Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Cake Balls

I'm usually a decent cook (hence this blog), but sometimes, I botch a recipe so royally that there's no redemption. Tonight was one of those occasions.
If you Google "cake balls," you'll find various recipes and articles about these little, um, "confections." I use the term lightly because to me, they taste like mushy gobs of old cake crumbs and sugary shortening. But when you think about it, that's what they are: mushed up cake with store-bought frosting and a chocolate coating. In this case, not even the chocolate could redeem these balls from their rightful place in the garbage. Should you be inclined to try them, take my word for it -- don't! And, to recognize the recipe when you see it, here's the general gist:

Cake Balls
1 box cake mix (chocolate or vanilla works best)
1 container frosting
Almond bark or dipping chocolate

1. Make the box cake mix and bake according to package directions. Cool, then crumble into very small pieces. (I used a food processor.)
2. Mix in a container of frosting, then chill until the mixture hardens (you can add jimmies if you want).
3. Form into 1-inch balls, then dip in melted chocolate and refrigerate until hard. Once chilled, throw the entire thing in the trash and grab a container of Hagen Daaz and a spoon.

Lessons Learned: I wanted to try these because they sounded similar to a cookie I tried at Christmastime that had me oohing and aahing in chocolate ecstasy. Only, those cookie balls were made with crushed Oreos. If you have THAT recipe, please post it in the comments. The only redeeming value of this recipe is that the cake made the house smell good while it was baking. But, I can buy an air freshener for that.

3 comments:

david and michal said...

i've also seen these made with cream cheese, then frozen, then dipped in chocolate. never tried myself, though...

Jay said...

wow, lookie here, my daughter!

hey, miss l, do you do baklava? on another message board i have some guys whining who have never had it and i banned them from further commentary until they tried it. they asked me if i would send them some. yeah, like i make it all the time. do we have one of dem der receepees?

Lanna said...

Nope, I haven't tried making baklava ... yet. It's on my list of things to do, though. Maybe this is the inspiration I need for this weekend. I'll look for recipes and give it a try.