Truffles and Cake Balls

I've been on a roll doing truffles the last month. I was asked by a friend to teach a truffles class for her Relief Society and luckily my mom was in town for the week to show me how to do it! We tried about 4 different truffle recipes and had a blast dipping and coating them. These are all super easy, super yummy, and make for a beautiful presentation. Everyone will be impressed and think you worked far harder than you did. The only key to truffles is to remember to chill often, keep your truffle balls small (no bigger than 1 inch) and it's really messy.

Chocolate Truffles (from Kraftfoods.com)

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (substitute half with flavored baking chips such as cinnamon chips, peanut butter chips, or mint chips)

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tub whipped topping, thawed

Suggested Coatings: Chopped Nuts, Sprinkles, Powdered Sugar, Coconut, Cocoa Powder, finely grated chocolate, melted chocolate

Add more variation by adding flavors such as orange, raspberry, or peppermint extract

Microwave chocolate in microwave for 1-2 minutes until melted or almost melted. Add softened cream cheese and stir until smooth and well blended. Cool to room temperature and fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate or freeze until mixture is firm, at least 2 hours.

Scoop mixture into 1 inch balls; place balls on wax covered baking sheet and refrigerate again, about an hour.

Roll in suggested coatings, working in small batches. Stir tightly covered in refrigerator or freezer.

Easy Oreo Truffles (from Kraftfoods.com)

This was the easiest and least messy of the truffles and also my favorite! They were so pretty with the dark centers. I think my mom tried these a week later with grasshopper cookies for a fun variation!

1 pkg. (1 lb., 2 oz.) OREO cookies, finely crushed, divided (feel free to switch up flavors by using mint or peanutbutter oreos!)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

16 oz. chocolate, melted (semi-sweet, white, etc.)

toothpicks

Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Should make at least 42. Place a toothpick in each ball, place on a waxed covered baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until well chilled. They work best for dipping in the melted chocolate in they're frozen or very, very cold.

Dip balls in melted chocolate using toothpick to swirl and tap off excess chocolate; place on waxed paper covered baking sheet and remove toothpick. (Leftover melted chocolate can be stored and saved for a later use). Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs, covering toothpick hole. Or, if you inserted your toothpicks in the sides of the balls, the chocolate should cover your hole as it runs down the sides as it cools.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store tightly covered in fridge or freezer.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles (from Kraftfoods.com)

These are by far the messiest of all the truffles, but so creamy! I find the powdered sugar not to be a great coating because it tends to melt and disappear. Also, these are far trickier to dip in melted chocolate. In order for it to work, your truffle balls need to very hard or frozen.

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

1/4 cup powdered sugar (or any desired coatings, such as chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, candy sugar, etc.)

Microwave chocolate until chocolate is almost melted (about 2 minutes) and stir until completely melted.

Stir in peanut butter until well blended. Cool to room temperature. Gently stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. I prefer to freeze mine.

Scoop peanut butter mixture with melon baller or teaspoon, then shape into 1 inch balls. If balls have become really soft, chill again before rolling in coatings. Store tightly covered in fridge or freezer.

Cake Balls

For easy how-to instructions, visit the supreme and probably supernatural Pioneer Woman. Also bakerella.com has the most adorable cake pops and cake balls on her site. She's got some really cute ideas for decorating them. These were probably the most popular of all the truffles I made. They are super easy and the flavor combinations are endless. I used a dark chocolate cake mix and a cream cheese frosting, but I plan to use a red velvet cake mix for Christmas.

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 9x13 cake)

1 can frosting (16 oz.)

1 pkg. chocolate bark or other dipping chocolate

waxed paper

lollipop sticks, if desired

toothpicks (for easier dipping in melted chocolate)

After cake has been baked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl. I did this by cutting it into fourths, and crumbling one fourth at a time, by tearing it up with 2 forks.

Mix thoroughly with frosting. Start by only adding about 3/4 of the can... I never need more than that and find that the entire can of frosting makes them too soggy and squishy for my tastes.

Roll mixture into 1 inch balls or bigger (quarter sized) if making cake pops. Your mixture should make about 45-50 quarter sized balls, more if you roll them smaller. Place on waxed paper covered baking sheet and chill for several hours in the fridge or freezer. If you plan to make cake pops, now is the best time to insert the lollipop sticks. Let your cake balls chill with the sticks already in. If you don't plan to make cake pops, consider freezing them with toothpicks to make the dipping easier.

Melt chocolate in microwave per package instructions. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm.