Cake Balls!!!

I was awarded the task of making cake balls for my cousin's shower last weekend. Cake balls are such a fad right now and rightfully so! Who doesn't love cake and frosting smashed into a ball and covered with more chocolate! I got a few tips from friends and the internet and practiced on a batch and came up with a little recipe. I by no means am anywhere close to Paula, Martha or Giada. I try to be a little more like Sandra and do things the semi-homemade way. If I can do it, you can too. Some have asked about the recipe and how to construct these little bites of heaven, so I thought I would share. Here is what you will need plus the ingredients to make the cake- eggs, oil and water. Duncan takes the cake, ha!, with cake mixes so I always go with DH! Almond Bark works a little better than chocolate chips for melting. And I normally go with Pillsbury frosting in the can, but couldn't find the classic chocolate, so DH will have to do. You can use any combination of cake, frosting and almond bark that you like. I made two batches. One chocolate and one red velvet.If you need a side kick, get your own. He's mine!
Follow the directions on the back of the box and make the cake batter.

Pour into 9x13 and bake. Be careful not to overcook at all! Notice my not so pretty cake pan. I sent my pretty 9x13 Caphalon cake pan (wedding gift) with goodies to my husband's office and it did not make it back home. Not his fault, but note to self about sending the goods always in throw away pans!

Wish I had a pic of the baked cake, but you know what that looks like. Allow the cake to cool til it is just slightly warm. Cut off any corners or edges that seem a little crispy. They will not crumble well. Crumble, dump, scoop or whatever the cake into a bowl.

Warm the frosting in the micro for a few seconds to soften. Pour into the bowl of the crumbled cake and stir and stir.

It will resemble something like this. Sneak a taste of this deliciosness!

And you might have to let the toddler in your house sneak a taste too. I couldn't resist my sweetness with a little sweetness.

Roll this cakey mess into balls a little bigger than a golf ball. Your hands will be a total mess, so every once in a while wash and dry them and continue to roll. I placed them on a cookie sheet covered in foil, but wax paper would be perfect. Then FREEZE them for at least 30 minutes. If you are like me, this takes all day because you cannot stand in the kitchen working for a super long period of time before being interupted by the 2 small people living here. So...if you need to do it in steps, this is a good stopping point. When you are ready to dip...melt the almond bark in the micro. It is important to keep the almond bark smooth and thin so some reheating may be needed as you go. Also, add a little bit of vegetable oil to the bark. This helps to keep it thin and not clumpy. Here is my assembly line from right to left.

I like to use one spoon to do the dipping. Work quickly. Reheat the bark if you need to. If the bark get thick and goopy- the cake ball might look like this. Not pretty! But still tasty:). Here they are covered in the bark ready to refridgerate.

But not before a little fancy drizzle. Fancy drizzle means you need to add vanilla almond bark to the ingredients list. Melt a little in a bowl in the micro.

I use a fancy ziplock bag for the fancy drizzle. Snip the corner off and drizzle away. Go fast. Doesn't look good when you go slow.

Complete yum! And looks so impressive!

Here is the red velvet with cream cheese icing and vanilla almond bark coating and choc drizzle on the left and the choc cake, choc icing, choc bark and vanilla drizzle on the right. You may need to take a sharp knife to trim up the extra melted almond bark that "puddles" a little underneath each cake ball. But wait until they have been refridgerated and completely harden to trim.

Store them in the fridge, but serve at room temp. Here they are at the party all ready to impress, but most importantly taste awesome!

My litte contribution to the right.

ENJOY!!