Cake Balls

So, you won't see these two overwhelmingly often with me, but this is a recipe blog... well, kind of.  It's more of an assembling blog because how hard is it really to make a boxed cake mix.  Exactly.  But I thought I'd document my first 'cake ball' experience, and state that they were actually quite well received at Bryton's party! 

So here's what you need:

1 Box of cake mix (your choice)

The ingredients called to bake your cake from your cake mix (oil, eggs, etc)

1 can of frosting (again, your choice)

Candy melts or Almond Bark (I used one whole package of white almond bark)

Skewers or lollipop sticks (optional)

Decorating items such as sprinkles, candies, etc.  (Also optional)

Alright, it's this simple:

Go home and follow the directions on your boxed cake mix and bake the cake normally in a 9X13 inch pan.  Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely. 

After the cake has cooled, take the entire cake and crumble it up :)  It'll look something like this:

After you've crumbled the cake up into small crumbs, start adding in the canned icing.  I used almost the whole can so I'd start with about 3/4 to see how well your mixture balls.  My funfetti cake mix was really moist already so I didn't need quite the entire thing.  Stir this well until it forms a 'dough' like substance.  The crumbs just need to be able to stick together. 

Once they've stuck together, form them into balls and place them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place them in the refrigerator to chill so they harden some.  (My cake mix made about 55 balls.  Anywhere from 35-55 is normal depending on how large you make your balls.)

While these are chilling (15 mins or so), start melting your almond bark or candy melts.  When your balls are chilled dip each skewer in the candy melt and then insert into the ball.  (This step is optional depending on whether you just want balls or if you want balls as 'lollipops'.  I found that the lollipops would be easier to dip and decorate I think.)  The dipped skewer allows the candy melt to 'bond' the cake ball and the skewer, making it easier to dip without losing your ball of the skewer.  When you've inserted all of the skewers, chill again to harden the candy.  I did this in the freezer this time.

After they have chilled, take them out and dip them in the melted candy (make sure the candy is not lumpy or hard, the balls are still 'cake' and will recrumble if tossled too much, I didn't have much problem with this but could see how one could.)  I then stuck each skewer in a piece of styrofoam so the balls kept their 'ball' shape and didn't have a flat side from laying them for the candy melt to dry.  Before they dried completely I sprinkled some with chocolate sprinkles and some with blue sprinkles.  My finished product turned out like this:

They were actually very well received and super easy to make.  I'm sure I'll be making these in the future, especially for times where I want something unique but don't have the time to make buttercream and decorate a cake or cupcakes!