Chocolate Carmel Cake Balls

Last night I made cake balls for a client who was heading on vacation with friends.  She wanted chocolate and carmel, so I created the following chocolate carmel cake balls with toffee chips.  I documented every step in the process, so please give it a try on your own!

Cake balls are such a great way to be creative and versatile.  I can use these for any type of party, merely by changing the flavor, color, size, or shape.  There are many websites that show very neat ideas for cake balls; one of my favorites being bakerella. (I apologize in advance, as some of my photos will not download in the correct direction.)



These are the ingredients I used for the cake balls.  Very simple, but very luschious!  You can use any type of cake mix, chocolate chip flavors, or toppings.

   I start by baking the cake.  Use a basic cake mix, bake as directed, and set out to cool.

Here is my chocolate cake direct from the oven.  I put it on a cooling rack to speed up the cooling process. 

Next, I crumble the cool cake into a stand mixer and add a can of icing.  During this step, you'll want to choose an icing that compliments your cake.  I've used Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese icing, or Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Icing.  Since my friend wanted a Carmel flavor, I bought the following and added the full can to my cake:

Duncan Hines now has icing that you can flavor!  Amazing!  You buy the base icing to the left, then add a flavor packet of your choice.  I picked Carmel, but I saw many options like Mint, Strawberry Shortcake, and Chocolate Almond.  Simply add to the icing and stir well.  I then added to the crumbled cake.

After adding the icing to the crumbled cake, I mixed on medium in my stand mixer for a few minutes.  Make sure that you scrape the sides and incorporate the two ingredients well.  After mixing, I clean my hands and spray them with Vegetable Spray.(This is such a handy trick, trust me!!! As you are rolling your cake balls, it will keep your hands free of sticky cake mix.) 

Scoop the cake mix into tablespoon size balls.  I simply roll into a perfect circle and lay in rows onto a piece of wax paper on a baking sheet. (Make sure the baking sheet can fit into your freezer or frig.)  I then place a candy stick into each cake ball.  This makes it easier later when you are dipping  your balls.  (More to come on the sticks.)

Once all my balls are rolled, I place the baking sheets into the freezer.  You can also place these into the frig.  The premise is that you want them to get cool and hard so that the sticks stay in the balls, but they are cold enough to roll without melting in the dipping chocolate.  I'm impatient; so the quicker the cake balls get hard the better.  I leave them in the freezer for 30-45 minutes and they are perfect for dipping.

Once chilled, I start my double boiler for dipping the chocolate.  As I don't have an official double-boiler, I use a pot with two cups of water with an oven-safe bowl placed on top.  You want the water to get hot, but not boiling.  It can burn your chocolate. Add your chips, 16 ounces, to the bowl once the water is steaming.  I leave on the burner until the chips melt all the way down, then set to the side so I don't risk burning it. 

Now that the chocolate chips have melted, I add my 'secret' ingredient (really it's everyone's secret, but I didn't know it for quite awhile, so I like to call it my secret), Crisco.  I really detest this product, but have to admit that when I add a tablespoon to the chips and mix thoroughly, the mix is much thinner and more flexible for dipping.  I then take one ball at a time and dip in the chocolate, using my spatula to cover.  Then I shake the chocolate a few times and give it a side-to-side jiggle.  This removes any excess chocolate from the cake ball.  Once I get it back to the wax paper, I gentle remove the stick from the cake ball and cover the hole with chocoalte. (I've left the sticks in these before and called them cake pops.  Very fun idea also.)



Now it's time to cover the cake ball with your topping.  I give the cake balls a few seconds to start to set, so that the toppings won't fall off.  I started using basic chocolate sprinkles for the top, but had an inspiration for toffee chips.  I thought these would work well with the Carmel flavor and give a little crunch with the cake balls. (Next time, I will probably add these chips into the cake mix, that way the balls have a little crunch to them.)

Once they are all dipped and covered, I set the tray back into the frig for an hour to set the chocolate.  They are now ready for taste testing!!!  I packaged mine into tuperware for the client's trip in a cooler, but you can add these to cute favor bags and tie with ribbon for a gift to a friend.  I've pictured a completed ball below.

I hope you found this post helpful for making cake balls.  They are really pretty simple and a great treat for a party.  I'll be making some red velvet balls for a Game Night I'm planning for next month, and will post some pics. 

Enjoy!
Ingrid