Dress up cake balls for Valentine's Day
09:04 AM CST on Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Looking for inspiration for Valentine's Day treats?
Cake balls are on a roll. The spherical confections, a combination of cake and frosting covered with a crisp coating, continue to delight sweets-lovers, who buy them from local bakers or try their hands at turning out cake balls at home.
"It's a bite-size treat," says Michael Doherty, the man behind Patty Cakes by the Baker Man cake balls, sold at Weir's and other local stores.
"They're just the right size, three bites or so, for people who want a sweet fix but don't want to indulge in a whole slice of cake," says Charlotte Lyon of the Cake Ball Co., the first area purveyor specializing solely in cake balls. "They're perfect for parties because they're so easy to eat, and you don't have to worry about plates or utensils."
Manufacturers use difficult-to-handle chocolate coatings, but consumers can substitute almond bark or chocolate chips, or candy-melt wafers sold in craft and cake supply stores, to achieve the hard coating that makes the treat finger-friendly.
Home cooks Karen Washington, Helen Goblirsch and Sue Merkel, all of Dallas, craft cake balls for entertaining and gifts.
"I'll make them for Valentine's gifts for girlfriends, neighbors and teachers," Washington says.
"They make great hostess gifts and party favors, packaged in cellophane bags and tied with colored ribbons," says Goblirsch, who writes a lifestyle blog on entertaining and shopping, www.kappaprep.com.
"It's a fun project to do with kids," says Merkel, who keeps cake balls on hand in the freezer, ready to be pulled and dipped in coating for impromptu desserts or to deliver to friends on short notice.
The creative aspect to crafting cake balls makes them especially fun. For Valentine's Day, chocolate flavor is a natural choice. Set it off with contrasting pink and red frostings, sprinkles, candies or sugar decorations from cake supply shops. The tiny cakes, packaged in tins or cellophane bags, make a stylish statement with punch. You can make cake balls from almost any cake and frosting recipe, including a mix and prepared frosting. See below for a basic recipe to play off of at home.
Valerie Jarvie is a Dallas freelance writer.
Devil's food cake, fudge icing, dark chocolate flavor coating. (Spike frosting with 2-3 tablespoons liqueurs such as Chambord [raspberry] or Grand Marnier [orange] for extra flavor, and-or add raspberry, orange, hazelnut, etc., flavored oil to candy coating.)
Strawberry cake, cream cheese frosting, chocolate coating or vanilla pink-tinted coating
White cake, white frosting, red- or pink-tinted coating
Red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, chocolate coating
Lemon cake, lemon frosting, vanilla coating tinted red or pink
White cake and frosting with multicolored sprinkles, pastel-tinted vanilla coating
•Work in small batches when dipping frozen cake mixture, keeping the rest in the freezer.
•Warm chocolate and confectionary coating in a double boiler, microwave or (for a large batch) slow-cooker, but do not overheat, as it burns easily, especially in the microwave. Be sure you have plenty on hand; a burnt batch must be discarded.
•Be careful not to splash water into confectionery coating; it will turn grainy and must be discarded.
•Use only oil-based candy dye and oil-based flavoring to add color or extra flavor to confectionery coating. Start with a few drops, adding a little at a time.
•Lay the dipped balls on wax paper to harden, placing the spot where you pierced the ball down to cover the hole, or cover the hole with decoration.
•For decoration, you can fill a narrow-tipped squirt bottle with a contrasting color of melted coating and paint stripes over the balls.
•To thin confectionery coating, add vegetable oil, one teaspoon at a time, and stir.
•Decorate with opaque sprinkles and sugar decorations immediately after dipping each ball; coating sets instantly.
•Once dipped, the balls will keep at room temperature for days; if you refrigerate them, the coating will sweat. Undipped balls can be kept frozen for weeks.
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Bake the cake according to package instructions. While warm, crumble the cake into a bowl with a hand mixer to a fine texture. Mix in frosting to make a paste, using half to three-quarters of the can, to taste. Chill the mixture for at least 2 hours.
Using a melon baller or your hands, form the mixture into 1 ½ -inch balls. Place the balls on wax paper; freeze at least 6 hours.
Working in small batches, remove the balls from the freezer and dip them into warm, melted Almond Bark Coating, Confectionery Coating or melted chocolate chips, using candy forks or toothpicks to manipulate the balls. Remove the balls. Place the balls on wax paper to harden. Makes about 30 cake balls.
Almond Bark Coating: In a double boiler, melt one 20-ounce package vanilla- or chocolate-flavored almond bark, stirring constantly; alternatively, in a tall-sided narrow container, microwave almond bark for 45 seconds; continue to heat in 15-second intervals, stirring in between until melted; be careful not to scorch. Stir in 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. If coloring is desired, stir in oil-based candy coloring to vanilla flavor, one drop at a time, until reaching desired color.
Confectionery Wafer Coating: Melt 48 ounces confectionary wafers in double boiler or microwave following the instructions for Almond Bark Coating.
Chocolate chips: Melt 12 ounces of chips in double boiler; add more chips as needed. This variation will result in a softer (less crisp) coat.
Want something extra-special for your sweetie? Add richness to a standard cake mix by substituting melted butter for oil and milk for water in package instructions. Or, try this luscious variation to standard chocolate:
Raspberry Chocolate Cake Balls: Thaw 9 ounces frozen raspberries; place in a fine sieve and, with the back of a spoon, squeeze out excess juice. Combine drained berries with 3 tablespoons sugar, a (18.25-ounce) devil's food cake with pudding mix, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 3 large eggs in mixing bowl. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat for an additional 2 minutes on medium. Pour into greased, floured 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to slightly warm, crumble and combine with chocolate frosting according to the Basic Cake Ball recipe above.
Optional: For extra flavor, stir 2 tablespoons Chambord raspberry liqueur into frosting.
SOURCE: Adapted from Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn
Ready-made cake balls are available through these sources and area bakeries:
•The Cake Ball Co.: www.cakeballs.com, 214-559-5788.
•Patty Cakes by the Baker Man: www.pattycakesbythebakerman.com by special order or retailed at Weir's Furniture stores, Drip Coffee, Holy Ravioli, Molto Formaggio and the T Shop.
Supplies for making cake balls:
•Almond bark: on the baking aisle of major grocery stores
•Confectionery coating, oil-based candy coloring and flavored oils, candy forks: crafts stores such as Michaels, Jo-Ann's, and cake and kitchen supply stores such as the Cake Carousel, 1002 N. Central Expressway, Suite 501, Richardson, www.cakecarousel.com , 972-690-4628, and Asher's Gourmet Shoppe, 3114 S. Cooper St., Arlington, 817-468-9411.
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