Leftover Makeover - Cake Balls

Earlier this month, I baked a buttermilk pound cake in order to use a bunch of buttermilk I had leftover from making pancakes and ended up with way more cake than I bargained for. Since pound cake tends to keep quite well, I decided to double wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and foil until I could decide what to do with it.

This morning, I found myself looking at a picture of chocolate covered bonbons and had an epiphany. I could make cake balls! For the uninitiated, cake balls are simply cake crumbs, held together by frosting and dipped in candy coating. It's like a kid's birthday party in a bonbon. They're a great way to use leftover cake that may not have been ready for its closeup.

Here's some naked cake balls -- all formed and ready to be chilled again before being coated in chocolate...

I cheated and used canned frosting but you could probably use your favorite homemade recipe that holds it shape but doesn't get rock hard when refrigerated.

Michelle's Cake Balls
Adapted from this recipe from All Recipes

• Cake (any flavor, any size)
• Frosting (any flavor)
• 12 oz bag of chocolate chips

Crumble cake in a bowl
Add frosting and mix with crumbled cake until it is the consistency of cookie dough
Let cake and frosting mix chill for 1 ~ 2 hours
Shape about 2 T portions into balls and place on wax paper
Freeze balls for about 2 hours until firm
Melt chocolate in double boiler
Dip frozen cake balls in chocolate until well coated and place on a wax paper surface.
Refrigerate dipped cake balls for 1 ~ 2 hours until the chocolate is firm and the cake is no longer frozen.

Best enjoyed with a glass of milk or coffee ;)

This recipe is totally simple and oh so customizable. For these cake balls, I used my buttermilk pound cake and white frosting with chocolate but other awesome combinations would be german chocolate cake and coconut frosting with white chocolate coating or maybe red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting with a white chocolate coating.

My original plan was to do this for a Halloween party. I was going to tint the cake/frosting mixture with some orange candy dye and sprinkle Halloween colored jimmies on the still wet coated cake balls. Alas, I was too lazy to go to the craft store for the specialty ingredients I would have needed. No big loss; it tastes just as good!

I found that using a scoop (I have one that is approximately 2 T) really helps to portion these cake balls. This dessert is REALLY rich so you only need a relatively small ball. Chilling and using latex gloves also helps keep the mess factor down since this is REALLY sticky with all the but I'm sure kids would love to help shape the balls if they were willing.

7 Random Things About Me & Food

At the prodding of Cousin L who pointed out that I haven't updated since, oh, March... here's a quick food meme - 7 Things about Me & Food

• I started cooking at 5 years old -- I made scrambled eggs seasoned with parsley.
  
  
• I have always been a food show addict. After Saturday morning cartoons, I'd immediately switch to PBS which had all the cooking shows. I grew up with The Frugal Gourmet, Yan Can Cook, Great Chefs and all those old school cooking shows.
  
  
• I was anorexic during high school but I still watched food shows religiously and cooked a lot. I just didn't eat what I cooked.
  
  
• I can't seem to make risotto. I've tried to cook it several times and have never had it turn out correctly.
  
  
• Pie crust is another enemy of mine. I'm so close to giving up attempting pie dough.
  
  
• One of my favorite guilty snacks is cheddar cheese cubes dipped in sugar. Yes, I'm strange but it tastes so good.
  
  
• I think Korean moon pies (ie. Orion Chocopies, Lottepies, etc.) kick American moon pies butt.

Iced Masala Chai

When I can't drink coffee, Indian masala (usually redundantly referred to in the US as "chai tea") is my drink of choice. In its simplest form, it is a sweetened spiced tea with milk. Hot or cold, it is a refreshing beverage to have at any time of the day.

Every afternoon, a bunch of my Indian colleagues will get together and brew a pot to share with whoever wants it. They use a coffee pot, microwave and a bunch of ingredients that they've got stowed away in a cabinet in the lunch room. Their chai is a thick and heady with spices including fresh ginger root. Inspired, I decided to make some of my own at home.

I make masala chai concentrate which is nice because each member of the family can sweeten their chai to their taste.

Iced Quasi-Masala Chai Concentrate

• 4 bags of black tea
  You can use the equivalent amount of loose-leaf if you have it
  
• fresh ginger root, 1" knob, sliced into 1/4" slices
• 1 T peppercorns, whole
• 1 T cloves, whole
• 1 T allspice, whole
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

Heat 8 cups of water to just under a boil. Add the black tea and the flavorings and steep for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes at low or warm heat. Add vanilla and stir. Remove from heat and strain into a pitcher.

To serve (12 oz glass)
Pour 6 oz of the brewed chai into the serving glass. Add 6oz of milk (whatever kind you like) and stir. Sweeten to taste, adding ice if desired.

NOTES:
Spices in your local megamart (AB saying) baking and spices aisle are usually ridiculously expensive. $5 for a few measly cinnamon sticks? In the long run, it may be cheaper than getting $3+ chai lattes at Starbucks but is still hardly truly economical.

When buying spices for chai, I opt for ethnic markets or at least the ethnic aisle. I live in an area with a lot of ethnic and in particular Indian markets so I've got plenty to choose from. When in a megamart, though, I steer the cart towards the ethnic aisle where there are usually spices in small cellophane packets for less than a $1.50. Still not as great as if I were to get them from the Indian market but a lot better priced than if I bought them in the little glass jars.

Double Trouble Brownies

Even though I'm a gestational diabetic, I can't help but make desserts whenever the fancy strikes. Here's my Double Trouble Brownie -- a dark chocolate brownie, studded with white chocolate chips and topped with a velvety dark chocolate ganache. These are very rich. My husband could only eat 1/2 of his; I could only eat 1/4! These would be excellent with a good strong cup of coffee. Enjoy!

* *

Brownies
6oz bittersweet (70% cacao) chocolate, chopped
6oz unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 T kahlua
6oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir in sugar and incorporate eggs one at a time. Add kahlua and then stir in flour. Once the flour has been incorporated, stir in white chocolate chips.

Spread in a 9x13 pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes and cool completely.

Ganache Topping
8oz bittersweet (70% cacao) chocolate, chopped
8oz heavy cream
1 T kahlua

Heat heavy cream and pour over chopped chocolate. Let stand for two minutes and then carefully stir the cream and chocolate together. Once incorporated and smooth, stir in kahlua.

Let ganache cool to near room temperature and then pour over cooled brownies, spreading evenly. Place brownies in refrigerator for 1 hour to set topping. Remove from refrigerator and score/cut brownies into 3x3 squares while still cold. Bring brownies to room temperature for maximum yummy before eating.