The Clever Way You Should Use Up Leftover Cake

In nearly every corner of the world, cake has come to mean something different as various cultures use the resources at their disposal to create a sweet treat for every occasion. The ancient Egyptians may have been among the first to share cake in ritualistic celebrations, as priests would offer the gods lavish meals that included cakes typically made with animal fat or oil (per The University of Manchester). As for the Greeks, they also baked cakes for religious events, as well as dinner parties during the late Minoan civilization (via World History Encyclopedia). They served up sponge cakes and even layered cakes crafted from different sorts of wheat or barley flour, sometimes combined with cheese, herbs, fruits, and sesame seeds, and sweetened with honey.

Nowadays there are cakes for every occasion. Coffee cake, for example, is known to be a soft, sweet, and tender crumb that can be found at local bakeries or grocery stores for a quick bite. An old-fashioned fruitcake, on the other hand, is imbued with pineapple, light corn syrup, almonds, or molasses, and darker fruits, like raisins and cherries, and can be seen sitting untouched for hours on the dinner table during Christmas. Now, despite the many slices of it you've cut and served to friends and family, there's still somehow a large chunk of leftovers. So, what do you do now?

Luckily, Zoe Denenberg, a professional baker who has spent several years traveling from Alabama to Hawaii working in farm-focused pastry kitchens, has come to the rescue with a creative tip (per Southern Living). "A half-eaten cake is difficult to serve on its own, but to waste that marvelous dessert you spent so many hours preparing would be a sin," Denenberg explained via Southern Living. 

Instead of letting cake go to waste, she suggests reshaping them into truffles, which are similar to cake pops, with the option of leaving the sticks behind. All you have to do is mash the leftover cake with proportionate amounts of icing, which will bind the cake truffles together. Be careful not to overmix because it could cause the truffles to lose their delicate crumb and become too dense. Once they're ready, pop them into the freezer for a minimum of 10 minutes. While you wait for them to freeze up, you can melt some chocolate to dip the truffles. And that's pretty much all you need for a stress-free dessert.