Cake Balls

Cake balls or cake pops - whatever we call them their awesome taste does not change. Had heard of them and seen many recipes but never ever got the time or opportunity to try them. What gave me the opportunity was my anniversary cake that went wrong.

Chocolate cake balls

Yes, I kind of over cooked my marriage anniversary cake. No doubt the taste was good but the texture had a problem. It was a bit too dry. Being a fairly large cake I did not know how to finish it when the idea of trying out these cake balls occurred  and I am glad I tried them. They prove to be a perfect gift for any occasion. With only a little bit of effort simple cakes can be transformed into mouth watering, great looking delicacies.

Let us make them now.

You need:

• One 10cm round chocolate cake or an equivalent size in any other shape
• 3 Tbsp Ganache or chocolate frosting
• Good quality dark cooking chocolate - not giving any specific amount here as there has to be enough to comfortably dip the balls completely. Once done there is bound to be left over chocolate which can be used for some other recipe.

Make it:
Break the cake into small pieces and crumble all of it. Some people prefer to whiz it in the mixer but it is perfectly fine if crumbled by hand. I have done it by hand.

Cake crumbs

With all lumps removed it is time to add the ganache or frosting, whichever one you are using. Mix very well to end up getting a cake dough. Something like this:

Chocolate dough

Now is the time to make the balls. Take small chunks of the dough and roll between palms to make small balls. The size is completely upon you as to what you prefer. Place the prepared balls on a parchment paper and leave in the fridge to cool a bit.

Cake balls without the chocolate coating

Once cool the balls are ready to be dipped in melted chocolate. One by one dip each ball in the melted chocolate and return to the parchment paper to solidify. When set you can decorate as desired. In this recipe  I have decorated with white chocolate piping poured from a piping bag.

Cake balls ready with decoration 

Similarly I have made cake pops by placing the balls on lolly sticks. The size is a bit smaller and there is an additional step of inserting the stick. This has to be done before the coating chocolate layer is applied. Follow the steps given here to make the pops.

• Make holes with the lolly sticks in all the cake balls.
• Dip each stick in melted chocolate and insert in the balls. 
• Place upside down on a parchment paper and allow the sticks to get firm in the balls. You can keep them in the fridge for some time.
• Once the sticks are firmly set dip each lolly one by one in the melted chocolate. Make sure to allow all the excess chocolate to drip off the balls.
• When you see the chocolate setting on the ball with no more dripping fix each stick on a thermacol or styrofoam sheet and allow to dry. Decoration with white chocolate can be done after the balls have set. If using any kind of sprinkles do it when the chocolate is not completely set. It will stick better.

Cake pop bouquet