Friday, July 3, 2009

Red, White and Blue!

I made these on a whim for my stepfather for Father's Day, but they'd be just as perfect served at your 4th of July BBQ. They were really easy and fun. Not to mention very tasty! Everyone loved them and they're so easy to eat because you just pop them into your mouth- no utensils required.

Whether you're giving these as a gift or just setting out for guests to enjoy, cake balls are a treat. This recipe calls for red velvet cake, but you could substitute chocolate, spice cake, lemon cake, strawberry cake, carrot cake etc. Really the possibilities are endless. You don't even have to use a box mix or frosting, but it makes the process that much easier. And simple is good.

You know when you level off a cake or you're carving a cake and you have leftover scraps? Or when you bake a cake and it falls apart on you when you try to release it from the pan? You can always make a trifle, but why not turn them into cake balls. You don't have to make an entire batch and because they're so rich a little goes a long way! I hope you'll get your kids into the kitchen to help you make and eat these. And if you buy a pre-baked cake from your bakery, you don't even have to turn on your oven.

Red Velvet Cake Balls from Bakerella
  • 1 box red velvet cake mix
  • 1 tub cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
  • 1 package chocolate flavored bark (regular or white)
  • sprinkles (optional)
  • wax paper

Bake cake as directed on box for 9 x 13-inch cake.

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.

Mix thoroughly with 1 tub cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.*

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)**

Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)

Melt bark in microwave per directions on package.

Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon or fork to dip and roll in bark and then tap off extra.) You need to sprinkle the balls with sprinkles if using before the bark sets up. Another set of hands will help facilitate this.

NOTE: I made my own recipe Red Velvet cake and cream cheese frosting rather than using the packaged stuff, but this would be simpler. You can do whichever you like. If you use real cream cheese frosting, then you'll need to keep them refrigerated, which may cause them to sweat a bit (like mine) but it won't affect the flavor.

*I used the food processor to blend the cake and frosting together- less messy than doing it by hands.

**I used a mini scoop to shape the balls, then I rolled them by hand to get a more rounded shape. This method may yield a few more because they're slightly smaller--about 60 cake balls.

And lastly, you can use real chocolate but it's more expensive and it's harder to melt and keep melted than the bark. I used store brand vanilla bark to enrobe my cake balls in.

Have a safe and eventful holiday weekend!

26 comments:

Vashti said...

YUMMY!!!! so pretty. Happy 4th!

Coleens Recipes said...

I like the idea that these can be decorated to match ANY holiday! Yours look SO festive!

Donna-FFW said...

Cake balls are so much fun to make. And they can be appropriate for any season. Love the idea of the red velvet /cream cheese combo. Perfect for this weekend. Like the new blog design, and the top header picture is gorgeous.

Mommy Bear said...

I will have to try that. Very pretty and looks so yummy!

cookies and cups said...

Very cute!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

They are perfect!

Did you pick out all the red, white, and blue sprinkles again? :)

Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!
~ingrid

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Oh, yeah, I like the new blog header.
~ingrid

Debbie said...

I've never made cake balls but you make it seem pretty simple and yours look so good! What a great idea for the 4th!

Creative Classroom Core said...

Your cake balls are gorgeous, and so perfect for the 4th!

Love your new look! So cool and professional!

Heather S-G said...

These are so cool! I can't wait to make some :) Love the new header...looks great!

Julie said...

Those look very festive! I love the new pic at the top...very prety :)

Cathy said...

Looks great. I love red velvet.. I have to find time to get to the store. I told my son tonight I was going to make them tomorrow and he thinks I'm crazy.. I think I'm have him help me with the next batch after he eats them all.

Kim of Stirring the Pot said...

So festive and colorful. Red velvet is one of my favorite cakes. Love your new header.

Gracey said...

Great, easy and impressive idea. And I agree, the header rocks!

Shari said...

Cake balls are a great idea. I'm sure they were popular and easy to eat! They look just beautiful!!

Maria said...

So festive! Happy 4th to you!

Kerstin said...

SO cute - nice job! I love that new cake picture at the top of your site too - yum!!

Kristi said...

I've made cake balls before, didn't think to make red velvet for the 4th!! Too cute.

Love the cake on your header. Drool.

tea kay said...

Wow- what is your chocolate dipping trick??? Those cake balls look professionally made! Every time I try to cover pieces w/chocolate- it looks a mess and I don't want to share/gift them. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Monica H said...

Hi Tea Kay,

I scooped my cake balls with an ice cream scoop so they were all uniform then I rolled them in my hands so they were perfectly round. Then I refrigerated them til hard.

When I dipped them, I plopped them into the white bark and rolled with a fork. I took them out using the fork and shook off all the excess coating. I placed them on parchment paper and once I had coated them all I recoated them, being sure to shake off all the excess coating. That's what causes them to look like blobs. If you're going to use sprinkles or other decoration be sure to put them on when the coating is still wet.

Hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by!

Mar Varela said...

All your recipes are absoluty delicious.... I love it....
A kiss from Spain

A. Dooki said...

Hi; these are amazing! so beautiful!! I live in Australia and can't find velvet cake mix...what can I do? Thanks!

Monica H said...

adv2403- You can substitute any flavor of cake mix you like. It doens't have to be red velvet. But if you want to make your own red velvet cake to make the cake balls with, you can find the recipe here:

http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2008/08/sams-birthday-cupcakes.html

Thanks for stoping by!

A. Dooki said...

Thank you Monica!

Stacey said...

First of all- We love love love your site . Secondly, I made these for a Bake Sale we had for United Way at my place of work and they sold out in 30 mins! We made approximately 90 velvet cake balls and double dipped them in the almond bark and added Halloween Sprinkles. I was so proud of them! I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out but even the amount of time it takes to make these, it's well worth it. I mean, they are easy, but they are time consuming if you care about presentation. (Those little cake bits in the almond bark were driving me crazy!)

I know ours didn't look nearly as perfect as yours did (I had trouble getting the right almond bark melting consistancy), but you definately inspired us to try them again during the upcoming holidays. Thanks Monica!

P.S. We have an Autumn in our house too =)

Michelle said...

Hey Monica, I am another Texas Mom who loves photography and baking. I love all your pics and I just wanted to thank you for this idea! My son wants a Border Patrol Hummer for his 9th birthday cake. I made it from a mud cake with butter cream frosting. I was going to make cup cakes to go with the cake for extra people but I had a whole bowl of LO cake after I carved the Hummer and icing to spare...so thankful I stumbled across your blog! Thanks again!

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