Cake Balls (Bajaderka)

Here is a nut-free alternative to the Polish leftover cake Bajaderka, which is full of nuts and dried fruits. This recipe uses mascarpone, Irish cream, and chocolate sponge cake to create delicious and decadent cake balls.
preparation: 2 hour(s)
making: 30 minutes
total: 2 hour(s) 30 minutes
servings: 17 cake balls
nutrition: 255 calories per serving
cuisine: Polish
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 200g of sugar
- 200g of butter
- 200g of self-raising flour how to?
- 50g of cocoa powder
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 250g of mascarpone cheese alternative
- 100g of raisins
- 100ml of Irish cream
For decoration (optional)
- 50g of white chocolate
- 50g of dark chocolate
- 50g of Coconut
- Sprinkles
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C with a fan.
Prepare the tray (24/35cm) and line it with baking parchment.
Place the eggs into the mixing bowl and mix using a hand mixer for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Gradually add sugar and continue mixing until sugar dissolves.
Add butter and mix further until all ingredients are well combined.
Sift the flour with cocoa powder and baking powder and add to the mixture.
Whisk for a minute or two. Do not over-mix.
Put the dough on the baking sheet and spread it evenly.
The dough is quite thick so use a spatula to even it out.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
After removing it from the oven leave cake to cool down. It should take about 1h.
Once fully cooled down, remove from the tray, remove the baking paper and put it into the tray.
Crush the sponge using a fork and place the crumbles into a large bowl.
Add mascarpone, raisins and Irish Cream (like Baileys).
Mix by hand until all the ingredients combine creating a homogeneous1 consistency.
Start forming the dough balls of the desired size.
The perfect size for me is a table tennis or golf ball that can fit in a muffin case.
Once you have the dough balls ready you can start decorating them.
Melt the white and dark chocolate and pour over the balls, sprinkle them with sprinkles or just coat them with coconut.
Keep refrigerated before serving.
Tips
Take eggs and butter out of the fridge and let them settle at room temperature for at least an hour before making.
uniform structure ↩︎