Christmas Cake Batter Truffles

Cake Batter Truffles Week #3

Make them in Holiday colors and share them with family and friends. They will all love these and want the recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup of yellow cake mix

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened 

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/8 teaspoon of salt

3-4 Tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Truffle Coating:

16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark or vanilla flavored coating- We are using Wilton Candy melts- due to possible allergies.

4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix

Sprinkles

Instructions 

For the truffles: Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand.

Roll dough into one inch balls and place of a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet (we are using the silpat). Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up or even better freeze in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

For the truffle coating: While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark/dipping chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Once melted quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely.

Using a fork, dip truffles into melted candy and shake off excess candy by tapping the bottom of the form on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished.

Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles. Perfect bite size dessert for the holidays.

Lesson #2

We were busy cooking, melting and baking this week.

The kids learned several new techniques this week. They learned to separate egg whites, the importance of keeping the yolk out of the egg whites, and how to "fold" ingredients into recipes. Folding is a technique that means to 'blend'. You don't stir, mix or beat, that will deflate the egg whites for example. To fold means you take part of the mixture and bring up and over.....thus folding. You continue this until mixed well. You will not deflate the egg whites this way. We used this same process when we made the Peppermint White Chocolate Chex. We folded the chocolate into the cereal and did not crush the cereal by using this technique.

We had so much fun crushing candy canes :)

Christmas Peppermint & Chocolate Mergingues

Christmas Peppermint & Chocolate Meringues

2 egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar 

2 cups of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 Tbs crushed peppermint candies

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer st high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt, beating well after each edition until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoons 1-1/2 inches apart on to a greased baking sheet (we will use our silpat). 

Bake at 250 degrees for 40 minutes or until dry. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Makes 3 dozen.

Reindeer Food: Christmas Peppermint Chex

Christmas Peppermint Chex

Reindeer Feed

6 cups Rice Chex or Chocolate Chex

1 bag white vanilla baking melting chocolate (Wilton or your favorite brand)

1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy canes (14 miniature unwrapped) 

Directions:

Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper (we will use our silpat). Place cereal in a large bowl. 

In a microwaveable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on high about 1munute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips can be stirred smooth. Stir in half the crushed peppermint candy.

Pour over cereal; toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in a single layer on cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle with remaining candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Gently break up coated cereal. Store in airtight container or share with friends. 

Lesson #1

We had an amazing first week of cooking/baking class. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone better. 

We enjoyed making the cranberry orange scones. I had some kids that stated they "do not like cranberries", after they tasted the scone we made they had a change of heart ;). 

During the making of this recipe, the kids were introduced to a microplane grater/zester. They were taught that when zesting any type of fruit, they should only zest the skin, they should avoid zesting the white part of the fruit. They were taught to tuck and curl their fingers to avoid zesting a nail or finger.

The kids were introduced to a pastry cutter as well as taught how to properly use it and hold it. The kids had the opportunity to use a citrus press. We juiced oranges with this handy kitchen gadget.

The kiddos learned the difference between a silpat and roulpat. The Roulpat was used to knead our sticky dough. We used the silpat to bake our scones. Using a silpat does not require you to grease a cookie sheet etc. it makes baking healthier by avoiding a few extra calories.

Glazed Orange Scones with Cranberry Swirl

Glazed Orange Scones with a Cranberry Swirl

Ingredients:

For the Scones

1/3 cup sugar
zest of two medium oranges
2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 large egg

For the Glaze

3 tablespoons unsalted butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. We are using a baking jelly roll pan with a Silpat.

2. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and orange zest; mix with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

3. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg until smooth.

5. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture and cranberry sauce into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough will be sticky first, but as you press, the dough will come together.

6. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. We used a Roulpat for rolling. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and prepare the glaze.

7. In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and orange juice. Whisk until smooth. Dip the top of the scones into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. I glazed my scones twice.