Recipe: Chocolate Candy Cane Cake Ball Truffles

Holiday baking mode is fully on this week. I wanted to try and make something with peppermint/candy cane because whenever I walk into the store, I see all kinds of candy cane season stuff: peppermint bark, peppermint chocolate kettle corn, peppermint chocolate pretzels. It’s madness! This recipe for cane cane cake ball truffles can and will solve your craving if you are like me and in desperate need for some seasonal peppermint. Plus, the colors are just so lush and pretty. Everyone loves cake balls!

Before the cut, and my recipe, I wanted to give a quick shout out to an old friend (from the days of IRC and the existence of Toonami) who needs some holiday-time help. Elizabeth’s cat, Molly, has pancreatitis but the sudden hospital and vet bills are a hardship for Liz and her husband. You can read the full story on her tumblr, and find a link to donate to help them get Molly the best care possible. Any leftover money they will donate to a local SPCA. It’s rough for many people this time of year, but any little bit helps, especially for a companion animal who is in need and brings joy into their home.

With that said, you can find the recipe below!

Pastel Vanilla Layer Cake For Easter

I have been dying to make a colorful layer cake for a while. I was convinced when I saw this recipe from Picky Palate, that my friend Katie shared with me. I know it’s after Easter, but this still makes a beautiful dessert for any Spring celebration. You can get really creative with the colors.

The recipe is similar in some ways, but I made some adaptation, with vanilla buttercream, and raspberry jam, rather than cream cheese icing.

Ingredients

1 box of golden cake

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

8 ounce package of sour cream (or plain yogurt)

4 eggs

1 package instant vanilla pudding

Various dyes (yellow, red, blue, green)

Frosting:

4 sticks unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 cups sifted confectioners sugar

two tablespoons milk

1/4 cup or more of raspberry preserves (or any preserves of your choice)

Heat your oven to 350, and grease 4 8 inch cake-layer pans.

Mix all the cake ingredients together thoroughly. What I then did was scoop out evenly, into four separate bowls, 3/4 cup of the batter, each. That way, the layers would have equal amounts of cake. Once divided, choose your pastel colors – I chose a salmon-type pink, green, yellow, and purple. Purple was a tad frustrating to make, but I figured out you will need to use more red dye than blue, to get a pastel-like shade. Be patient, and be slow, but it’s worth it!

Then just bake each layer, about 10-15 minutes. Let them cool completely.

Meanwhile, make sure your butter has been out, and is softened, so you can work on your frosting! When adding the sugar, make sure to do it a cup at a time, and thoroughly. I hate when I add it all in at once and the sugar flies everywhere – and then I realize it’s way, way too sweet.

Then just choose whatever order you’d like your lovely colors to appear. For the jam – I kind of experimented, and added frosting & jam on one layer, practically combining the two. Trust me, it was delicious. For the wary, I suggest doing one single layer of jam, and a layer of frosting.

The best part is the decorating. I chose to dot the cake with pastel M&Ms, which really complimented the inside. Of course, you can do whatever you like!

It was a huge hit and one of the funnest cake I’ve ever made!

Also check out these awesome Easter Egg shaped cake balls that Mary, my boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend (that sounds more complicated than it is) made!: