Bonus Recipe: Cake Balls!!!

I have been wanting to post this since Wednesday! However, my computer is old and doesn't allow me to access my blog and Alex had a very rough week at work at didn't get home with his computer until 1:30am on Wednesday making it quite difficult to share :(

I have often thought these little gems should have a more appealing name. I mean, they really are amazing. They are versatile, relatively simple to make, EVERYBODY loves them, and yet, the mention of a "cake ball" just doesn't cause my mouth to water like it should.

Maybe we should call them cake truffles? Seems more fitting, we'll try it.

So what is a cake truffle? Besides being absolutely delicious you mean? Well it is basically like a ball of cake! (Hey! Maybe that is where the name came from!) It is everything you love about cake, in a convenient, bite size, mess-free little ball.

Here, we'll start at the beginning.
To make a cake truffle, you need three simple ingredients: A baked and cooled cake (of any flavor- more on this later), an entire container of frosting (whichever flavor compliments your cake) and a brick of almond bark (either white chocolate, regular chocolate or both--again depending on which cake and frosting you choose!) You can also bake the cake a day ahead of time...
You will also need various microwave safe bowls, a spatula, a few cooling racks, a baking sheet, and a small sized ice cream scoop, and of course the ingredients needed to make the cake from the box. :)

Sounds simple enough right? It really is!

The next step is to crumble the cake with your hands into a large bowl. (This can be a fun step for kids to help with!) Then take the top of the frosting (and the silver seal!) and microwave for thirty seconds. Add the warmed frosting into the crumbled cake and mix well.
You will now want to stick this mixture in the fridge for an hour or so... it will make the balling and covering more enjoyable :) And don't be turned off by the glop of mess that you see in the bowl after this step! Trust me, these babies are gold!

Now for the fun part! Take your cooled cake and frosting mixture and a small-sized ice cream scoop (I use this when I am making cookies or balling melon as well if you were unsure what I was referring to). Set two cooling racks onto your sheet pan and then just start balling! After releasing the balls onto the cooling racks, I usually press the tops and sides to make sure they are firmly packed. I normally get about 52 balls from an entire cake--but that depends on how much of the mixture you sneak in the process. You'll want to make sure they are set about a centimeter or so apart.

Once all the balls are formed. Melt the entire package of almond bark according to the directions on the package. Be very careful not to burn it and also not to get any water in it. Both things will negatively alter the outcome.

Then simply spoon the chocolate over the balls making sure you cover every surface except the bottom--we will cover that part later. You will have to play around with different techniques and find which works best for you.

If you are using a frosting the comes with sprinkles or you would like to add your own toppings (coconut, pecans, almonds, sprinkles, etc.) you will need to add them when the almond bark is still wet. I find it works best to cover one row then apply a topping. If you wait too long, the almond bark with harden and no topping will stick.

Once all the balls are covered and the almond bark as hardened, remove the balls from the drying racks and place them on a piece of wax paper--bottoms up :)

At this point, you have a choice. In order to cover the rest of the balls, you will need to scrape the hardened almond bark, that dripped off the cake balls while covered, back into your microwave-safe bowl and remelt it in order to cover the bottoms. The other option is to use more than one brick of almond bark and just melt fresh--the choice is yours. The taste will not be altered either way but the coating may be a bit more smooth if you melt fresh chocolate. I chose to scrape the almond bark and use as much of it as I could this time, but may choose the other option next time.

Then just dip the bottoms and let them harden the same way. Sneak a taste and then either package them for friends or keep them all for yourself!! :)

These cake balls are funfetti flavored and I added a few drops of red food coloring to the cake batter to add a festive Spring look :)

Like I said, these treats are so yummy and so versatile! The combinations of cake and frosting flavors are endless, not the mention various toppings and two different flavors of almond bark. I have also tried: german chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting and either white or chocolate almond bark topped with coconut and drizzled with the opposite flavor of almond bark. I have even used up leftover cupcakes that were getting dried out and made a mini batch of cake balls!


Need some more inspiration? Here are a few of many possibilities!
• White cake mix and mint chocolate chip icing
• French vanilla cake with white chocolate almond icing
• Red velvet with cream cheese icing
• Chocolate cake with milk chocolate icing
• Lemon cake with lemon frosting
• Lemon cake mixed in white chocolate chips and lemon frosting
• Spice cake with cream cheese frosting
• Cherry chip cake mix and cream cheese frosting
• Fudge cake, mixed in peppermint chips and fudge frosting
• Chocolate fudge cake mix and coconut pecan frosting
• Chocolate cake, butter cream icing
• Strawberry with vanilla frosting
• Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Have you ever tried making cake balls before? If not I hope you will... and if you have, write me and tell me what your favorite flavor combination is!

I think next up on my list are banana cake balls. I wonder if it works as well with homemade cake? I have a fabulous recipe for banana cake and cream cheese frosting and a whole bunch of bananas that are getting mighty ripe... looks like I found something to do next week! :)