...other than making cake balls?

I made some cake ball mixture this week and I wasn't crazy about it, just seemed a little too 'wet' for me.

I know Toba Garrett suggests making a sort of 'spackle' with cake crumbs for the cake. Has anyone tried this spackling technique? Looks interesting...

Other than that I am stumped! My dad can eat only so much cake scraps I'd kinda like to make something different....

TIA Everyone!

Just bumping this up...

I've tried the spackling and I love it. I did my own little thing: I took the cake scraps, put them in a bowl with a big scoop of buttercream and a big scoop of chocolate ganache, and mixed it with a hand-mixer until it was smooth. I don't have exact measurements: I just adjusted until the frosting was thick enough to be a "spackle" but smooth enough to spread on the outside of the cake. Then I put my rolled fondant on top. It kept the cake looking smooth. It tasted pretty good too.

I thought it was just me with the cake balls. I made a batch and expected to be awed...maybe I did them wrong??

I followed the recipe...

I don't get too many.... But when I do, I leave them in a airtight container but my husband and little ones to snack on..

I make cake balls all the time and love them. I have never had them be a goopy mess. I first add the alcohol and then add very little buttercream. I use just enough liquid to hold them together. I do not follow any reciepe so I really dont have amounts. I do it till it feels right. Just add a little add a time. My family and friends rave over them.

Another thing that people will use cake scraps for is modeling. If they have an odd shaped they need to make they will use it. I have seen pictures of cake scraps being made into airplanes and animals. I have seen others but I cant think of them at the moment.

Oh no, they weren't a goopy mess. They turned out just fine. But they tasted terrible. My boyfriend just tried them and he spit them out!


I followed the recipes exactly as described. The link was from Jackie (or one of the admins)

I dont know if this will help but I did not use the alcohol, instead I used flavored coffee creamer.. vanilla works well as does irish cream. IMO

I just got the Toba book and was AMAZED at how much her work is copied. A lot of people should have "Thankya Toba!" in their sig lines. The book is awesome! Her spackling sounds like a much better way to level a cake than adding a big glob of frosting.

Now, I just need some baby-free time to attempt one of her cakes(yeah, that'll happen).

I'll have to look at the book, thanks : )

I don't understand the spackle. Don't they get a big mouthful of a buttercream and cake? To me that just sounds very unpleasant. If you were 7 years old you'd be all over that, but for an elegant cake I'm just nog seeing it. Unless I am misunderstanding?

It's not a heavy frosting layer. From her pics, there is an extremely thin crumb coat followed by a layer of spackle. The spackle is her American version of the marzipan so commonly used by the Brits. It firms up the cake making the complex designs and fondant easier to execute. The spackle or marzipan layer hide any imperfections the cake may have so that perfectly even finish can be acheived.

hth

I made cake balls the other day, they were pretty good... a little on the sweet side. Not being of legal drinking age , I just mixed the cake crumbs with a cup of pudding, then covered in melted candy melts. They were easy to make and my little sister loved them!

Hi all!

I'm new and shamefacedly admit I got a little confused, and thought I had posted a recipe to this thread, when I actually had posted to another. It was a recipe for cake truffles, a bit of a different version of the cake ball recipe I found here. The recipe is for a chocolate version, but fairly easy to improvise with different flavors. I've made the recipe a few times with excellent results.

The link to the post is: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-7851-.html

Sorry about that.

Wow.. I was just getting ready to post about the cake balls. I just tried some yesterday. I did not like them at all. My kids wouldn't even eat them, they spit it right out. Now, I did change it a little because I was making it for the kids, so I didn't use the liquor. Being that this was my first time I am not writing them off, just need to experiment alittle more. I REALLY want to make these for holidays and school gathers.

I think I'll make a post to ask specific questions so others can see.

Rose

You can freeze the cake scraps. Then when you're in a bind for a quick dessert, use them in a Punch Bowl Cake. I don't have the recipe right off hand. But, the Punch Bowl Cake is layers of cake pieces, (you could even use a variety of what you have frozen), pudding and whipped cream and sometimes fruit. This is all layered in a large bowl. I prefer a clear glass compote.

Chocolate cake scraps make good "dirt" for the kiddies dirt and worm desserts.

I also use crumbled chocolate scraps to make a hamburger cake. For the "meat" patty layer, I lightly frost the layer then smash the chocolate crumbs onto the frosting to make it resemble ground meat. I rub the scraps between my hands to crumble them into little ball-like pieces.

i mix my cakescraps with peanutbutter (either smooth or crunchy), dip them in chocolat and cover them with coconut flakes. everybody loves them and the peanutbutter takes out a little bit of the sweetness

Well I tried them with heavy cream instead. They were much better, but still kind of sweet. I prefer a standard truffle over this. If you do make these I would only add a tiny, tiny bit of alcohol. The 2 shots is too much.

I made some very simple cake balls a while back, just taking cake scraps and some leftover frosting and mashing them together and then just rolling them into balls. I let them set up a bit in the freezer, then dipped them in chocolate and then back into the freezer. I got a lot of compliments on them, but the main thing everyone said is that they would have liked them to be smaller, because they were just so rich. If I were to make them again, I'd make them so that people could just pop them into their mouth whole.

One of the bakers at the cake shop I go to suggested drying the crumbs in the oven and using them as a streusel topping. Once dry I wonder if you could use them in place of cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs in recipes.

Ali,

That sounds good enough to try! Do you think maybe they could mashed and shaped then baked, kind of like a biscotti cake?

Hummm... I am going to try these ideas!