Cake Date

I have been majorly craving cake balls for the past few weeks, but alas have had no reason to make them. When I mentioned my craving to Whit the other day, he immediately agreed that we needed to get some cake balls in our mouths soon. I suggested that we do it for date night this week, and he was in! We had a fun time baking together. If you have never made them before, they take a LONG time to make. So long that we didn't get to do every step of the process together, but at least he was there to help me with the hard part - frosting them. I told Whit he should be glad I'm not a perfectionist, otherwise I would critique his dipping process. Then ironically he started making them and realized his own perfectionism. Oh well, we had fun and the best part is we have about 100 cake balls to enjoy and share! :) This flavor is chocolate cake + chocolate frosting. Classic.

We mixed it up and tried a new flavor: Strawberry cake (my absolute favorite cake) + Strawberry icing. Very sweet.

When Whit started using chocolate coating instead of chocolate mint, they finally turned out smooth and pretty (instead of prickly like gumballs).

I just think these pink ones are so cute!

If you have the time and reason to make these, you absolutely should! (Especially if you're making them for an event I'll be at...) If you need a recipe, here's one I've edited with lots of helpful tips:

Ingredients:

1 package cake mix

1 16oz container frosting

2 bags Wilton Candy Melts, sold at Michael's (or any other melting chocolate. do not go cheap here - you want chocolate that will melt when you re-heat it)

*Wilton Candy Melts come in all different colors of vanilla, and have lots of other flavors to choose from like regular chocolate, dark chocolate, dark chocolate mint, and peanut butter.

(See below for possible flavor combos)

Directions:

1. Prepare the cake mix according to directions on box. Let cool for 30-60 min, then crumble into a large bowl (large, but can fit in your fridge and can be covered) using a large spoon.

Using a large spoon, stir in the frosting until well blended (you could also use a mixer). Mixture will be soft and homogenous.

Place mixture, covered, in fridge to cool for 3+ hours (or overnight).

2. Using your hands (or a spoon or melon baller), roll the balls bite size (about 1 inch thick) onto layered wax paper in a Tupperware container.

Place container with balls in freezer for 1 hour (or chill in the fridge for a few hours).

3. Melt a small amount of the chocolate coating in a small bowl in the microwave, or in a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Dip the balls in chocolate with a toothpick, fork, or spoon. Use another toothpick or a knife to slide the ball off onto wax paper to set (or if you're using a spoon just drop it gently). Play around and if you perfect the method, let me know! This is the hardest part! ;) (Note: if your ball slides off the toothpick, it is not frozen enough)

Use any extra chocolate coating to drizzle over the tops (use a spoon).

Place on waxed paper in fridge to set.

Makes 45-50 quarter sized balls

Sample Flavor Combinations:

Chocolate cake (or devil's food or dark chocolate) with chocolate frosting topped with vanilla coating

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting topped with dark chocolate coating

Strawberry cake with strawberry frosting topped with vanilla coating

Funfetti cake with funfetti frosting topped with vanilla coating

White cake with vanilla frosting topped with dark chocolate coating

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting topped with peanut butter coating