Running down my dream, a few miles at a time...: Recipe: Oreo cake truffles

It has been WAY too long since I've posted a recipe, so I decided to kick this off with a bang. One of my favorite desserts as of late has been the cake truffle. I first had one at my favorite restaurant here in South Bend - Uptown Kitchen - and ever since I've been wondering how to make one. They taste like a wonderfully decadent cake...but words don't really do them justice. While researching different ways to make cake truffles, I happened upon the Oreo cake truffle. This recipe doesn't actually involve cake, per se, but the texture is almost exactly the same as a cake truffle, and the way of assembling the dessert is the same. Enough of an introduction, eh? Let's get to the recipe.

You will need: a blender or mixer (OR, for those who like good old fashioned elbow grease, a large Baggie and a wooden rolling pin), a baking dish or plate, toothpicks, and a bowl in which to heat up your chocolate or almond bark.

Oreo Cake Truffles

1 package of regular Oreos*

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened**

1 package of white or chocolate almond bark***

About 3/4 of a cup of chocolate chips

*The recipes I've found online recommend not using double or triple Stuf oreos.

**I used 1/3 fat cream cheese, which is akin to eating a whole pepperoni pizza and ordering a Diet Coke. Don't judge.

***You may also use baking chocolate, if you prefer, but almond bark is super easy to work with.

Mise en place for the first part is ridiculously simple for this recipe:

OK, this is embarrassing. The almond bark and chocolate chips aren't featured. And the Coke isn't part of the recipe.

First things first. Take your Oreos and using either a blender, hand mixer, or rolling pin, crush them into a very fine powder. I recommend adding the cookies in several batches, or you might notice your blender acting a bit overwhelmed.

Next, you'll want to add the package of softened cream cheese and blend together. I found it easier to do this by hand than in the blender - I imagine a mixer would do a much better job than the blender, for what it's worth. It should look something like the image below when mixed properly:

Looks awful, tastes wonderful.

Once you have your mixture, you'll want to roll it into small balls, about walnut-sized or so. This isn't a hard and fast rule - if you want them to be bigger or smaller, do whatever blows your hair back.

OK. This next part is very important. You want to put these little cakey balls of goodness into the refrigerator or freezer to chill before you start the next part of the process. Otherwise, they will start to fall apart when you add the outer coating, and you'll have a giant, gloppy (albeit delicious) mess. I recommend about 30 minutes in the freezer or at least an hour in the fridge. I did mine overnight.

After they are chilled, you're going to want to melt your almond bark. I chose to go with a vanilla almond bark coating with a semisweet chocolate drizzle. First things first, I used about 3/4 of a package of the almond bark. To melt it, I added half the chunks to a microwave safe bowl and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds to begin with. Stir gently, then microwave for 15 second increments as needed until the bark is smooth. Then, I add the remaining pieces to the already melted bark and stir together until it's all smooth.

Your biggest concern at this point is to avoid two things: burning the almond bark (which will make it taste horrible) and making the bark "seize". Make sure all of your utensils are dry - any moisture added to this mixture will make it seize and become impossible to spread. The same rule applies for chocolate, fyi.

- Side note: on the back of the package, it says you can add a bit of shortening to thin out the bark if you find the finished melted product too thick. I did not find it too thick so I can't vouch for this.

Here's what you're looking for:

Now the fun part. Using a toothpick, impale one of your truffles and either drizzle the bark over it or dip it in the bark and roll it around with a spoon to ensure it's coated. Then, using a separate toothpick, drop the truffle in your baking dish and use the toothpick or spoon to cover up the hole.

And when you're done, you should have something like this:

Now, I had a little bit of vanilla bark left, so I added my chocolate chips to the bowl and heated up for 20 seconds, stirring the mixture until it was completely smooth, as in the two below photos:

It's lighter than normal since it's mixed with my remaining bark.

Now, using this nifty trick below, take a baggie and stuff it into a coffee cup or glass with the outside folded over the rim of the glass, like so:

Slowly spoon your melted chocolate into this baggie:

Seal up the baggie, noticing that the folding over prevents YOU from getting covered in chocolate, and cut a teeny hole in the corner of the baggie like so:

Now you have your very own disposable icing bag! Using it as such, drizzle chocolate over your truffles to your heart's content. Here's my finished product: