Halloween is slowly creeping upon us, and in honor of the candy-filled holiday I decided that this week’s treat should somehow be spooky and delicious. But the problem was I had no idea what to make.

As a kid, I always was disappointed in the candy selection that neighborhoods would pass out because inevitably they were always the same. Then it hit me; what if I make my own candy? After all, homemade goods always seem to taste better than the packaged ones, and if I found a simple candy recipe then the process would be worthwhile.

With this in mind, I found an easy (and mouthwatering) recipe for red velvet truffles that only consisted of three ingredients. Although I chose red velvet cake because I thought they’d give my truffles the façade of being bloody, any cake mix would work for the purpose of the truffles. Also, buying either chocolate or vanilla cake mix or some food coloring can help fit these chocolaty treats for really any holiday or occasion you choose. In fact, this cake truffle mix really in a sort of mix and match recipe because the chocolate used to coat the cake balls could be white, milk, or dark. Trust me; this is one of those recipes you want to save onto your computer or write into your family cookbook.

For time’s sake, I baked with cake mix rather than making the red velvet from scratch, but any cake recipe will do for the truffles. Once you bake the cake, putting it into the fridge after you take it out of the oven for 10-15 minutes may save you some time. Also, when you crumble the cake prior to mixing in the cream cheese, use a whisk and gently but efficiently break apart the cake. This way, you will be slicing the cake while crumbling it. Not only that, but then you can use the whisk to mix together the cream cheese and cake. Although the recipe notes that using your hands may be easier, I opted for the whisk because it mixes better.

Teamwork to me is essential for this recipe. I wanted to have consistently sized truffle balls, and for that reason I used a tablespoon ice scoop like my mom said. But because the cake and cream cheese mix is sticky, your hands will be red with batter after the first ball you roll. For this reason my mom would scoop the batter and put it in my hands to roll. Without her, I’m pretty sure I would not have made the truffles as quickly as I did. Also, this is a fun recipe and including friends or family will definitely add to the Halloween experience.

As my cake balls were almost done chilling, I began to melt my chocolate to coat them. From my picture you can see I used milk and dark chocolate for these truffles, but initially I hoped to dip them into white chocolate so they could look like eyes or spooky ghosts. Although I was a bit embarrassed and sad, I’ll admit the reason for my lack of chocolate diversity was due to my mistake in melting the chocolate.

See, at some point, heating up the chocolate in the microwave will change from melting the chocolate to cooking the chocolate; and that’s exactly what I did. I’m sure somewhere they have the example amount of seconds one should place their chocolate in the microwave before it reaching the melting threshold and starting cooking, but to stay on the safe side I recommend just melting the chocolate with the bowl over hot water method.

Once you melt the chocolate and coat the truffles, feel free to do as I did and sprinkle your additions onto the mounts of chocolate and cake goodness. If I had used white chocolate there would’ve been eyes on my ghosts, but instead I used my Halloween-themed sprinkles. If you want the whole truffle to be covered in sprinkles, I recommend coating them once with chocolate, freezing them, and then on the second round of coating rolling them in sprinkles. That way the truffles have a base of chocolate.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, as my friends much as my friends have. Remember to refrigerate or freeze the truffles in order to not have a puddle of chocolate and cake mix rather than chocolate balls. When you want to eat them, let them thaw for a few minutes because that way you will enjoy the gooey (and bloody) effect of the truffles.

Happy Halloween!
Red Velvet Truffles:

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
3 cups cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
1 package white chocolate bars or melting chocolate

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (I used a tablespoon to measure the amount and then rounded it into a ball.)
4. Chill for several hours. (I froze mine for an hour or so and that was fine.)
5. Melt chocolate in a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. (don’t let the water touch the bowl.)
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
7. When the first layer has hardened, you can drizzle a little more over the top for decor. Or- you could drizzle a different color of chocolate. Put any sprinkles or decorations on when chocolate is still wet, use more as “glue” if needed.
8. I made these early and refrigerated them overnight and they were great!

Cream Cheese Frosting

·         2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
·         1/2 cup butter, softened
·         2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store leftover frosting in the fridge.
Source:

• Wahhab, Audra. “red velvet truffles…and life..” the baker chick. Blogger, 06 2011. Web. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2011/07/red-velvet-trufflesand-life.html >.