baking chips since they taste so much better!

So, let’s get started:

Bake a 2 layer cake of your choice (chocolate was my choice), and allow to cool completely.  Whip up a batch of frosting (I used buttercream).  Crumble the cooled cake into the bowl with the frosting.  Mix well.

Dig in with your hands to form the truffles.  You could also use a small scoop for this part if you wish.  I used my hands since I like to think of baking as a hands-on activity, and I was able to get the truffles really round that way.

Line up the truffles on a wax paper-lined baking sheet.  Place them in the freezer for an hour or two, until they are firm.  Alternatively, you can refrigerate them.  In that case you’ll have to leave them in the fridge for a few hours.

Melt the chocolate according to package directions.  I used the microwave at 50% power, for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between.  The easiest way to dip the truffles is with a fork so that the extra chocolate can drip off as you remove the truffle from the chocolate.

Place on wax paper to cool.  I tried placing the truffles on a cooling rack over some wax paper, but the chocolate hardened around the cooling rack and pulled the truffles apart when I tried to remove them.  Luckily I had only done a few truffles when I realized this.  If you allow them to cool and harden on wax paper, they will peel right off.

You can use any cake and frosting combination you would like.  The combination I used is below.  This chocolate cake recipe is currently my favorite.  It’s dense and moist, which made the truffles very soft in the center.

This recipe made 54 truffles.

Hershey’s Collector’s Cocoa Cake
From Hershey’s
Yield: One 2-layer cake

3/4 cup butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water

Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare 8-inch or 9-inch pans by spraying with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in eggs and vanilla, beating on medium speed for about one minute.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the water to the butter mixture, beating after each addition.  Mix until well blended.  Divide batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake 8-inch layers for 35 to 40 minutes, or 30 to 35 minutes for 9-inch layers.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pans to cool directly on wire rack.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk or water

Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl often to incorporate all ingredients evenly.