Rich red velvet cake mixed with tangy homemade cream cheese frosting is rolled into balls and dunked in white chocolate coating in this decadent red velvet cake balls recipe!
13.25ouncered velvet cake mixplus ingredients on the back of the box
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4cupunsalted butterat room temperature
4ouncescream cheeseat room temperature
2cupspowdered sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1/2teaspoonkosher salt
Candy Coating
24ounceswhite almond barkdivided. 12 squares
2Tablespoonsvegetable shorteningdivided
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease a 9 x13-inch baking dish.
Prepare and bake the cake according to package instructions.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack while preparing the cream cheese frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting, beat together the butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl or stand-up mixer until light and fluffy.
Mix in the vanilla extract and salt.
Slowly add in powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, and continue to mix until smooth. Set aside.
Once the cake has cooled, crumble the cake in the baking dish using a fork and transfer the crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Set aside 1/3 of a cup of the crumble (this will be your topping).
Add all but ½ cup of the cream cheese frosting to the crumbled cake and mix with a soft silicone spatula. Make sure the mixture is well combined.TIP - I recommend adding only part of the frosting to the cake crumbs. If you feel you need more frosting, add a ¼ cup at a time until you reach the desired consistency. It’s better to add too little and keep adding small amounts of frosting than having too much frosting and the cake balls don’t form properly. If your cake is on the drier side after baking then you can add in all the frosting.
Using a small cookie dough scoop, drop evenly sized pieces onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Roll the mounds between lightly moistened hands to form into smooth-shaped ball.
Place the cake balls in the freezer for 1 hour to allow them to firm up.
Set aside 2 of the 12 squares of almond bark. From the remaining 10 squares, place 5 of them in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30-second intervals, continue until the mixture is smooth. Add in 1 tablespoon of the vegetable shortening and stir until combined.
Place a cake ball on the end of a fork and dunk it into the melted candy, making sure the entire ball is coated. Tap the fork against the edge of the bowl to remove any excess coating. Transfer the cake ball to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Continue to dip the remaining cake balls into the melted candy, melting the remaining 5 squares of almond bark when needed.
Take the remaining 2 squares of almond bark and heat them in the microwave until melted. Pour this mixture into a plastic piping bag (or zippered sandwich bag) and snip off the end to create a very small opening.
Drizzle the cake balls with the melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with the remaining cake crumbs.
Allow the cake ball coating to dry at room temperature and for the candy coating to set before eating.
Notes
Make sure your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature before mixing for the best consistency.
Freezing your cake balls for 1 hour before dipping them into the melted almond bark makes for easier and smoother coverage of the cake ball. It's easiest to work in batches by keeping the uncoated cake balls in the freezer and only removing 5 or 6 at a time to coat them, this ensures they stay firm.
We used white almond bark to coat the cake balls in but you can also use vanilla candy wafers (candy melts). Although it's definitely possible to use white chocolate chips for this recipe, I would recommend using either almond bark or candy wafers instead as white chocolate chips don't melt as easily and aren't designed for dipping.
Vegetable shortening is added to the almond bark to help create a smooth consistency.