I have seen many recipes on the internet for Cake Balls, which call for one 9x13 cake plus a can of frosting, mixed together, shaped into balls, and dipped into almond bark. I liked the general idea of these, but didn't like the idea of mixing the cake with the frosting, and then dipping it in almond bark. I have a sweet tooth, but that seemed like it would be way too sweet, even to me. So I made up my own version.
I had half a container of mascarpone cheese that needed using, so I decided to incorporate that into my cake truffles. I don't like using almond bark (or confectioner's coating- but I will use it once in a while) so I decided to try melting chocolate chips instead. I used real white chocolate chips (not vanilla chips- look for cocoa butter in the ingredients. Should not contain hydrogenated oils, if you're snooty like me, at least. This provides a better flavor. They can be hard to find but I've actually found them at Wal-Mart, believe it or not. Another good place to get them is Trader Joe's, but I believe they only have them around the holidays.) For the dark chocolate, I used half semi-sweet chips, half milk chocolate chips. I didn't really measure the chocolate chips, so I'll just estimate. You do want to work quickly during the dipping process, and keep the chocolate in your pan over very lowest heat so it doesn't start to solidify. You'll probably have some chocolate leftover, but it's better to have too much than too little, in this case. Just use the rest for dipping pretzels!
My cupcakes were made from a yellow cake recipe, but I'm sure any flavor of cake would be great.
Mascarpone Cake Truffles
20 unfrosted cupcakes
4 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons spreadable cream cheese
2 tablespoons leftover frosting
10 ounces white chocolate chips
5 ounces semi-sweet chips
5 ounces milk chocolate chips
Crumble cupcakes (or use an equal part cake) into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add mascarpone, cream cheese, and frosting. Using a paddle attachment, mix everything together until it is well-incorporated. It should look like cookie dough. Using a medium or small cookie scoop, scoop dough into balls and roll in your hands until the ball is uniform. Place on a tray or baking sheet covered with wax paper and refrigerate a few hours, until very firm. Melt white chocolate chips in a small pan over very, very low heat (I used the absolute lowest heat setting on my stove). In another small pan, melt the semi and milk chips together until smooth, using very, very low heat. Using a toothpick, spear a ball, and dip it into one of the pans of chocolate. Spoon chocolate over the top and then pick up the toothpick. Tap the toothpick against the side of the pan so the excess chocolate drips off. Place back on wax paper to dry. Repeat with all of the cake balls, making half white chocolate ones and half dark chocolate ones. Put in fridge for a few minutes to set the chocolate. Spoon the leftover chocolates into separate Ziploc bags, and pipe a drizzle design over the truffles, using contrasting colors. Store in the refrigerator.
4 comments:
What a great way to save the cupcakes - and the pics look great!
How clever of you....they're beautiful!
Sounds like they would be just right! They look beautiful Dishy!
Dishy they look so good--they look like real truffles! I love the way you did the drizzle.
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