Make these colourful truffles coconut cake balls from leftover Madeira cake, dried apricots and desiccated coconut – perfect as an edible gift to make with kids
Prep:45 mins
Makes about 20
250g madeira cake85g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely chopped25g desiccated coconut125ml light condensed milk
STEP 1In a big mixing bowl, crumble the cake with your fingers – try to get the bits as small as possible.STEP 2Tip in the apricots and coconut. Using your hands again, mix together with the cake crumbs. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the condensed milk. After you’ve mixed it in a bit, use your fingers to pull off any bits stuck to the spoon. Squidge everything together with your hands until it is well mixed and all the cake crumbs are sticky. Rub your hands together over the bowl so any bits that are stuck drop off.STEP 3Line some trays that fit in your fridge with baking parchment. Roll the sticky cake mixture into small balls (about the size of a conker or gobstopper) between your hands. Line them up on the trays, then put them in the fridge while you get the decorations ready.STEP 4Decide on how many different food colourings you are going to use, then split the coconut into the same number of piles. Put each pile of coconut into a plastic sandwich bag, add a few drops of food colouring to each, and tie a knot in the top. Shake the bags and scrunch between your fingers until all the coconut is coloured – if it’s not bright enough, open the bag and add a few more drops of colouring.STEP 5Open all the bags of coloured coconut and take the truffles from the fridge. Put 1 tbsp of water in a small bowl and lightly coat each truffle in it so the coconut can stick to the outside of each bauble.STEP 6One by one, drop each truffle into one of your bags. Shake it and roll it around until the outside is covered in coconut. Carefully put each truffle back onto the trays and chill for at least another 2 hrs until they are really cold and firm.STEP 7If you like, put some of the truffles in gift bags or boxes and tie with ribbons to give as presents. Will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
