If you bake cakes for a living (or just like having cake around), there's a good chance you've experienced the question of what to do with cake scraps. Do you eat them on their own? Turn them into something else? Toss them out? I'd love to share my favorite creative ways to use up leftover cake scraps as a former bakery owner!
If you've tried using the Cut and Stack Method to layer cakes and are always curious about what to do with the leftover cake trimmings, this is the perfect post for you!
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If you're new to this technique, you essentially bake the cakes in a large sheet pan and then trim out the rounds with cake cutters instead of baking the batter in traditional pans.
This is a great strategy in many ways, but we get lots of questions about what to do with the leftover scraps! Although you can eat them as a tester to make sure the recipe worked well, you may still end up with more than you need.
Fortunately, I have several tried-and-true recipes and strategies to help you use up leftover cake crumbs to make the most of every penny!
Pro Tip
Especially if you're running your own bakery, you need to minimize your food waste as much as possible. Throwing food away is the same as throwing money away, and we're not doing that!
Cake Truffles
You can use this method with essentially any type of cake, like our famous vanilla almond cake, chocolate cake, and much more.
Dip in melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, edible gold glitter, different colors of chocolate, or anything else you'd like. They make the perfect topping for your cakes and are a delicious dessert for parties and special events!
We also sold lots of cake truffles at Amycakes Bakery - they're that good!
Cake Cups
This works with many different flavors. We especially enjoy pairing any of our lemon cake recipes with lemon curd and creamy vanilla frosting. You can also add graham crackers and fresh fruit for extra texture.
Another popular option was to use our vanilla cake with raspberry compote and vanilla frosting. Garnish with some fresh fruit, like fresh raspberries, to take it over the top!
Pro Tip: If you prefer a lighter dessert, use stabilized whipped cream instead of the buttercream.
Top Tip
It's best to use extra filling instead of excess icing to keep the cake cups from being too decadent.
If you prefer a larger dessert, you can also make a trifle, but I find that you usually need larger pieces of cake for that. Our strawberry shortcake trifle is heavenly for a dinner party or summer gathering.
Mini Cakes or Cake Bites
Since I use the Cut and Stack Method with round cake rings, I can usually get a couple of mini cakes out of the leftovers, which are great for 1-2 people.
You can also cut the cake into bite-sized pieces as a snackable treat. There are so many options here and again, this works with pretty much any type of cake!
Turn Into an Ice Cream Topping
If your pieces of leftover cake are too small to turn into mini cakes, you can also chop them into small chunks and serve them with ice cream as a special topping.
Can't you just imagine an ice cream sundae with leftover chocolate cake, fresh strawberries, and chocolate sauce?
You can also make milkshakes! Chocolate cake shakes are especially popular. Just add a slice of cake (the whole thing!) or some large chunks of cake into the blender the milk and chocolate ice cream. Blend until creamy and serve with little pieces of cake on top.
Make Fine Crumbs for Coating
What if the leftover cake pieces are too small to turn into something else? Well, you can crumble them up into small crumbs to sprinkle on top of the truffles or to place on the outside of your cake as a hint to what's inside.
I usually pop them in a food processor and blitz them until they break apart into small pieces. They freeze well, too, so you can pop them in the freezer for later!
I like to do this with red velvet cake, in particular, because the little sprinkles contrast perfectly with the cream cheese frosting.
Top Tip
Most leftover frosting can be frozen for later. Just place it in a piping bag or freezer safe container and store for up to 3 months. Let it thaw to room temperature before using.
The same goes for leftover cake! You can keep containers of different types of cake crumbs to use later on.
Do any of these ideas sound good to you? We're partial to the cake truffles and cake cups since they turn "waste" into a totally new product that people absolutely love. They're all great, though, and we're sure you'll find something fun to try. 🙂
If you love baking from scratch and want more bakery insider tips like these, be sure to follow @amycakesbakes on social media and subscribe for email updates. Happy Baking!
