Cake Balls

image from http://www.myflourgarden.com/rumballs.html

I am posting the recipe for these ridiculously sinful, but oh so delicious little bites of cake for my friend Gail, at Gail's Great Atlantic. I made them for a party the other night and people seriously went gaga for them. No, I didn't hear anyone singing Bad Romance, although they could have in reference to these chocolate covered concoctions. I promise you, this is certainly a recipe to share!

Anyway, after looking at several other cake ball recipes, I realized they are about the same so, since I inherently trust my favorite butter queen, I went with Paula Deen's. She has never steered me wrong.

Mine were red velvet, which I've never had before and honestly, really didn't care for. Although, with this recipe, it doesn't matter because I could barely taste the cake due to my teeth practically screaming out for a dentist! I combined it with cream cheese frosting (my fave) and vanilla baker's almond bark.

Here it is:

Paula’s Cake Balls (taken from Smithfield.com)

Paula’s own version of this trendy sweet!

Serves: 36 Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Smithfield Product: None

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package cake mix
• 1 (16 ounce) container prepared cake frosting
• 6 ounces of chocolate flavored confectioners coating disks or bar (available in white chocolate, dark or milk)
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Paula's Favorite Combinations:
• *Red Velvet Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting and dipped in white chocolate coating
• *Strawberry Supreme Cake/Strawberries and Cream Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
• *White Cake/Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
• *Caramel Cake/Chocolate Mocha Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
• *White Cake/Wild Cherry Vanilla Frosting - Dipped in Dark Chocolate Coating
• *French Vanilla Cake/White Chocolate Almond Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
• *Dark Chocolate Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
• *Spice Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
• *Lemon Cake/Lemon Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
• *Confetti Cake/Vanilla Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating

Steps

Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box. When cake is finished baking allow to cool for 30 minutes. Crumble the cake into a large bowl using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Add the frosting and mix until well combined. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Line a baking tray with wax paper. Use a melon baller as a scooper to form balls with the cake mixture. Place on wax paper. Once you have used all of the cake mixture, place the baking tray in the freezer for 1 hour. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl of the microwave, stirring every 5-10 seconds until smooth. At this point you can add a bit of food coloring if you are using white chocolate. Remove the balls from the freezer. Using one toothpick, pick up the balls one at a time and dip in the chocolate. Use a second toothpick to slide the ball off the first toothpick onto the wax paper lined baking tray. NOTE: We found that an old Easter egg dipper works as well. If the balls fall off the toothpick into the chocolate, they are not firm enough to work with and you'll need to place them back in the freezer for additional time Once you have covered all the balls in chocolate coating place the tray in the refrigerator until the chocolate coating is set. At this point you can drizzle other chocolate on the balls for decoration.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with a cold glass of milk!