Nutty Cake Truffles

After the recent huge success of Cake Pops, you can find these sugary sweet items everywhere in literally any shape or form! They are adorable confections that can be personalized or decorated to suit any occasion. Kids absolutely love them as kids do of most sugar-laden treats. They're quite lovely in their imaginatively created forms. But for me, while visually appealing, they are a bit too sweet on the palate. This comes from a self-proclaimed dessert lover, someone who needs to have a sweet something at least once a day at each meal.
As I've said many times before, I regularly have bowlfuls of leftover cake and frosting from my projects and as you know, I love to repurpose and reuse in an effort to waste as little as possible - even if it's cake and frosting. I saw a staggering number just a few days ago - 40% of food is wasted in the US! According to this study, 25% of groceries we buy is inevitably thrown out.
While cake pops seem the likely way to use up all this excess cake and frosting, I decided to try something slightly different and a few weeks ago, an opportunity presented itself. I had a few containers full of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cake and leftover frosting from my sister-in-law's graduation party cake. So I mixed the cake (yep, all three flavors) and frosting, which happened to be vanilla buttercream. Then I made balls 1 1/2" in diameter from this mixture and refrigerated them for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I chopped some walnuts and pecans finely. When the cake balls were firm, I rolled them in the chopped nuts. The resulting cake balls were delicious! Just enough sweet with a nice crunch. There was also a nice depth of flavors from the cake, frosting and nuts that doesn't happen too often in cake pops.

I've deemed these babies Nutty Cake Truffles and they are a welcome change for me, from the current cake pops. It's also easier to feel a bit healthier eating these cake truffles. I mean, nuts - come on!? Super healthy! :-)
Admittedly, you cannot form these Nutty Cake Truffles into cute little bears or cars or Hello Kitties on a stick, but for the adults (and kids too - my kids devoured these truffles within seconds of giving it to them!) they are yummy, portable and flavorful - an easy snack or dessert. Cake pops certainly have their place in the dessert world, but these Nutty Cake Truffles are a great alternative that's quick and delicious and totally addictive.

Nutty Cake Truffles

3 parts cake crumbs (any flavor)
1 part leftover frosting (any flavor)
nuts, chopped finely (any kind will do)

Mix the cake crumbs and frosting in a bowl until well combined (I use my hands, super clean, of course). The ratio of cake to frosting should result in a cookie-dough like consistency, so add more cake or frosting as necessary. If you don't have any more of either cake or frosting, and your mixture is too loose, refrigerate it for about 30 minutes. Roll the mixture into about 1 1/2" diameter balls for a two-bite treat. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. Take the tray out of the fridge and roll each cake ball in the chopped nuts (you may have to roll with some pressure to have the nuts stick to the cake balls).
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.