Ever been to a party with people walking around with huge smiles on their faces holding little treats in their hands? These are cake balls and they are the new dessert star.
Made with scraps of cake, a binding and chocolate or confectionary coating, they are simple to make and assemble. Crumble the cake into a bowl, and add some liquid to bind it together. Not sure how much? Add a little at a time until it has the consistency of cookie dough. Frosting, liquid coffee creamers, ganache, caramel, fruit preserves, and liqueurs are all good to use in your cake balls. Be as adventurous as you like but be careful adding the liqueur flavors. A little goes a long way. Use a cookie scoop or melon baller to make your cake balls. Then place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet pan, and chill for 5-10 minutes in the refrigerator.
Empty a new bag of candy melts into the top of a double boiler or microwave save bowl and melt till smooth according to the directions on the bag. Remove 10 cakes balls from the refrigerator. You don't want them coming back to complete room temperature before they are dipped in chocolate. Use a craft stick dipped partially in the chocolate to press into each cake ball. This will help keep your cake balls from sliding off into your melted chocolate.
Dip the ball down completely into the melted chocolate and remove. You may have more success if you dipped the cake balls at an angle. Turn the cake ball over to remove the excess chocolate. Some people tap the cake ball up against the edge of the bowl to remove the excess. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Use another parchment lined cookie tray, line up your chocolate-covered balls. Keep repeating with the rest until you are finished. If you like, you can drizzle a different color across the top, dip them in nuts or coconut or add decorations at this time. Once you're done, put them back in the refrigerator.
They can be put into cellaphane bags with pretty bows and tags and lined up on trays for special events.
Here are some flavor combinations for you to try. Have fun experimenting with your favorite flavors.
Peanut butter - chocolate, peanut butter frosting
Carrot - carrot, cream cheese frosting
Chocolate - chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, chocolate frosting
Banana - banana cake, cream cheese frosting
Lemon - lemon cake, lemon filling or curd, buttercream frosting
Brownie/Chocolate - brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting
Pineapple - pineapple cake, cream cheese frosting with a little rum extract added
b>Pumpkin - pumpkin cake or bread, cream cheese frosting
White Cake - white cake, raspberry preserves or filling, cream cheese frosting
Creme Brulee - butter cake, caramel, butterscotch frosting
Chocolate Hazelnut - chocolate cake, hazelnut coffee creamer (liquid), chocolate frosting
Spice - spice cake, butterscotch frosting
Chocolate/Eggnog - chocolate cake, eggnog
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