Think cake pops, without the stick. Cake truffles are how I use up the cake scraps from leveling cake layers, or “mistakes” such as overbaked/overflowed cupcakes; and excess frosting after finishing putting a cake or cupcakes together*. They’re the easiest thing in the world, and people LOVE them. Also, they keep forever in the freezer…if you don’t eat them all yourself, that is.
*I always try to make enough to have some leftover, cause running out when you’re almost done decorating is the absolute worst.
The cake bits and the frosting don’t even have to be from the same recipe! Recently I made a chocolate orange cake and had about 1.5 cups of leftover chic-orange ganache in my fridge. A little while later I made a confetti cake, and had about 3-4 cups of leftover cake scraps. They went together beautifully!
Happy Baking!
Step 1 - If you have less cake than frosting:
Crumble the cake up into crumbs as best you can - you can do it with your hands into a mixing bowl, or in a stand mixer.
Add about half as much frosting, and mix with a spatula or your stand mixer.
Step 1 - If you have less frosting than cake:
Crumble about an equal amount of the cake into the frosting, and mix with a spatula or your stand mixer.
Step 2 - keep adding cake/frosting to the mix gradually - stopping to mix and adding a little less each time - until you’ve achieved a batter that’s scoop-able, the texture of a cookie dough. Be more weary of adding too much frosting to cake more so than the other way around - if they’re too dry they’ll probably still be delicious, but if they’re too wet you won’t be able to roll them into balls.
Step 3 - line a rimmed baking sheet with wax paper. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out the batter into equal size balls, scraping the scoop flat against the side of the bowl as you scoop each.
Step 4 - grab some gloves (or prepare to have very messy hands that you’ll probably have to clean a couple times as you go) and roll the dough balls into smooth and circular…balls.
At this point if you want to roll them in anything (sprinkles, sanding sugar, cocoa/powdered sugar, etc.), do it - but it’s not necessary. Then put the tray in the freezer for at least 1 but up to 12 hours.
After that you can put the cake balls in tupperware or a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer indefinitely. They’ll probably be delicious straight from the freezer, but you can always move them to the fridge before serving. If they’re on the more solid/drier side you can probably get away with serving them room temperature, but I promise they’re really good chilled!