Crumbled cake mixed with frosting and dipped in candy coating make these incredibly moist and overly delicious cake balls! Easily transform them into cake pops by adding a lollipop stick.
Why this recipe works
These bite-sized morsels are soft and moist on the inside with a delicate chocolate coating on the outside. Cake balls are perfect for parties of all sorts and can easily be tailored to color preference and taste by swapping out a few ingredients.
They’re technically truffles that are made with 3 simple ingredients – cake, frosting, and candy coating and are pretty similar to chocolate peanut butter balls and oreo truffles.
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions
CAKE – Any boxed cake mix will do for cake balls. Chocolate, red velvet, yellow, white, funfetti, carrot cake – the sky is the limit! You can certainly make your own cake from scratch if you’d like as well, but using a cake mix shaves off quite a bit of time.
FROSTING – Again, you can swap out the type of frosting you choose to use. We opted for vanilla frosting to go with the yellow cake but you can also use cream cheese frosting, funfetti, buttercream, or peppermint (for the holidays). I would recommend pairing chocolate frosting with chocolate cake.
COATING – Chocolate and vanilla candy wafers (candy melts) are the two classics, but you can use colored candy wafers as well. I recommend the Ghiradelli brand of wafers. Chocolate candy melts are preferred for this recipe as they have an amount of edible wax incorporated which helps the chocolate to solidify at room temperature. You may also use almond bark to dip the cake balls in. If you plan on using chocolate chips, I would recommend adding a bit of coconut oil or vegetable oil to the chocolate as you’re heating it up to make it smoother for dipping.
How to Make Cake Balls
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Bake the cake according to package instructions. Allow to cool fully.
- Break apart the cake in the a large bowl until crumbled. Remove any harder crust pieces from the bowl.
- Add frosting and mix with a rubber spatula or by gloved hand. There is enough frosting once the cake can be squeezed and formed into a ball with little to no cracks.
- Roll the mixture into 24 even sized balls, about 2 Tablespoons, between hands and place onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- In two medium sized mixing bowls, melt the chocolate in their own bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments. Stirring and reheating as needed until smooth.
- Roll each cake ball into the desired chocolate using a fork. Lift the cake ball for excess to drip off. Set onto a parchment lined baking sheet and immediately top with desired sprinkles or décor as the chocolate dries quickly.
- Repeat the process for the remaining cake balls.
Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips
To make these into cake pops, place a lollipop stick into the chilled cake ball so it is upside down on the tray. Use your finger or a spoon to place a small amount of melted chocolate where the stick and the ball meat. Let it set for 2 minutes. This will act as a glue to keep the pop stick in place while you coat the rest of the cake ball in additional chocolate. Turn the stick after coating the ball fully to encourage excess chocolate to drizzle off.
Yes, you can freeze cake balls before they’ve been dipped in any chocolate coating. Place them in a large ziptop bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Remove from freezer and allow them to thaw before dipping in chocolate.
Serving Suggestions
We mean it when we say the variations are endless for cake balls. Between the different colored coating, cake flavors, and sprinkles you can tailor them to Christmas, Thanksgiving, football, school colors, Easter, and the Fourth of July to name a few. They’d even be fun for gender reveal parties. Don’t want sprinkles? Try a drizzle of chocolate, crushed pretzels, or chopped nuts on top when the chocolate is still wet. Cake balls make awesome edible gifts, and if you’d like, easily add a lollipop stick to the base when dipping to turn them into cake pops.
More Dessert Recipes
- Mocha Truffles
- Caramel Hot Cocoa Bombs
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
- Chocolate Covered Fruit Truffles
- Strawberry White Chocolate Hot Cocoa Bombs
- Donut Hole Cake Pops
- Buttercream Frosting
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Cake Balls
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 15.25 oz yellow cake mix 1 box cake mix of your choice
- 8 oz vanilla frosting canned, 8-10 oz
- 12 oz chocolate candy melts aka candy wafers
- 12 oz white chocolate candy melts
- sprinkles optional
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- To make these into cake pops, place a pop stick into the chilled cake ball so it is upside down on the tray. Use your finger or a spoon to place a small amount of melted chocolate where the stick and the ball meat. Let it set for 2 minutes. This will act as a glue to keep the pop stick in place while you coat the rest of the cake ball in additional chocolate. Turn the stick after coating the ball fully to encourage excess chocolate to drizzle off.
- Chocolate melts solidify quickly. You will need to work quickly or have multiple batches of chocolate that you keep reheating in the microwave for about 10 seconds each time to ensure it’s runny enough to get the excess off of the cake ball.
Instructions
- Bake the cake according to package instructions. Allow to cool fully.
- Break apart the cake in the a large bowl until crumbled. Remove any harder crust pieces from the bowl.
- Add frosting and mix with a rubber spatula or by gloved hand. There is enough frosting once the cake can be squeezed and formed into a ball with little to no cracks.
- Roll the mixture into 24 even sized balls, about 2 Tablespoons, between hands and place onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- In two medium sized mixing bowls, melt the chocolate in their own bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments. Stirring and reheating as needed until smooth.
- Roll each cake ball into the desired chocolate using a fork. Lift the cake ball for excess to drip off. Set onto a parchment lined baking sheet and immediately top with desired sprinkles or décor as the chocolate dries quickly.
- Repeat the process for the remaining cake balls.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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