When I was pregnant, my friend Chandra took a cake decorating class at a craft store near out home.  At the time, I didn’t really even care for cake, but my hormonal, hungry self was ready to eat anything. So when my friend brought over huge HUNKS of buttercream frosted cake on a weekly basis, I found myself sneaking into the kitchen late at night for just one more bite because “the baby wanted it.”

Suddenly, I was transformed into a cake conessieiur.  A cake snob.  Nothing had ever tasted better to me than buttercream icing.  I found myself eating it by the spoonful, scraping it off the tupperware lids from the goodie boxes my friend brought me, licking it off of her mixer attachment when I went over to beg for more help her prepare for class.

After I had my baby, I decided to take cake decorating classes myself.  I went crazy, purchasing nearly every cake decorating product Wilton made.  I told myself it was because I was determined to learn to make fancy, fun birthday cakes for my son.  But really, it was about the frosting.

Then, Wilton put out this book, which I purchased the moment it was available:

And while the designs in this are nothing short of amazing, I quite frankly don’t have the time or patience to roll hair or teddy bear fur out of fondant for two dozen cake balls at a time.

Also, the fondant totally interferes with the frosting.

And while I’m tempted to purchase this

since I’m certain my cake balls would turn out much more uniform and smooth; again, it doesn’t allow for huge globs of frosting.  What what is a cake ball without frosting?

If you’re interested in trying just a basic, simple cake ball recipe, start with these.  I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil, 2 teaspoons maple flavoring and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; beat at medium speed with electric mixer 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 as directed below.  Let cool completely.

Then, the fun part–crumble it all up into little bitty pieces:

Next, combine icing with remaining 2 teaspoons maple flavoring, remaining 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and salt.

Add icing mixture; mix with fingers until well combined.  Form mixture into cake balls.  Here’s my secret weapon:

Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

Um, we may or may not have sampled one or two of these.  You know, for quality control purposes.

Melt candies according to package directions. Dip sticks into melted candy and insert into cake balls; let set until candy is completely firm.  Remember how I told you I don’t like to wait?  Well, really, wait on these.  Or you’ll have stickless cake balls rolling around in your melted candy.  Trust me.

Once set, dip the pops completely in melted candy, and decorate with sugar or other candy sprinkles.

French Toast Cake Balls – click to print

• 1 box (about 18 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 1 box (3.4 ounces) instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 teaspoons maple flavoring , divided
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon . divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttercream icing
• 1 bag (14 oz) white candy melts

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray one 13 x 9 x 2 in. sheet pan or two 8 in. or 9 in. round pans with vegetable pan spray.
2. In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil, 2 teaspoons maple flavoring and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; beat at medium speed with electric mixer 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes for round pans; 35-40 minutes for sheet pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling grid and cool completely. Divide cake in half; freeze one half for future use.
4. In small bowl, combine icing with remaining 2 teaspoons maple flavoring, remaining 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and salt. In large bowl, use hands to crumble cake until no large chunks remain. Add icing mixture; mix with fingers until well combined. Form mixture into cake balls. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.
5. Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. Dip sticks into melted Candy Melts and insert into cake balls; let set. Wait until candy is completely firm before dipping the pops completely in melted Candy Melts; let set.

Makes 24 – 2 tablespoon sized cake ball pops (each about 1-1/2 in. diameter)

Recipe from Wilton