Chocolate Cake Balls

Have I mentioned that I love chocolate? Well, I do. These cake balls are perfect for chocolate lovers. The main focus of my picture is a white chocolate covered cake ball with crushed walnuts. The only reason it's the main focus is because it's prettier than the plain chocolate cake balls. Although they are yummy, the semi-sweet chocolate covered cake balls are the stars of this post. I don't know how much it matters which cake recipe you decide to use, but I've had cake balls before and these were amazing. Credit for the superb cake goes to "Sandy" from allrecipes.com.

Before starting this recipe, I searched the web and my baking books for a chocolate cake recipe that didn't involve baking chocolate or vegetable oil (didn't have any on hand) and I came across this recipe. Lucky for me, it ended up being perfect. After baking, I scraped my cake pans clean to get the bits of cake that stuck to the bottom out. Then, I ate those little bits of extra cake. It was delicious. I actually only made half of the cake recipe because it was supposed to make a three layered cake. My first thought was, "that's going to be a lot of cake balls." There was no way I was going to make that many. Half of the recipe made about two dozen golf ball-sized cake balls, and that was definitely enough for me. My first plan was to cover the cake in Wilton candy melts. That failed miserably. Wilton candy melts are the last thing you want to use when trying to coat things in chocolate. They are good for making molded chocolates. The consistency is all wrong for dipping and will never (unless you're magical) work. Even Toll House chocolate chips and Hershey bars don't work (tried and failed). If you ever need to dip things in chocolate, use baking chocolate squares. Doing this will save you a lot of time and money.


Chocolate Cake Balls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/8 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cups sour cream

2/3 cups boiling water

for the frosting:

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

splash of milk, if necessary

16oz Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares (or any other chocolate you would like to use)

nuts, cookie crumbs, or any other toppings you want

Directions

I made the cake the night before to save time.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream. Mix on low speed until combined. Stir water in until combined. Pour batter into two 9 inch cake pans. You don't have to worry about greasing the pans because you need to shred the cake. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

for the frosting

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Beat to combine, adding milk if the frosting is too stiff.

for the cake balls

Make sure the cake is completely cooled. Place all of the cake in a large bowl and, using a knife, stir/chop it until it turns into crumbs. Next, add half of the frosting and mix until combined.Continue to add frosting until the desired consistency is met. The cake should hold its shape on its own but not crumble. Roll the cake into balls about the size of a golf ball and set on a plate or cookie sheet (whatever will fit into your freezer.) Freeze the cake for about 30 minutes, or until firm.

In a heatproof bowl, melt half of your chocolate in the microwave. Try melting it in about 30 second increments, stirring inbetween each one. Once completely melted, set up an area to dip the cake balls. One by one, drop the cake balls into the chocolate. Coat each cake ball completely, then rest on a fork and tap on the edge of the bowl to rid the cake ball of excess chocolate. Using a second fork, slide the cake ball off of the first fork and onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. If you want to add cookie crumbs, nuts, etc, this is the time to do it. Sprinkle whatever toppings you want over the cake balls before the chocolate is set. Continue this process until all of the cake balls are coated in chocolate. Put the cake balls in the fridge to set.

Source

allrecipes.com