Cakeballs

Never in my life had I ever heard of cakeballs until a year or so ago. On a message board I frequent, posters were raving about all the different cakeball combos they made. They talked of co-workers, guests, and family members devouring these tasty treats. Two seasons of talk passed me by before I finally caved in and tried my hand at making cakeballs.

There is nothing homemade about them. It's all about the boxed, pre-packaged foods mixed together with some fake chocolate. This cook-from-scratch girl did not want to like them. I hoped I wouldn't; but I did. They really are a perfect little dessert item for a party...bite-sized, non-messy, delightful little morsels.

So what is a cakeball, and how do you make them? It's really quite easy. You buy three ingredients: cake mix, a container of frosting, and Almond Bark (that would be the fake chocolate stuff). The flavors are all up to you.

Cakeballs

Using a boxed mix, make a cake. Let it cool a bit and then crumble it up in a large bowl.

Mix in about 2/3 of a can of store-bought frosting. Mix up the cake and frosting until you have a well-mixed mushy mess.

Using your hands, scoop out a little bit of the mushy mess and roll it into a ball. Place the balls on a jelly-roll pan and freeze for at least an hour. (The purpose of freezing is so the balls will be harder/easier to work with.)

Once the balls are frozen, place about 3/4 of a package of Almond Bark candy coating* (generic is fine.....yes, there is generic Almond Bark!) into a small saucepan.* Over medium-low heat, melt the Almond Bark.

Line a counter or cookie sheet with wax paper.

Place a toothpick in a frozen ball, and dip the ball into the melted Almond Bark. Swirl the ball around until it's all covered. Place the ball on the wax paper. Continue on until all balls are dipped.

The Almond Bark hardens fast, so you'll need to work fairly quickly. Once the balls are covered and the Almond Bark has hardened, place on a platter for serving (leave the toothpicks in) or in an air-tight container. They freeze well, and can be made at least a couple weeks ahead of an event. I would imagine they'd store well frozen in a vacuum-sealed freezer bag indefinitely.

*Sold in the baking aisle, near the chocolate chips.
**Choose your smallest, yet deepest, saucepan. This allows for easier dipping.

Your cake balls should have a nice, shiny, smooth appearance. Do you notice that mine are lumpy*? Yeah, I noticed that too. Huh. Last year they were smooth. However, the lumpy bumpy-ness of mine gave me an idea that you could probably put something (nuts, candy pieces, etc.) in the melted Almond Bark. Or you could sprinkle something on your cakeballs before the coating hardens.

Flavor combos: The choices are really endless. Simply think of your favorite cake/frosting combinations. I know the Almond Bark comes in vanilla and chocolate, although you might find other flavors as well.

*The lumpy cakeballs are from this year (2007). The nice smoooooth ones at top are from 2006. Don't they look nicer???

Added an hour later:
I think I've died and gone to cakeball heaven! On a whim I googled cakeballs, and came upon these glorious pictures on flickr! Okay...ditch the toothpicks and start decorating! How FUN are those?!!