Disclaimer: I had every intention of posting this last night but it got super late and I had to go to sleep! Sorry it's a few hours past due ;)
Happy Wednesday Everyone! I’m in the process of another baking
adventure and while I’m in one of the two cooling stages, I thought I’d start
typing up my post! You can call me a cheater tonight because I’m using almost
everything out of a box or tub but I sort of decided to do this at the last
minute and decided it would be the quickest way and still get to sleep tonight!
I also had a baking mix that I’ve wanted to use for quite some time but never
had so I decided tonight was as good as ever. I know I’m pretty crazy for
lighting the oven on a 94 degree evening but since tomorrow and Friday are
supposed to be even hotter, it was probably my last baking escapade this week!
(Although, I do have a mostly no-bake dessert to make on Friday so you’ll see
at least one more post this week!) Tonight is the first time I’ve ever tried
making a ‘real’ cake ball. You see I do have one of the super cute Babycake
Makers (similar to my Whoopie Pie maker) but the first cake balls my husband
ever had were of the crumbled-cake-mixed–with-frosting variety, thus those are
the ‘real version’! I had never even heard of these tasty tots until I moved to
Indiana! I have to say I typically prefer my babycake pops better because it is
a pure cake ball with some sort of frosting or chocolate on top but I thought I might as well
give these a whirl! The other reason I tried this recipe is because the box mix
I am using is a quick bread and I wasn’t sure how that would turn out in the
baby cake maker since it can be a bit finicky about the mixes at times. Okay,
first cool time is over…be back in a bit!
Whew! This recipe is not one to make when you’re in a snacky mood or
fixing for something sweet! It’s so easy to steal a bite here and there and now
my whole workout is out the window! Oh well, at least it seems as though
they’re tasting yummy! So enough of my rambling, let’s get on to the recipe!
CRANBERRY VANILLA CAKE BALLS
What you need for the cake balls:
1 box of cranberry quick bread (I used the Trader Joe’s variety but it
appears that Pillsbury has one, too)
The recipe on the box then calls for:
1 large egg
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of water
You'll also need 1 tub of vanilla or cream cheese frosting (I had Duncan Hines Vanilla
on hand)
12 oz Wilton candy melts or white chocolate chips
(If you want to turn these into cake pops you will need lollipop
sticks)
To make the cake balls:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease and flour an 8 inch loaf pan. (I actually used a 10 inch round because I thought it might turn out a little less dense than the loaf pan but I have no proof of this!)
- Mix together the baking mix, egg, oil and water with a wooden spoon until just combined (this won’t take long).
- Pour batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack (probably about an hour- I hurried this along by putting it in the fridge after about 20 minutes because I was a bit short on time).
- Once the cake is cool, crumble it into a large bowl (this is so hard to do when the cake looks so pretty the way it is!)
- Now you’ll mix in the frosting…I found several variations among recipes as to how much you’re supposed to put in there. Most of them say it depends on how moist your cake is but that most likely you wouldn’t use the entire tub. I used about 80% of the 15.6oz jar (and took a few spoonful’s for myself along the way ;)
- Now for the fun (or gross part)! You can use a spoon to combine the cake with the frosting but I thought using my hands was a bit easier.
- Once it’s thoroughly combined, I popped mine back in the fridge for about 15 minutes so they would be a bit firmer. (You can skip this step if you want.) Then form the mixture into small balls on a cookie sheet. Honestly, it looked like cookie dough to me before you put them in the oven!
- Now pop them back into the fridge or freezer for about 30-60 minutes so they can firm up before you dip them.
- While they’re cooling, start to melt your white chocolate on low in the microwave stirring frequently until it’s smooth.
- Take your cake balls out of the fridge or freezer and dip them into the melted chocolate. I actually put chocolate on a spoon, placed the cake ball on the spoon and rolled it around. It seemed like it was more evenly coated than just plopping them in the whole bowl of chocolate. Place back on the cookie sheet so they can cool completely (however, they will have a ‘flat’ side if you set them on the sheet). I wasn't going for gorgeous with this recipe so it was okay with me that they were not completely uniform.
If you want to turn these into
Cake Pops (and keep the full circular shape) you can follow these easy steps:
Use a skewer or a toothpick to poke holes in the balls after they come
out of the freezer;
Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted coating, and stick it
into the hole you just created. (The melted coating will help hold the stick in
the cake pop.)
Once all of the cake balls are on sticks, it's time to dip them. Hold one end of the lollipop stick and
submerge the cake pop completely in the melted coating. Take it out and gently
tap it and swirl it upside down to remove excess coating.
You can either place them on wax paper (getting the flat top) or buy
some block Styrofoam and place the sticks in the block right side up. You may
still have a little dripping of the frosting but I say it gives them character!
ENJOY!
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