Have you ever attempted the Alpha-mum- Birthday Cake Challenge? It usually starts with the soon to be birthday child’s request for the most outlandish cake on the face of the Earth; case in point – the six layer rainbow cake. Follow any reputable American recipe and you’ll end up with a cake large enough for 50 people; when you’ll probably only needed to feed 25. Even after distributing pieces for friends to take home and eating it for dessert for several days, there will still be leftovers! Given the 6 hours it took to make, throwing it away just isn’t an option. If you ever have this same problem, here are some fun and decadent ideas for things to do with leftover birthday cake so you don’t end up dumping all your hard work.
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Cake Pops or Cake Truffles:
If the cake was frosted/iced or there is remaining leftover icing, then this is a good idea for you.
How: Crumble the leftover cake and frosting and press into balls with wet hands. Melt a bar of cooking chocolate and pour into a tall glass (this makes it easier to dip your cake balls). First dip a lolly pop stick into the chocolate before sticking it into the cake ball. Allow speared cake balls to freeze for about 20 minutes. Dip the speared cake ball into the melted chocolate (may need to be reheated). Allow to drip dry and then place the cake pop stick side down into a tall glass to dry. Repeat with the rest. Decorate as desired.
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Trifle:
How: Combine your leftover cake with layers of custard, whipped cream, jelly and fresh fruit. It won’t work so nicely with heavily frosted cakes, but you can match the accompanying ingredients to the type of cake you made. For example, a rich chocolate cake could be matched with chocolate custard or mousse, some pitted cherries and a topping of whipped cream. Fancy.
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Milkshakes
Fancy bakeries and cool cafes are doing things like apple pie or cookie flavoured milkshakes, why not make your own by blending leftover cake with milk and ice cream!
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Cake Sand:
This is particularly good with cakes that have not been iced. Crumble leftover cake until it resembles breadcrumbs. Freeze in zip lock bags. You can use cake sand to do a crumb coating on other cakes or to use in combination with butter to make a tart or cheesecake crust.
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Re-Bake Cake Into…Another Cake!
Sounds daft, but check out Pinterest for things like brownies baked inside cookies, cookies baked inside cakes. The same can work with leftover cake. The premise is that the old cake needs to be entirely encased within the new stuff. So say you’re going to re-bake pieces of old cake into new cupcakes. Half fill the cupcake cases with new cake batter, then place a cube of old cake in the centre and top with more new cake mix. Because the old stuff is surrounded by new batter, it won’t dry out.
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Turn it into a pudding!
This is particularly good for plain butter, vanilla, banana, carrot or other simple cakes. You can make these cakes into a butterscotch pudding just by adding a sauce.
How: In a small saucepan melt 125 grams of butter. Add 1 cup of brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Allow to bubble and then add 300mls of cream. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes and then pour over the top of the leftover cake. Pop it in the oven at 170 degrees for 15 minutes when you’re nearly ready to consume it. -
Cake Ice cream
Crumble and mix leftover cake into a tub of vanilla ice cream
