Cake pops and some healthy truffles

The planets aligned a few weeks ago.  I have leftover cake in the freezer, leftover condensed milk and cream cheese in the fridge.  Cake pops ahoy!  I haven't quite understood the cake pops phenomenon on the blogosphere.  They seem fiddly and odd.  Odd because they require cake and who would buy it or make it just to crumble it up.  But if the ingredients present themselves, there is no choice.  And they were very very very good.

I set out with good intentions to cook some healthy food.  I saw some Almond tofu balls  on the Kitchen Maid site.  They intrigued me with the addition of tofu and prunes.  They were easy to make while watching tv (Media Watch was all the more satisfying to watch in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal).  I liked them but I didn't love them.  I wonder if they needed more sweetness.  I skimped on the vanilla and used maple syrup instead of date syrup.  More and bigger chunks of prunes might have helped as Sylvia only ate them when she could find find bits of prunes.

Then I found I had ingredients for cake pops.  I wanted to take some afternoon tea into work.  We had achievements and new roles and crisis.  Cake was needed.  Sylvia and I rolled the balls.  They were awfully sweet.  I had to be very stern to stop her sneaking them into her mouth.  They went into the freezer.  The next day while she slept, I dipped the frozen balls in melted chocolate.  I used some sparkles to decorate.  The chocolate set so smoothly that it hid all the lumps and bumps on the balls.  All I lacked were sticks.  Instead I put them into coloured mini muffin papers.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make the cake pops.  The recipe that inspired me came from the party idea at Gourmet Getaways.  I really liked the idea of rolling out the dough and cutting it out with cookie cutters but in the end I found it easier to roll the dough into balls.  Mine would have been slightly different to Julie's because I used white chocolate mud cake which is sweeter and denser than madeira cake.  I also used 70% dark chocolate which was the perfect foil for the sweet balls.

The cake pops went down very well at work.  They were easy to transport and share.  No mess.  Everyone loved them.  Well, almost everyone.  I have a few gluten free colleagues so I was glad I had some of the tofu balls to take in for them.  They were pleased to be included.  One brave (or foolhardy) soul tried a tofu ball after the cake pops.  Not recommended.  A couple of people thought the filling tasted like marizpan.  I think it was the slightly grainy texture.  I thought they tasted more like cookie dough.

Someone at work asked if Sylvia ate lots of sugary treats.  Maybe that is understandable, given that the last treat I took into work was the amazingly rich nutella fudge.  I must protest that these cake pops are occasional treats.  Best when there is an occasion for sharing.  And I can forgive Sylvia eating one or two of these when she will cuddle up to me and eat brussels sprouts off my plate.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Honey, Yoghurt and Chocolate Cake
This time two years ago: Mexican Rice Soup
This time three years ago: Do I dare to cook with one less pear?
This time four years ago: Friday Night Tacos

Cake pops
Adapted from Gourmet Getaways
makes about 24

330g white chocolate mud cake
50g cream cheese
1/4 cup condensed milk
185g of 70% dark chocolate
coloured sprinkles

Mix cake to crumbs in food processor (I didn't defrost mine but I chopped it into chunks).  Add cream cheese and condensed milk.  Continue to process until it comes together.  Mine wasn't quite a ball but it was quite clumpy.  Roll into little balls about the size of walnuts.  Freeze balls - I left mine on a tray lightly covered with a plastic bag in the freezer overnight.

Now the fun bit.  Melt chocolate (I do this in the microwave until the chunks are almost melted and then I stir until they melt completely.  Take balls out of the freezer (do not defrost) and toss frozen balls in the melted chocolate, using a couple of forks (or if you have sticks you can freeze them with sticks in the and then just hold the sticks when you dip them in chocolate).  Place balls in mini muffin papers or on a plate/tray lined with baking paper.  Sprinkle with sparkly colours or other decorations.  The bad news is that the chocolate sets really quickly so work fast if you want to decorate.  The good news is that the chocolate sets really smoothly and will cover imperfections in the balls.

Note: it occurs to me that it would be fun to colour the balls - my beetroot powder would be great in these - maybe next time.

Chocolate Tofu Balls
adapted from My Darling Lemon Thyme via Kitchen Maid
Makes about 40

250g medium-firm tofu
1 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup prunes, finely chopped
3 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1 Tbsp almond butter
extra coconut for rolling

Mash tofu with a fork and mix in remaining ingredients (or you could mix in a food processor).  Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and toss each ball in coconut.  Store in the fridge.

On the stereo:
Gulag Orkestar: Beirut