Mocha Cake Bites

Happy November! It's never too early to start thinking turkey!!!

This is a perfect bite of mocha cake with crunchy malted milk balls under a blanket of chocolate ganache. I'm a firm believer that Nutella should be included in all mocha desserts. I made a disc of Nutella and placed it on top of the cake bites before I poured the ganache. This is a guilty pleasure and extremely rich. Having it in a mini size allows you the opportunity to taste, without the guilt of calories. The cake bites probably would be four bites for a normal person, but I'm sure I could do it in two. That my friends, are the benefits of having a big mouth!

Let's explore what give these mini bites their crunch. We're in England, in 1887, William Horlick just created malted milk powder. Originally he wanted to market the malted milk powder for medicinal use but then found out that the sweet flavor was in demand as a sweetener. The idea to sweeten candy with malted milk came to fruition in 1936 when Forrest Malt created Malteasers, a malted milk center covered with chocolate. Sounds like a Whopper of an idea, no?

Presentation is very important and I like to think of different ways to entice my guests. By adding the white chocolate feathers, it reminded me of a turkey. (squint your eyes you may see the turkey) If you want, you can add other colors but I think less is more. We have a rule in our house, at the holidays, calories don't count, so add as much chocolate as you want.

These are easy to make with very few homemade ingredients. Sandra Lee would be proud and call this a "Semi-Homemade Dessert".

Let's get baking you'll need:

1 Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix (they also make gluten free)

1 1/4 cup strong coffee

1 cup malted milk balls

4 tbsp Nutella

2 tbsp white frosting

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

drizzle of oil

Equipment:

Mixer

Round Cookie Cutter or a Glass

Follow the instructions on the box for making the cake. Instead of adding the water, replace it with the strong, black coffee. Pour batter into a long and shallow rectangular pan. I use a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake according to the directions and allow to cool.

Once cooled, cut out circles and put them on a wire rack with a plate underneath it. This makes for an easy cleanup after you have glazed them with ganache. Mix the Nutella and the frosting in a small bowl. This will create a paste-like substance and you can form small discs to go on top of your cake bites.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave bowl and add the oil. Microwave them 15 secs at a time, stirring after each interval, to make sure the chips melt. Watch this carefully, your chocolate will seize or burn if you go longer then 15 secs. Once melted, spoon over the cake bites.

Let's make some white chocolate feathers. This is the fun part and you can let your imagination go wild. Microwave the white chocolate chips the same way you did the milk chocolate. This time you're going to use a paint brush and make brush strokes on parchment paper and put in the freezer. These are very fragile and the heat from your hands (yes, we know you're hot stuff) will melt them quickly. Wait until you have all your colors done before adding them to the cake bites. It's best to add your feathers when your ganache is still wet so they will stick. Push them into the cake, gently, until you get the angle you like. Refrigerate the cake bites until you are ready to serve them.

Your guests will be so impressed when you display these Mocha Cake Bites on your dessert table.

For those adventurous, these would be great with Kahlua. Use the strong coffee and drizzle the Kahlua over the top of the cakes before you glaze them. Any liqueur would be great to drizzle on, for example, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur or Chocolate Vodka. A popular trick that professional chefs like, is to take a shot of the liqueur before you put it on your cake. We refer to this as quality control but I like to think of it as a little helper that allows you to smile when you in-law tells you you're no doing it correctly. Make sure it's only a little, there's a fine line between a happy chef and a chef that wears the lampshade on their head at the dinner table.

Make these cake bites your own, and enjoy.

*This recipe is copy righted and publishing this recipe without permission is not allowed.*