Homemade Chocolate-dipped Cake Balls

Everyone seems to be obsessed with cake balls lately.  I’m pretty sure I just saw pictures of a wedding reception that featured cake balls.  Well, I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.  But the first thing I decided was that I wasn’t going to use store bought cake or frosting.  Call me a dessert snob, but I recently tasted a boxed vanilla cake mix and thought it tasted fine, but FAKE.  Same goes for that Pillsbury chocolate frosting. . .

Sure, you can still make cake balls with box mix + canned frosting; I just thought these would be more blog-worthy.  I won’t lie, this is a time-consuming process, but it’s a perfect recipe for a rainy, lazy Sunday.

Cake Ingredients:

·         ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp cake flour

·         ½ cup granulated sugar

·         2 eggs, at room temperature

·         ¼ cup milk, at room temperature, + 3 tbsp

·         ½ tsp vanilla extract

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         ½ tsp salt

·         8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

Vanilla frosting ingredients:

·         4 tbsp butter, at room temperature

·         1 cup sifted powdered sugar

·         4- 5 tbsp milk

·         ½ tsp vanilla extract

·         Pinch of salt

Chocolate Ganache (for dipping cake balls)

·         1/3 cup cream

·         4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

·         1 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter or cooking spray.  For the cake, start by adding the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a stand mixing bowl and stir on low speed for 20 – 30 seconds.  In a second small bowl, beat the egg, milk and vanilla extract.  With the mixer on a low speed, add the softened butter one piece at a time so that it slowly breaks up and incorporates with the flour.  After the butter is mixed in and it looks a bit sandy, add half of the egg mixture (still on low speed) until incorporated.   Increase the speed to medium and beat for a minute until light and fluffy.  Then add the remaining milk-egg mixture in a slow stream into the bowl while the mixer is still running.  Scrape the sides of the bowl down to make sure the batter is thoroughly combined.  The batter may look slightly curdled but this is normal.  Pour the batter directly into the prepared pan and smooth out to the edges.  Bake for 18 – 23 minutes until the edges are turning brown and pulling away from the edges of the pan.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  Then the cake needs to cool at least 30 minutes before proceeding. 

The frosting is very simple; just beat all ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk until smooth.  Sifting the powdered sugar first will prevent any lumps. 

Once the cake has cooled, use your hands or a fork to break apart the cake into smaller crumbs.  Spoon the frosting into the same bowl and incorporate into the crumbs.  When the frosting is all mixed through, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. 

Next, use a spoon or just your hands to roll into small balls.  If the cake mix is not moist enough to stay together, add a tablespoon of milk or two to the entire mixture.  Once the balls are rolled up, stick them into the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour so they harden enough for the chocolate coating. 

To make the ganache, heat the cream in the microwave until it boils.  Then, pour it over the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder.  Let it sit for about a minute to let everything melt, and then stir with a spoon to get any remaining lumps out.  Dip each cake ball into the ganache or else just drizzle the ganache on top.  It might be easier using to toothpicks instead of your fingers, but I didn’t have any!  I also left a few plain since they are just as tasty without the chocolate.  These will keep best in the refrigerator, but you can also store them longer in the freezer.  Enjoy!