Cake Balls

Cake balls have taken the world by storm the past couple of years. Here is how to make some basic ones of your own to decorate as you please. They are really very simple, but do take some time and patience because of all the steps, so plan ahead if you are making these for an event.

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix, any flavour

1 16 oz. can cream cheese or vanilla frosting

1 package milk or white melting chocolate (or 2-3 cups melting wafers or chocolate chips)

Wax paper

Directions:

Prepare the cake as directed on the package for a 13" x 9" cake. After the cake is cooked and cooled completely, tear and crumble into a large bowl. Mix the torn up cake with the can of frosting using either your fingers or a wooden spoon.

Roll the cake and frosting mixture into quarter size balls and place on a baking sheet. You can make the balls bigger or smaller depending on your preference. Chill the balls in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. You can speed up the chilling process by putting them in the freezer.

Once the balls are done chilling, melt the chocolate in the microwave per directions on the package, or if you’re using melting wafers/chocolate chips put half of them in the microwave for about 30 seconds at a time until melted. Only melt a little bit of chocolate at a time because it starts to cool and thicken pretty quickly. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot - so if it starts getting thick then just microwave it for 10 seconds at a time until it’s the right consistency.

Cover a few baking sheets with wax paper. Roll the balls in the melted chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. It helps to use a spoon to dip and roll the balls in chocolate and then tap off extra. You can also insert a toothpick into each ball, then dip it in the chocolate, tap off the excess and stick the toothpick (with the ball still attached) into Styrofoam to hold it up. This way, no chocolate gets left behind on the wax paper.

Once the chocolate has hardened, remove the toothpicks from the balls. You can decorate the cake balls or leave them plain and serve. There are endless possibilities for how you can decorate these, so get creative!

*Recipe from Bakerella