Gourmet Cake Bites

For my recent birthday, my daughter gave me the book, "101 Gourmet Cake Bites" by Wendy Paul. Never having heard of a cake bite, I tried two of the recipes for her birthday. I'm wondering now if that's why she gave me the book! Cake bites, for those of you like me who had never tried them before, are simply a rounded ball of cake-like texture mixed with various flavorings, covered in melted chocolate. These did not disappoint and reminded me very much of the Hostess Ding Dongs I used to eat as a kid, minus the cream filling. The recipe below comes from this book and is the "Cookies and Cream" version. I made them small enough to yield 4 dozen. You may want to make more as they go very quickly! Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS

1. The chocolate buttercream recipe shown below makes twice as much as you need. Use the extra for your next batch or top an actual cake with it. Or, eat it right out of the bowl like I did.

2. I have found that buying already tempered chocolate is well worth the price. Buying non-tempered chocolate and trying to temper it yourself takes skill and time that sometimes you just don't have. Basically, tempered chocolate hardens quickly with a nice smooth sheen. Non tempered chocolate won't harden without help from a refrigerator and often leaves a dull sheen which is not as appetizing, plus it will melt at room temperature again whereas tempered chocolate will not.

INGREDIENTS

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbs butter, room temperature

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/3 cup cocoa, sifted

3 Tbs heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Tempered chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, milk and vanilla. Batter will be thick.

2. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

3. Bake at 350 F for 25-28 minutes or until cake springs back lightly when touched.

4. Remove from oven and cool completely.

5. While cooling, beat butter in a large mixing bowl for about 30 seconds.

6. Add sugar, cocoa, cream and vanilla.

7. Slowly beat together, increasing in speed until frosting is creamy. Add more cream if needed.

8. Set this chocolate buttercream mixture aside

9. Crumble cake into small, even pieces, placing crumbs in a large bowl.

10. Add 1 1/2 cups of buttercream and cookies.

11. Using the back of a spoon, mix ingredients together until a thick dough consistency forms.

12. Shape into evenly sized cake bites and cool 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.

13. Melt tempered chocolate on very low heat until smooth

14. Carefully dip cake bites into mixture, coating evenly and then topping with extra cookie crumbs.