I have finally tried Bakerella’s cake balls and I have been converted.

For Christmas, I thought I’d try to make a new recipe to mimic what was always a family favorite. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out so well, and I couldn’t bear to bring a dessert that was so clearly unlike the original.

After thinking about how to salvage the dessert, I decided to try cake balls. I have seen these on almost every blog and they always get good reviewed. In the center is crumbled up baked goods mixed with frosting, and on the outside is chocolate melted down and hardened.

I had made cookies which were moist enough on their own to hold together without any frosting. All I had to do was mush them all into a bowl, melt chocolate, and roll the ball around in the liquid chocolate letting them cool later in a refrigerator. I did half dark chocolate and half white chocolate.

You never would have known these weren’t what I intended to make from the start; they were that good. I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get to make frosting(because I love buttercream) but I’ll live, and probably with a smaller waist, too.

The best kind of recipes are simple recipes, or recipes that involve chocolate. This is both.

Every year at Passover my mom would make this cake for our bake sales. All the Jewish kids loved it because it doesn’t break the rule of eating leavened bread and yet it’s so airy and cake-like. Now, I’m not Jewish, but I tip my hat to any religion that favors chocolate over bread.

When I saw Jenna post the recipe a few weeks ago, I took it as a sign to bake this cake. Who doesn’t celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Trebia every December 18th? You should. With cake.

I used the same recipe with a few alterations, like making it dairy-free. I followed the recipe to a T, messed up completely as I typically do, and still managed to bake something that held together and was delicious. I’m not sure how that last part happened but I’m so grateful it did.

Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

I used this recipe replacing the butter with Earth Balance in a 1:1 ratio and added a hefty teaspoon of instant coffee granules.

I knew I was doing it just like Jenna when I had a mess in my sink, floor, and counter space.

This came out so well for a cake with no flour or gluten-free replacement. The structure is entirely made by eggs. I even beat mine way too long, never got them “thick” or to make ribbons, had to deflate them just to get the chocolate to mix, and the cake still turned out just fine. Now that’s a forgiving recipe.

And we all ate happily ever after.