This process will work with almost any kind of flour-based cake. Birthday cake, red velvet, angel food, and carrot cake will all work well. Do not squeeze the cake or compress it. The goal is to break it down without compressing it. If your cake has frosting, you can either scrape it off crumble it up along with your cake. Many people enjoy bits of frosting in their cake bites, but you can take it off if you’d like. If you have any pieces larger than 1 in (2. 5 cm), the cake bites won’t cool properly and may fall apart when you bite into it.
You can use an ice cream scooper to make your balls uniform if you’d like. These balls will be a little bigger, though. Don’t worry if the balls aren’t all equal in size. A little variation is totally fine.
You can use multiple baking sheets if you run out of space.
If you’re in a rush, put the baking sheet in the freezer instead of the fridge. Wait 15-30 minutes for the balls to cool and harden. These cake balls may be a little firmer, though.
Candy coating typically comes in a liquid form. The most popular flavors are chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Make sure that you buy a coating that hardens. For a leftover cake that is roughly 9 by 13 in (23 by 33 cm), you’ll probably need around 16–32 ounces (0. 45–0. 91 kg) of candy coating. Spoon extra coating on top of each ball after you put them on the baking sheet if you really want to sweeten them up. For a less sweet version, skip this step entirely. Eat your cake bites without dipping them in anything.
This recipe will work with birthday cake and any fruit-based flour cake. Feel free to use a variety of berries instead of an apple. If you do, don’t worry about cutting them unless they’re strawberries. You’re going to heat the apple so don’t worry about making clean cuts. Alternatively, you can cut around the core and blend the apple for 20-30 seconds.
If the apple starts to smoke or burn, reduce the heat immediately and stir the apple chunks to spread the singed fruit out on top with the cooler apples.
If you use strawberries, cut them into thin slices before adding them to the saucepan.
You can use more cake if you want. The amount of cake is completely up to you. The more cake that you use, the thicker your trifles will be. Wear gloves if you want to keep your hands clean. Do not squeeze or compress the cake as you crumble it up.
You can replace the liquor with extra fruit jam if you want a non-alcoholic version of the treat. You can use Chambord, Cointreau, or some other sweet liqueur if you prefer.
Alternatively, you can use 1/8 of the cake mixture if you want to add multiple layers of each ingredient. The size of each layer depends on the width and shape of your glass. Use a wider glass for thinner layers and a taller glass for thicker layers. If you want larger servings, you can divide the mixture between 2 or 3 glasses instead.
If the apples and berries hardened up while you were working on the cake mixture, heat it on your stove for 20-45 seconds to soften it up before adding it to your cake mixture. If you’re adding multiple layers, use 1/8 of the apples and berries.
Vanilla or plain custard is the most common choice for trifle, but you can use another fruit flavor if you’d like. If you’re using multiple layers, add a layer of custard before adding another layer of cake. Add the rest of your apples and berries. Top your final layer with more custard.
This step is completely optional. If you don’t want to sweeten the already-flavorful dish, feel free to skip the whipped cream. You can use any type of whipped cream for this.
You can use chopped almonds or some other variety of nut if you prefer. You can also skip the nuts entirely if you aren’t into them. A dash of cinnamon or nutmeg can make a great addition as well if you enjoy these flavors.
Add a maraschino cherry or slice of strawberry to the top of the whipped cream if you want a little extra fruit.
For a crunchier version, crumble the cake on a baking sheet and bake it for 20 minutes at 250 °F (121 °C). [20] X Research source
This will work with plain cakes the best, but you can certainly change the overall flavor of your cookies or muffins by using a fruit-flavored or vanilla cake as well. Chocolate cake will work nicely with chocolate chip muffins or cookies. You cannot do this with flourless cake. So long as the cake recipe used flour though, this is a great way to use excess leftover cake. You can also use this process to replace 50% of the flour in a pie crust recipe.
Ideally, your cake should be in rectangular slices that are 1–2 in (2. 5–5. 1 cm) thick. Cut your cake as needed to turn preexisting slices into rectangles. This will only really work with standard birthday cake.
