Cake balls. Perfectly round cake balls. Starbuck’s esque, Bakerella style cake balls. This is all I have been thinking and dreaming about for weeks. You might remember me talking about a little thing called, a birthday party earlier this week.
Well when Vanessa and I sat down and started discussing “budget” for the kiddo’s birthday party next weekend we agreed to be two mommy do-it-yourself-ers {that’s actually a lie… we talked about Vanessa going shopping with me and me being the DIY “er” while she sips on wine and watches}. Last year Vanessa and I had separate birthday parties for our, then, one year olds; however, the theme was the same in the dessert department… cupcakes for the kids and a small smash cake for the birthday boy and girl. This year we decided on CAKE BALLS!!! And of course some sort of smash something or other for the birthday kid-aroos.
I’m a bit of an over-achiever in the sense that I didn’t wait until the week of to dabble in cake ball making. I really don’t like to bake sweets so I knew I needed some time to prepare. I made my first round of cake balls almost a month ago. Holy crap is that $h*t hard!!! For all you cake ball making fools out there I’ll let you in on some of the ways I went wrong. It was a disaster really.
- I didn’t wait for the cake to cool before mixing it with icing and began making balls immediately after my concoction was complete. End result you ask? Flat balls and gooey hands.
- I made my balls too big. Enough said.
- I attempted to dip my freshly made balls in the chocolate… gravity took over and there was mushy cake EVERYWHERE.
- I over-cooked my candy coat and instead of being a syrupy consistency, it was a big gigantic baked brownie. Oops.
- I called my cake ball making pro friend, Gina. I guess I didn’t really go wrong here. She gave me some tips—dip my sticks in the candy coat chocolate before inserting into ball. Freeze balls first and then attempt to candy coat. And she helped me perfect my microwaving skills with the candy coat chocolate.
My first cake ball batch
After receiving some tips from Gina and a trip back to HEB in Lakeway for more candy coat I was back to my cake ball making. Once those little boogers were frozen and I melted my chocolate to the perfect consistency, the whole process was easy peasy. I still have a dilemma though, my fellow cake ball making friends… how does Bakerella make her cake ball dipping look so simple {as proven in this video}!? I’m still struggling to simply dip my balls into the chocolate and have them come out looking perfect. I have to take a spoon and spoon it over the balls to completely cover the cake, which makes for a less than perfect cake ball to say the least. I’ve since made another batch of cake balls {my neighbors love me for all this cake ball making} and still had the same problem.
I’ll be putting on my cake ball hat next week and making dozens of cake balls for all of our guests so I HAVE to perfect this cake ball thing pronto!
Any advice on how to make the perfect cake ball? Or am I just being crazy and obsessed? Help a Mama out!!!
I always use Wilton candy melts from Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and I always make sure I’m using a bowl deep enough to dip an entire cakeball to get it successfully covered. Also, only use enough frosting to form the cake into a ball (if using a can of frosting, I usually only use about half can per box of cake). Sometimes I also dip the stick into candy melts and insert into the cakeball, then refridgerate for about 15 min before coating the entire ball. Hope some of this helps!
This helps tremendously! I was wondering if I was just using the wrong type of candy melt. So… you use less frosting? Does it still taste as gooey and yummy? I don’t want them to be dry.
Thank you soooooooo much!
Allison
Still yummy! 🙂
I also had great luck with the Wilton candy melts but I don’t recommend using the “color burst” ones. They were overly sugary. I also used this little candy dipping set. The spoon has a hole in it and it makes they balls look more evenly coated. http://bit.ly/NkXoc6
Most importantly, melt a bunch of extra coating because it hardens pretty fast.
I blogged about this last year if you want to check it out. http://hip-babymama.blogspot.com/2011/05/cake-balls.html
Have fun!
I do the cake pop kind so they have a stick already inserted into them… would this spoon thing help if I already have a stick? I think I’m definitely going to try the Wilton candy melts that everyone has been recommending 🙂
Thanks!
The spoon does help. You can take them out two-handed, one with the stick while balancing it on the spoon. It’s tricky but you’ll get it…
I have had many failed attempts at cake balls and finally have it down. The secret is patience (which is a virtue I don’t really have haha). I make it a multi day event. Bake the cake one day. Mash it up with the frosting the next day and refrigerate. Make the balls (I use a cookie scoop so I get an even amount of cake in each ball then roll it with my hands) and FREEZE THEM over night. Then dip them and either serve or freeze again. A few things I’ve learned..
1. Don’t use the whole jar of frosting, it’s too goopy
2. Freeze them before you dip them, makes it so much easier
3. Patience…still learning!
Someone actually gave me a cake pop maker a couple weeks ago and I haven’t used it yet. The only thing I don’t like about them is they are purely cake in the inside, I like how the homemade cake balls have frosting in them. But the cake pop maker makes PERFECT cake pops. You girls are welcome to borrow it for the party if you want 🙂
I think I’m with you, Ruthie… I like them with frosting in the middle, but thank you for offering up your new maker!! The 2 batches I made were in a 2 day time frame and I plan on starting on these on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will be sure to take lots of pics!!
All of these ladies have it right:
1. cookie scoop is a must!!!
2. Wilton all the way
3. dip sticks in coating then ball…let harden before dipping cakeball
4. bowl big enough to submerge whole cakeball!!!
I cannot wait to see pics, you will do great and they will be so tasty. I love making cakeballs =)
I am attempting to make cake pops for my daughter’s first bday next weekend. I will take every one of these tips into consideration! Thanks y’all!
I use a cookie scoop (looks like a small ice cream scoop) to make them as uniform size as possible. I don’t freeze them, but chill them well. After I have inserted the candy dipped sticks, I return to the fridge to chill again before dipping. This holds the cake ball on the stick. After dipping I sprinkle with nuts, sugars or nothing and cill once again for a quicker set. When fully set, remove from fridge and store in a cool place.