Valentine's Heart with Red Velvet Cake Balls and Oreo Truffles
Hi all! This is my first post here. I think this took me at least 6 hours total, but it was worth it. This is a photo-heavy post.
Red Velvet Cake Balls
Cake Balls Recipe By: Bakerella (http://bakerella.blogspot.com)
Cake Recipe By: Mom
Frosting Recipe By: Paula Deen
Yields: about 50 balls.
Ingredients:
For the Cake Balls:
1 9 x 13 in. Red Velvet Cake (see recipe below)
About 1.5 - 2 cups cream cheese frosting (see recipe below)
White chocolate bark / White candy coating (not baker's chocolate)
For the Cake:
1/2 cup Crisco
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 ounces red food coloring
For the Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Directions:
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream Crisco, sugar, and eggs. Make a paste of the cocoa and coloring and add to the Crisco mixture. Add salt and vanilla. Add buttermilk alternately with the flour, beginning and ending with flour. Mix vinegar and soda right before using and add to mixture by folding in. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 in. pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.
For the frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
For the cake balls:
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can (about 1.5-2 cups) cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
Julie's notes: The hardest part of this is definitely the dipping. If you use white candy coating like I did (Candyquik), be prepared to double dip them to get them nice and white. After heating the white coating, I sat its bowl in a larger bowl of hot water to keep it melted. I then held the cake ball on a toothpick and spooned the white coating over it. To prevent the cake ball from having a huge "foot" from puddling coating, you have to let the excess drip off for quite awhile before wiggling it off the toothpick onto the wax paper. You find a groove. Eventually.
The chocolate drizzle was applied with a ziplock bag that had the tiniest bit of its bottom corner cut off.
Process Photos:
Mixing the cake with cream cheese frosting and forming it into balls:
Dipping the cake balls, applying the chocolate drizzle, and tasting:
I only used half of my red velvet cake for the cake balls. With the leftovers, I made a little heart-shaped cake. I'm not so great at cake frosting.
Oreo Truffles
Recipe By: Bakerella (http://bakerella.blogspot.com)
Yields: about 36 truffles.
Ingredients:
1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate bark
Directions:
1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later (Julie note: I skipped this part)
2. Crush remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.
3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration. (I usually eat mine before they make it to this stage.)
5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!
Julie's notes: I used the chocolate candy coating (Candyquik) for this. These were SO much easier than the cake balls to make (perhaps because you didn't have to, uh, bake a cake). Once again, the white drizzle was applied with a ziplock bag that had the tiniest bit of its bottom corner cut off.
Process Photos:
Crushing the oreos, mixing them with cream cheese, and forming into balls:
Dipping the oreo truffles, applying the white drizzle, and tasting:
Dipping pretzels with the extra chocolate:
