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Volume III
June 21, 2013


Weekly Home / Cook'n & Eat'n

Cake Ball Craze

By Sydney Hill

Cake Balls are the new craze. So much better than cake. Why? You just pop it in your mouth. Dessert just became a snack.

Why else? They're fun and colorful. So perfect for parties! A few decisions on flavor or food coloring, and you have a themed refreshment for any occasion.

The real question comes down to, what flavor do I make? That, folks, is where the creativity and fun begins.

I could list possibilities for eternity if I wanted to because of it's three basic steps:

  1. Bake a cake: one 9 x 13 cake or 2 to 8 inch rounds
  2. Mix it with frosting: one store-bought container or two cups homemade frosting
  3. Roll into balls (refrigerate) and
    Dip them in candy coating or melted chocolate: one (24 oz) package of almond bark melted usually coats a cake
  4. (Okay, there's a fourth step but it's optional.)
    Sprinkle it with a topping: because cake balls are small, toppings actually do add a lot of flavor

I have some ideas listed below. Yes, I have tried some. But no, not all of them. Hopefully someday! Share with us your creations, too!

There's a fundraiser tonight I am going to, a cake auction. I'm going to make 2 batches of cake balls! I can't wait! (I'll make the strawberry ones and then just plain chocolate. Can you go wrong with triple chocolate?)

One more thing: They store for a while, especially in the fridge, because they're covered in that chocolate coating. It keeps them from going stale and they stay super moist. (When I taught, my team and I had some stashed in a back room and they literally lasted almost 2 weeks I think, and not because they weren't good. It was all about savoring the flavoring).


Lemon
I'm not a fan of lemon, but for some reason this is my favorite. I have a friend that comes over, grabs the container, and almost refuses to share :)

  • Lemon Cake
  • Lemon Frosting
  • White Chocolate Coating
  • Crushed Lemon Head Candy topping (if you want a tartness added)

Spice

  • Spice Cake
  • Vanilla Frosting
  • White Chocolate Coating
  • Cinnamon sugar topping

Strawberry

  • Strawberry Cake
  • Vanilla Frosting
  • Vanilla Candy Coating
  • Red Candy Coating Drizzled on top

Coconut

  • Coconut cake
  • Buttercream Frosting
  • White Chocolate
  • Coconut Flake topping

Cherry Chocolate

  • Cherry Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate Frosting
  • Chocolate Coating
  • Sprinkles on top

Butterscotch

  • White Cake
  • Vanilla Frosting
  • Butterscotch Coating

Triple (Or Quadruple) Chocolate

  • Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate Frosting
  • Chocolate Coating
  • Mini Chocolate Chip topping

Mint

  • Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate Frosting
  • Chocolate Coating
  • Crushed candy canes

Peanut Butter

  • Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate Frosting with peanut butter mixed in (haven't tried but don't see why it wouldn't work)
  • Chocolate Coating
  • Crushed peanut-butter cup topping

Almond

  • White Cake with 2 tsp. Almond extract
  • Vanilla Frosting
  • White Chocolate
  • Slivered Almond topping

Carrot

  • Carrot Cake
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
  • White Chocolate Coating
  • Orange Sprinkles

White Cake

  • Any Frosting
  • Vanilla Coating with food coloring
  • Any topping


As you can see, you could make anything. I did that last one just to show you it's true. You could swap out and switch up any of these and get a masterpiece. You could do chocolate covered strawberry or a banana cake with cream cheese! (I've gotta make that someday!) Hmm, I wonder how pistachio would be? Do a chocolate lemon or a white chocolate peanut-butter. You could make cake balls for weeks and still have enough pep in your step to try more.

WORD TO THE WISER THAN ME:

So, first time I made these, I tried melting chocolate chips in the microwave. BIG MISTAKE. Even with my constant taking out the bowl and stirring, it kept seizing up. I got so mad I threw a cake ball at the wall. Ha Ha I'm not joking, but man do they stick well. It at least made me laugh. Anyway, I would use a candy coating like almond bark instead. You could also try adding butter to your chocolate chips, but they'll take a lot longer to dry and won't have the same chocolatey crunch. Save your walls and try candy coating If possible!

Which flavors have you tried?


Sources:
  • https://vanillabrite.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/cake-balls7.jpg?w=300&h=315
  • https://www.singforyoursupperblog.com/wp271/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/
    cookieballs2.jpg
  • https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lILzj3QA9xA/TXRPV3rO2zI/AAAAAAAAAXg/d8MgWZxGTZ8/s320/
    cake%2Bballs_6634.jpg
  • https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hKJMqHKO8kc/TGqTj7ij3yI/AAAAAAAADrg/
    zg0BW998X9o/s400/desert-oreo-truffles.jpg
  • https://www.spiffycake.com/pics/2009/02/28/cake-balls/cake-balls1_sized.jpg
  • https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k3YVXV0mpZM/TjsZ6vmbWjI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/GAZPOboA1Og/s640/
    Cake+Ball_Bitten_Middle+Row.JPG


Sydney Hill
Weekly Newsletter Contributer since 2012


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