I have a confession: Although I have lived in the greater New York area for five years, I haven't been to any of David Chang's ten NYC restaurants. Not to Noddle Bar, or Ssäm Bar, or Ko, or Má Pêche or even any of the Milk Bar locations. For someone who claims to love food, that's a pretty terrible record.
However, I have had the chance to enjoy a famous B'Day Cake Truffle from Momofuku Milk Bar. The truffles are small treats no larger than the size of a donut hole. But one bite was enough to convince me that I shouldn't wait much longer before making a dedicated trip to Milk Bar.
Until I make that long-awaited trip, I thought I would try whipping up a batch of birthday cake truffles at home. Luckily, a few other bloggers had already done some research into this very topic. I found the recipe for the cake and cake crumbs on The Baker Chick, and my process for making the truffles is very similar to the one shared by Bake Like a New Yorker. I made a few adaptations, such as adding oreo cream and decreasing the amount of cream cheese. I also substituted rainbow nonpareils for the regular rainbow sprinkles. It was a minor change that had a pleasant result: when I added the nonpareils, the batter turned a delightful shade of light pink.
Admittedly, these truffles are a bit labor intensive. I spread the prep work over two days, which worked well for me (made the cake and cake crumbs on one day; formed and dipped the truffles on the second day). But the result will be a truffle that tastes unmistakably like the birthday cake from your fondest childhood memories. Be warned, these little guys pack a sugary punch.
Truffle Filling
1 prepared birthday cake (recipe below)
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of Oreo cream filling (from approximately 24 Birthday Cake or Double Stuf variety Oreos)
1. Crumble prepared birthday cake into a large bowl. Use a pastry blender or two knives to break up any large crumbs. With a wooden spoon, stir in cream cheese and oreo filling until well blended.
2. Line a pan with wax or parchment paper. Form 1 tablespoon of filling into a ball and place on the prepared pan. (Tip: I used the tablespoon from my measuring spoon set, to ensure that all my truffles were the same size). Refrigerate truffles for at least 30 minutes, until ready to use.
Birthday Cake
(closely based on recipe in Milk cookbook, as shared by The Baker Chick)
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. nonpareil rainbow sprinkles
1/2 stick salted butter, softened
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 tsp. clear imitation vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, use whisk to combine cake flour, baking powder, and 1/4 cup nonpareils.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, use paddle attachment to cream butter,shortening, and both sugars. Mix for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed.
4. Use rubber spatula to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs and mix for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape down bowl once again.
5. Combine remaining wet ingredients in a glass measuring cup or small bowl. With mixer on low speed, pour wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients. Once all wet ingredients have been added, increase speed to medium-high and continue mixing for approximately 5 minutes.
6. Turn speed down to low, and add in flour mixture (I did this in three separate portions).
7. Pour cake batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle remaining 1 tsp. of nonpareils over the cake.
8. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes. The surface of the cake should feel springy to the touch and the center of cake should be set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Truffle Coating
1 lb. white chocolate chips
1 recipe prepared birthday cake crumbs (recipe below)
1. Use a pastry blender or food processor to crush cake crumbs until they have a fine, consistent texture. Return cake crumbs to baking sheet. Remove truffles from refrigerator. Line another baking sheet with wax paper; set aside to use in step three.
2. In a double boiler over medium heat, melt white chocolate chips while stirring constantly. As soon as white chocolate has melted, remove from heat completely (if chocolate is heated too long, it will harden. I heat small batches at a time to allow more control over the temperature).
3. Use two forks to coat truffles in melted white chocolate. Once truffles are coated in white chocolate, work quickly to roll truffles in cake crumbs. Place on prepared baking sheet. Continue coating and rolling remaining truffles. Store truffles in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Birthday Cake Crumbs
(closely based on Milk cookbook, as shared by The Baker Chick)
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. brown sugar, tightly packed
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cake flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. nonpareil rainbow sprinkles
6 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbsp.. clear imitation vanilla extract.
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine dry ingredients (sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, sprinkles) in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix on low speed.
3. Slowly add wet ingredients to mixer, continuing to mix on low speed. Mixture should have the texture of coarse crumbs.
4. Spread crumbs onto prepared cookie pan, and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet before using.
Yield: approximately 4 dozen truffles.
Thanks for reading, folks! Have a wonderful weekend!
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