Chocolate Birthday Cake Truffles

If you’ve ever looked longingly at the far-too-adorable-to-eat cake pops that adorn the pastry displays in most Starbucks, hoping one day that the international caffeine empire might realize that making them gluten free wouldn’t actually be that hard (hint hint), you’re not alone. Despite my (albeit tiny) share in Starbucks stock, they still haven’t answered my pleas for decent gluten free options in the sweets department, and so I am forced to make my own way in this cruel world. And thus, these nearly-as-adorable birthday cake truffles were born, and boy are they perfect for your next special-day shindig. Plus, one 9-inch cake makes over three dozen of these bad boys! Celebrating at work, or bringing in treats for your kid’s class? You’re all set (unless class sizes have now gone nuclear and your kid’s teacher is herding 40+ kiddos).

These spheres of birthday bliss have a bit of a phoenix rising origin story: one afternoon, I set about making a 4-tier chocolate birthday cake (recipe to follow) for a coworker. All was going as planned until I tipped out the fourth and final cake layer (a bit too soon, should have let it cool and set) and in the most diva baked good moment yet, it practically collapsed onto the cooling rack, spilling apart in heaps of still-steaming moist chocolate cake. Welp, there went the fourth layer. All seemed lost, but I pulled myself, and the cake, together and forged on despite the trials and tribulations that often plague baking adventures. The cake turned out perfect as a 3-tier confection, and I was left with a whole bowl of broken up cake bits that I realized were my ticket for finally getting one, or 36, of those Starbucks cake pops ALL TO MYSELF.

Let me tell you, this was the most ideal turn of events in the kitchen. I practically ran to the store to grab a couple of extra ingredients (including more than a healthy amount of white chocolate Valrhona bars) and then whipped up what I imagined to be a great recipe for cake pops (minus the pop part so just cake balls lol). Verdict: this is indeed a great recipe for cake truffle things! And they’re so so so much easier than I expected – don’t let those perfect Starbucks spheres scare you off! Essentially, you bake one cake, cool it, crumble it, toss in some buttercream to smush all the crumbles together, roll little balls of cake smush, freeze them, then dunk them once or twice in melted white chocolate (or candy melts), chuck on some sprinkles and voilà! Good luck with your cake baking and crumbling, and do what tastes good!

Print Recipe

Gluten Free Chocolate Birthday Cake Truffles

Source: Sisters Sans Gluten

Prep Time50 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: banana cake, birthday, truffles, white chocolate

Servings: 36 truffles

Calories: 100kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• 9-inch round pan
• Microwave

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 Cup gluten free flour 1-1 mix
• 3/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 1/3 Cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa powder – good quality
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 1/3 Cup plus 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup piping hot coffee

For the frosting to stir in:

• 7 Tbsp good quality salted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the coating:

• 40 oz good quality white chocolate
• Sprinkles optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 300° F and grease one 9-inch round cake pan with either butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry cake ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt), and whisk to combine.
• In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract until fully blended and creamy. Once combined, add in the dry ingredients and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix – it will be very dry. Poor in the piping hot coffee and stir until fully combined (it’ll look muddy and take some working). Pour cake batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool completely before crumbling it into a large bowl. While the cake is cooling, take your now-room-temperature butter and blend it and the other frosting ingredients using an electric mixer. The mixture should be light and fluffy, give it a couple of minutes. Use a spatula to scrape all of the frosting into the bowl of cooled, crumbled cake, and use that same spatula to mix together the cake crumbles and the frosting until completely mixed into a squishy, solid mixture.
• Cover a cookie sheet in parchment paper, and, using a tablespoon, measure out level scoops of the cake mixture and roll them into balls, placing them close together on the cookie sheet. Once all of the balls have been made, freeze them for an hour before coating them in the white chocolate.
• Once the cake balls have chilled, remove from freezer. Chop half of the white chocolate into small chunks. In a heat-safe glass 2-cup measuring cup, or similarly sized bowl, microwave the chopped chocolate in 45 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted (usually 1:30 will do it). Using a fork, lower the cake balls into the melted chocolate until coated, then replace on a wire rack (over a tray to catch drips), continuing until all the cake balls are coated. Chop the rest of the chocolate, melt again, and repeat the coating for a second time, this time stopping after each ball has a second coat to sprinkle any sprinkles you want on the melted chocolate before it cools.
• Once complete, serve! Or store in the fridge or freezer for up to a week!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your truffles!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber