A horrible dessert might be cake balls in disguise

You might think the blueberry dessert pictured here looks pretty good. But you'd be wrong. The original dessert I was trying to make was blueberry flaugnarde from the Misfit Baker. I first saw Ketty's version of the flaugnarde on Luminous Vegans, and it looked so beautiful and intriguing I wanted to make it right away. I'm 100% sure the lovely creations that inspired me were fabulously delicious, but I wanted to make a gluten-free version, and that's where things went wrong, wrong, wrong. (If you're not GF, go immediately to Ketty's blog and make the dessert she made!)

The outer edges were very tasty.

I made the dessert to take to a dinner, breaking the golden cooking rule not to serve to others that which you haven't first served to yourself. I often ignore this rule with great results, but ignoring it while converting a recipe for a custard (did you read that: CUSTARD) to a gluten-free and vegan recipe is stupid. I was cobbling together two recipes — one that was vegan, and one that was GF but filled with eggs, and I guess I let a string of recent successes go to my head. The dessert didn't taste so bad, but it had the texture of a custard mixed with sand — worse, actually. (In my defense, the top edges were good. hahaha)

I brought it home, and the next day decided to turn it into a cake. (I'll spare you a photo of the result.) It was better than the original, but it was the sort of cake that would only be eaten by someone frantically desperate for a piece of cake. The sad cake made me immediately think of River from Wing It Vegan, not because she makes sad cakes, but because if one of her baked things fails, she springs into action. She never wastes anything, turning her failed cakes and whatnots into truffles and cake balls. You can read about one of her transformations here.

I've never made (or eaten) cake balls but if ever there was a need to make some, this was it. I did a search, and found some helpful advice, which led me to mush up my nasty cake. (Again, no photo because it was much too ghastly with the blueberries and all). I added almond butter and maple syrup, and mushed until I had a dough-like texture. Then I placed the mixture in the fridge for a half hour to firm up. Next I melted chocolate chips in the microwave (Two 30-second stints did the trick.) and rolled and coated the balls in chocolate. They are supposed to be perfectly smooth but that takes a bit of practice, at least according to the directions I read. If you roll them in coconut shreds after the chocolate, they look better, but I don't really mind the scruffy look.

A little rough, but oh so tasty!

I put them in the freezer, and you wouldn't believe how fabulous they taste! The coating cracks when it's bitten, just like an ice cream bar, and the insides are cool, creamy and smooth. I gave one to the very particular Miss E for dessert tonight, and her eyes opened wide at the first bite as she proclaimed them to be amazing. I agree. Who wudda thunk it?

(The cake balls were in the freezer for about one hour before being eaten. If stored in the freezer for a longer period, let them defrost about 15 minutes before eating.)