It was also a magical celebration of my love for cake, because they had these little cake balls on sticks at the reception. Yes, cake balls on sticks. They had both chocolate and vanilla ones dipped in the matching icing and topped with glittery sugar. And damnit they were some of the best little treats I've had in a long, long time. The cake was so unbelievably moist and wrapped up in a firm shell of icing that was not so soft to be melty, but not so firm to be crunchy. They were amazing! So, I've done some research and found a tried-and-true recipe for them that's incredibly easy, and I also came across some gorgeous pictures of various cake balls (which I've also heard called 'cake truffles' but the word 'balls' makes me giggle like a 12 year-old boy so I prefer that term). These are great for dinner and cocktail parties, bridal and baby showers, or even just as a little snack when you're hanging out at home with a couple of girlfriends and a bottle (or four) of wine.
Ingredients
1 box cake mix of your choice (That's the best part of these, you can make them in any and every flavor imaginable!)
1 container frosting of your choice (Again, have fun picking out different flavors!)
3oz milk, dark, or white chocolate baker's bar (Yet again, your choice, depending on how you want to decorate them. You can always use food coloring in white chocolate to change the color for different occasions.)
Directions
Bake cake according to directions on box. If you're a vegan like me, use the egg replacer of your choice as most boxed cake mixes require eggs. I like using 1 tablespoon flaxseed powder mixed with 3 tablespoons water to replace 1 egg, but you can also use Ener-G Egg Replacer, which can be found at most chain grocery stores. When the cake is done baking, crumble while still warm into a large bowl. Pour in the entire container of frosting and mix well with the crumbled cake. Melt the baker's chocolate in a double-boiler over. Use a melon baller or a small scoop to form balls of the cake/frosting mixture. Dip them in the chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them, and place on a tray lined with wax paper. If you're using sprinkles, be sure to put those on before the chocolate coating firms up. If you're doing some other kind of decoration, such as drawing on flowers with icing, refrigerate the balls first so the chocolate coating is firm.
The very best thing about these is that you can do a million different things with them. My husband loves Funfetti cake (we had a beautiful 2-tier one at my wedding which was actually the one we cut together), so you could use Funfetti mix and the matching Funfetti icing to make the balls and color white chocolate blue or green or whichever color you like, then put multi-colored sprinkles on them to match. Or say if you use a carrot cake mix, you could use cream cheese frosting with it, dip them in orange-colored chocolate and top with chocolate nonpareils. The possibilities are endless. Here are a few great examples of pretty chocolate balls.
These are obviously quite intricately decorated but would be great at a bridal shower in colors matching the wedding color scheme.
These pumpkin cake balls would be great for a Halloween or Thanksgiving get-together.
Little snowmen are perfect for a holiday party.
These would be so cute for a little girl's birthday tea party.
My husband would adore these Funfetti cake balls.
Another good thing about these I failed to mention is that because they're the perfect little bite-size, maybe you won't be as likely to eat a whole bunch of them at a time. When I have a craving for something sweet, usually something small will suffice. But if I open up the carton of ice cream (made with coconut milk, of course) and stand there eating it out of the container, I'm bound to eat more than I really should or really even desired. There have been a lot of studies showing that pre-portioning foods can help you cut hundreds of calories out of your diet. For instance, if you pour some chips into a small bowl and only eat what you've served yourself instead of eating straight from the bag, you can save yourself 300 calories or more. These are the same way. If someone cuts you a big ass slice of cake, you're more likely to eat the whole thing. But one little cake ball can satisfy your sweet tooth without overloading you on calories, carbs, and sugar. Logical thinking, people.
On another note, I'd like to wish Mr. & Mrs. Dishman a very happy, healthy, and prosperous life together and all the joys the world has to offer. And all that other sentimental bullshit you're supposed to tell people when they get married, too. Congrats!
