Great Cake Balls of fire!

      Today, I learned that a foodie should never go into Michaels unless she has a lot of money to spare. You could literally spend your life's savings in there. Damn their cute little knick-knacks that are absolutely frivolous yet completely, irresistibly...necessary! I was born with the lucky good gene of willpower, and stopped myself before going overboard in the seemingly endless aisles of loveliness.


      Before I stopped myself, however, I was able to snag everything (well, almost everything) I needed to make some cake balls. Cake balls?? What is that? And why do I feel the need to take a cold shower now? Well, now that the 13-year-old boys have left the computer due to fits of laughter, I can tell you what these little beauties are. 
      Cake balls are made by baking a cake - any flavor/kind - and mixing them with enough frosting to make a pliable mixture, which is then rolled into balls by hand. These balls are then dipped (or rolled) in a melted candy coating like Almond Bark, in a similar fashion to making truffles. You can drizzle chocolate on top, cover them in sprinkles, or decorate them with royal icing - whatever suits your fancy. Since it is around Valentines Day, I decided to go with a pink strawberry cake, strawberry frosting, and vanilla flavored Almond Bark. 


       If your mouth is watering, and you would like to make these for Valentines Day, or just to pop in your mouth for snack or dessert, I'll teach you how step-by-step (day-by-day...sorry, I had to...)

     You will need:

1 box cake mix (any kind/flavor you like)

1 tub of frosting (preferably complementing cake flavor)

1 package of candy coating like Almond Bark

Sprinkles, icing, decorations, etc.

Prepare the cake as directed on the box.

Cool cake. 

When cooled, crumble into a bowl, and mix in enough frosting until mixture is firm yet pliable to the hands.

Roll cake mixture into bite-sized balls.

In a microwave-safe bowl, empty contents of candy coating and melt as directed on package.

Place one cake ball into bowl containing melted candy bark. Roll using two forks until coated.

Continue with all of the balls.

Time to decorate! I sprinkled on some Valentines Day-themed sprinkles, but decorate them however you feel.

I chose to wrap them in little clear baggies, tie them with ribbon and put them into a gift box. I am sending my sister with these to her work, and sending out my blog, email and phone. I hope these can put me at least a little into the market. I am hoping to start doing this more seriously.

Enjoy, and happy baking!