How to Make Cake Truffles

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Cake truffles are incredibly easy to make. They’re balls of cake blended with frosting that have been dipped in chocolate, and you can decorate them in so many cute ways!

Cake Truffles

Deva Williamson, owner of Big Laugh Kitchen and winner of Food Network’s Candy Land, joins me to offer up instructions and tips to help you make these treats.

Ingredients

To make these, you’ll need three basic things:

  1. Cake scraps – If you’ve made a cake and trimmed the top off to decorate it, use the top to make these (that is, if you don’t eat the top immediately)! You can also use unfrosted cupcakes.
  2. Frosting – Any flavor of buttercream frosting will work. Deva strongly advocates for homemade frosting, but says that store-bought would work fine in a pinch.
  3. Chocolate – You can use any kind of chocolate to coat truffles, but make sure that it is tempered. If it isn’t tempered, it won’t have a shiny look or crisp bite when it cools. It’s easy to temper chocolate at home if you’ve never done it, so don’t be scared off! You can use candy melts to avoid messing with tempering, but the downside is that the dessert won’t taste as good.

How It’s Made

To get started, use your hands to mix a little bit of the frosting (about 2 tablespoons) into about two cups of cake scraps.

Mixing frosting into cake

Knead the two together until you can’t see the frosting anymore. It should all come together into a ball that’s moist and not sticky.

Cake Mixture Ball

Use a tablespoon-sized scoop to form the cake mixture into balls and refrigerate the balls for at least 15 minutes. If they aren’t cold, they may fall apart when you dip them in chocolate.

Undipped cake truffles on a cookie sheet

When they come out of the refrigerator, set a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. When you place the dipped balls on the cooling rack, the extra chocolate will drip onto the cookie sheet and you’ll be able to reuse it.

One at a time, stab the balls with a wooden skewer and dip them into melted chocolate.

Dipping cake ball into chocolate

Use your finger to remove the skewer as you set the balls down on the cooling rack. When you take the skewer away, there will be a hole in the ball. Dip the same skewer back into the chocolate again and then use it to cover up the hole with fresh chocolate.

Covering hole with chocolate

To complete the look, these need to be decorated!

Oreo truffles

While they are still wet, cover with:

Plate of cake truffles

Store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

Expert Tips and FAQs

How to Make Cake Pops

cake pops

If you want to turn these into cake pops, use lollipop sticks [paid link] instead of a skewer – and leave the sticks in.

Dip each stick in the melted chocolate right before inserting it into a truffle to encourage the two to bond together as the chocolate cools and hardens.

Dipping lollipop stick in chocolate

To keep the cake pops round at the bottom, use a cake pop stand [paid link] or place the sticks in overturned styrofoam cups to cool instead of cooling them on a cooling rack.

cake pops cool on a cup

Flavors

Some great flavor combinations to try include:

cake pops on display with one split open

FAQs

Do they have to be refrigerated?

Only refrigerate these if your frosting requires it.

How long do they last?

Store cake truffles and cake pops at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week. They can also be frozen for great cold treats!

Can any cake truffle be turned into a cake ball?

Yes – dip a popsicle stick into melted chocolate, insert into a just-made chilled truffle, dip in chocolate, and decorate. Cool upright by using a cake pop stand [paid link] or inverted styrofoam cup with a small hole in its bottom.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a review!
Cake Truffles
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5 from 7 votes

Cake Truffles

These are incredibly easy to make and serve as a delicious way to use up cake scraps. They can be decorated in many different styles and look wonderful on a dessert table.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Chill time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 247kcal
Author Stefani

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cake scraps trimmed top of an 8" cake or two cupcakes
  • 2 tablespoons buttercream frosting any flavor
  • 8 ounces tempered chocolate You can also use candy melts.
  • sprinkles, crushed Oreos, fruit powder, or ganache to taste, for decorating

Instructions

  • Using your hands, break up the cake scraps into crumbles.
  • Use your hands to knead the frosting into the cake scraps. Keep kneading until you can't see the frosting anymore. It should all come together into a ball that's moist yet not sticky.
  • Use a tablespoon-sized scoop to form the cake mixture into balls and put onto a cookie sheet. Refrigerate the balls for at least 15 minutes; if they aren't cold, they may fall apart when dipped into chocolate.
  • When they come out of the refrigerator, set a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. When you place the dipped balls on the cooling rack, the extra chocolate will drip onto the cookie sheet and you'll be able to reuse it.
  • One a time, stab the balls with a wooden skewer and dip them into melted chocolate. Turn so they are completely coated.
  • Use your finger to remove the skewer as you set each ball down on the cooling rack. When you take the skewer away, there will be a hole in the ball. Dip the same skewer back into the chocolate again and then use it to cover up the hole with fresh chocolate.
  • Decorate with sprinkles, crushed Oreos, fruit powder, or drizzled ganache.
  • Once the chocolate hardens (about 15 minutes), store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to one week.

Video

Notes

If you want to turn these into cake pops, use lollipop sticks [paid link] instead of a skewer and plan to leave the sticks in the truffles. Dip the stick in melted chocolate before inserting it to help it to bond to the dessert.
To keep the cake pops round at the bottom, use a cake pop stand [paid link] or place the sticks in overturned styrofoam cups to cool instead of cooling them on a cooling rack.

Nutrition

Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 1mg
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