DULCE DE LECHE AND ALMOND PRALINE CAKE TRUFFLES
Ever since I came across the beautiful cake truffles, i’ve been hooked. From then on, my mind is alway on what to do to make up a new flavor, change textures or give it an extra something and make it mine. These dulce de leche cake truffles, I promise, are amazing. The combination of vanilla cake, classic dulce de leche, white chocolate and the crunch of the praline on top make each bite incredible.
This is a recipe I usually make just for the truffles. On the other hand its also an amazing option for when you make a cake and hace some left over! Don’t want to throw it away? Cake Truffles.
I love dulce de leche. I have nothing else to say about it, I LOVE it. Just try it and I bet you will agree with me. When I moved to Ecuador, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t find anything like the ones I had at home. Between the uruguayan brands, the argentinian ones and the ones actually made in paraguay, I can’t say which ones I loved the most. To top that off, there are sugar free versions that taste delicious as well! I got to quito and looking for something else I found ecuadorian Dulce de Leche! They do have argentinian brands here as well but I was very very curios about the ones made here.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT CAKE TRUFFLE:
Start with the vanilla cake. For this truffle recipe, we don’t want to use the classic three ingredient vanilla cake that we use for tres leches cake for example. We want the cake to be moist on its own and extremely flavorful. So, this cake recipe is perfect for the truffles.
Once the cake is ready, and cooled down, use your hands to break it completely. You can also use a couple of forks as well. Once its completely crumbled, add a bit of milk mixed with vanilla extract and mix until it becomes a dough. An extra vanilla flavored base for our cake truffle.
Once the mixture looks like dough, use a cookie scoop. The cookie scoop helps filling the truffle. Make a small space in the middle with your finger and using a small spoon, scoop some dulce de leche inside. Be careful not to add too much because it will get harder to close.
Once you’re done filling and shaping the truffles, place them in the fridge for around 30 minutes. This step helps for when you want to cover the truffles in chocolate. Melt the chocolate and cover the truffles completely. Finally, add the praline carefully on top.
TIPS FOR A GORGEOUS CAKE TRUFFLE:
The ingredients: Measure and have everything on hand before you start. Have the cake, praline, milk and dulce de leche ready. Those are all the components that you need to cook or bake before you actually make the cake truffle. I recommend making everything the day before. That way, on the day off you can focus on just putting everything together.
The Chocolate: You have two different options to melt the chocolate. The first one is on a water bath. This consists on placing a saucepan filled about halfway with water and heating it until it boils. Once it reaches that temperature, turn the heat off and place a bowl with your chocolate on top of the saucepan so that the heat of the water melts it completely. The second option is to melt it 20 seconds at a time in the microwave. Stir the chocolate in-between each time in the microwave.
Covering the truffles: To completely cover the cake truffles in white chocolate I will give you my favorite tips. First, place some parchment paper on the counter. You will put the chocolate covered truffles there to harden. Next, take a fork and a spoon. You will use the fork to hold the cake truffle and the spoon to pour the chocolate on top. This way, there is no excess under the truffle and you can completely cover without worrying about breaking it. Then carefully push the truffle off the fork with the spoon and onto the parchment paper.
Praline: Start off with the almonds. Chop them up until they are all small pieces. Once the sugar un the pan is melted, add those almonds in there and mx a bit until they are completely covered. Pour onto a cookie sheet with some parchment paper or a silpat.
EQUIPMENT:
Stand Mixer: Or the mixer you have at home! This is for the cake batter.
Cake pan: The shape and size of the cake pan you use is almost irrelevant in this case. Just make sure its not that small, because it will take forever to bake and not too big because you could burn it.
Cup measures: For the cake batter, milk, praline, everything!
Coffee spoon: I think filling these truffles is easier with a small spoon.
Cookie Scoop: I think using a cookie scoop to make these cake truffles makes it so much easier. If you don’t have one, you can measure equally sized balls, flatten them a bit and then fill them up. You can also use an 1/8 cup, they turn out a bit bigger though.
Bowls: Two bowls for the cake batter, and a smaller one for the chocolate.
Saucepans: You will need two, one for the praline and in case you melt the chocolate in a water bath, one more.
Parchment paper: To place the truffles, once they are already covered in chocolate, to harden.
Cookie sheet: To place the praline to harden.
Silpat: A Silicone mat makes getting the praline out so much easier.
Silicone spatula: For the cake batter. Make sure you scrape the sides completely so it mixes perfectly.
DULCE DE LECHE AND ALMOND PRALINE CAKE TRUFFLES
Ingredients
CAKE
- 200 gr Self rising flour
- 173 gr Sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1 Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 145 gr Milk
- 30 gr vegetable oil
- 87 gr Butter
MILK
- 1/8 Cup milk
- 1 splash vanilla extract
FILLING
- Dulce de leche
TOPPING
- 250 gr white chocolate
PRALINE
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 65 gr Almonds
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Get the cake pans ready with parchment paper or butter and flour to avoid sticking.
- Measure and mix all the liquid ingredients in a bowl. Eggs, vanilla,milk and oil.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, add all the dry ingredients with the butter. Mix until a sandy texture forms.
- Slowly, while mixing, add the liquids to the dry ingredients.
- Fill cake pans 3/4 of the way and place in the oven.
- Bake until when inserting a toothpick in the middle it comes out clean.
PRALINE
- Chop the almonds int osmall pieces.
- Add sugar to a sacupan and place over low heat.
- Once completely melted, add the almods and stir a bit.
- Pour over baking hseet and let cool completely
- Chop with a knife or in a food processor.
THE TRUFFLE
- Start by breaking the vanilla cake.
- Add the milk and mix in until dough like texture.
- MEasure with the cookie scoop or the 1/8 cup. Make a whole in the middle with your finger.
- Add dulce de leche and close the truffle. If you need more cake, take a bit extra to close completely.
- Let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Place parchment paper over the counter.
- Melt the chocolate and cover the truffles. One by one, cover the truffles in white chocolate, place on parchment paper and add praline bits on top.
- Kepp in an airtight container in the fridge. To eat, make sure to take it out a few minutes before.
