Cake Balls ~ Not Truffles

Sunday afternoon was a great time spent with my daughter, Alisha who is living away from home and at college. She does not get home that often, and we spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen...If you knew us personally, you would be laughing, as that does not happen often or ever for that matter.

We made Cake Balls. This was a fun activity, fairly easy to do, and they are really cute and tasty. I hope you find my instructions easy enough to follow...Believe me, it is not hard.


Willing Participants: 1 cake mix, 1 container ready made frosting, Almond Bark, Food Coloring, and sprinkles.

How To: Mix the cake mix per directions on the box. Bake as directed. Once cake is done, let it slightly cool.
Alisha looks like a "Little Susie Homemaker" mixing up this cake, and she did it with a smile.

Once cake has cooled slightly, slice the edges off the cake, you will not be using these. Put cake in a large mixing bowl. You can just toss the edges, or let someone eat them, just do not add them to the bowl.

Now, add the ready made icing. I have found that if you use the icing that is not the whipped frosting, it works better in this recipe. The whipped frosting makes the cake balls a little too moist and they will lose their "cake" appearance on the inside if they are too moist.

Now, mix gently the icing and cake together. The best way to do this is by hand. ~first wash hands~ You do not have to mix this to death. Just until icing and cake is gently mixed together. Now, cover bowl with Saran wrap and set in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or longer. This needs to chill well so when you roll in balls the cake mixture will hold together.

Oh, I almost forgot, wash your hands again, or if you are like some of us around here, just lick your fingers.....mighty good. But then...... wash your hands......Thanks.

Once cake mixture has chilled, roll into 2 inch balls. Gently set on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. One cake mix will yield about 40 - 45 balls depending on how large you make them. I find the smaller ones are really better to work with and easier to dip.


Now, these little guys are ready to go in the freezer.....notice I said guys......they could be girls.....but with the name and all, I am assuming they are guys. Sorry. Place pans in the freezer and chill well for about 20 minutes or longer. No need to cover them, just pop them in the freezer like this. This step is a must as it will make dipping so much easier.

While your balls (cake balls) are in the freezer doing their thing, heat almond bark in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, you can place a large pot over a small saucepan of boiling water. This works like a champ. That is what we did here in the photo. We added about 1 tablespoon of Crisco to the almond bark to thin it down a bit. This makes it easier for dipping. I would have used Gulf Wax Paraffin if I had some in the kitchen, but I did not, the Crisco works fine.

Now using a toothpick dip cake balls in the coating. You can also use a fork if you think that works easier, but we used toothpicks....we used lots of toothpicks....just saying.

Once you have dipped the balls, place them back on the same cookie sheet. If you are going to add sugar sprinkles, nuts, coconut, or something similar, now is the time while the coating is still wet. Notice the stack of toothpicks in the top right of the photo....that was just a few we had used in the beginning.....I told you, we used a lot.....just saying.

Man, how yummy do these look? Alisha had a knack for making these tasty treats. I am telling ya' the truth here, hers were really pretty.

Once all your cake balls have been dipped, take the remaining white almond bark and add food coloring, like we did here. This is to pipe the decorative lines on top of the balls. If you are not wanting to do this step, just skip it. But we wanted to make these cute and we tinted several different colors. It was fun....don't be scared....it's easy.

Here is Alisha piping the lines on her batch. The almond bark was still hot when we put it in a pastry bag, so we used a dish cloth to hold the pastry bag. Just a warning, this stuff is hot when you are using it, so be careful.

My batch were the chocolate ones, Alisha's were the white ones. Very fall-ish colors if I do say so myself.

Can you just imagine your guests delight when they see these adorable little treats? Alisha purchased some small cupcake papers to set hers in. That was her idea and I think it was a nice touch. She is so creative.......wonder where she gets that from? Not me......

You can display these on a pedestal serving dish or on a serving tray. They look good either way and make a rather nice statement on a table.

Yummy......Yummy.......Yummy. These are very rich. Almost like a chocolate truffle. The almond bark is really sweet and of course the cake is too. They remind me of little truffle chocolates, but they are cake. What a surprise if you do not tell anyone ahead of time what they actually are. They will think you are a genius. Really.

Oh, well......as you can see, someone took a bite out of one of them.....and that someone was Steve.....Imagine that. What do you think? Don't they look yummy? It's amazing how easy these are to master....really. The time frame to make a batch of these is about an hour after your cake is done. Depending on how much time you want to spend with the embellishments, it could be shorter than an hour. We took our time and we made two batches.

The possibilities are endless with this recipe. Any cake mix and icing combination is possible.

How about some red velvet cake balls dipped in the white almond bark for Christmas? Lemon with lemon icing? How about Chocolate with Mint flavored icing? The confetti cake is also cute or what about carrot cake with cream cheese icing? That would be great for Thanksgiving.

You can melt any kind of chocolate you want for the dipping. You do not have to use only Almond Bark, that is just what we did. The possibilities are endless....just use your imagination.... Spend a afternoon with someone you love......making memories..... ~Good Stuff

Cake Balls

1 cake mix (any brand, any flavor)

1 container ready made frosting (any brand, any flavor)

Almond Bark for dipping or your choice of chocolate.

Sprinkles, nuts, coconut, candies for embellishing (your choice)

How To:

Bake cake according to directions on box. Let cool slightly. Cut off edges and discard. Crumble cake in large mixing bowl, add ready made icing. Mix well with large spoon or by hand. Chill for approximately 30 minutes. Roll into 2 inch balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheets. Place in freezer for about 20 minutes to set. Melt chocolate in double boiler, dip balls and place back on wax paper. Embellish with sprinkles, or what ever you want to use and contrasting chocolate to make cute designs. Store in a air tight container. makes approximately 40 - 45 cake balls.