dgbaking With the Holidays right around the corner, I figure many of you who like to make your own gifts are looking for ideas. I have a large family and friends I love I am also the DIY type. Since I love to bake, I try to combine it all into one lovely package.
I decided to make Cake Balls last year. I make both chocolate and vanilla cake and I call them “Cake Balls” because they are actually cake pops but without the stick. Feel free to make truffles instead, to make this gift.
I start out by organizing myself. I made about 100 Cake Balls to place inside tins and gift away. Some tins hold 6 balls, others 10, others 20 and so on. Buy tins according to how many people you want to gift to and then add up how many Cake Balls should make.
Tins that are squared and 6″x6″ hold 9 cake balls. Tins that are about 10″x4″ hold 10 or even 12 cake balls, depending on how big you make them. I use a 1tsp cookie scoop to scoop them out and get an even size on all of them.
Organize yourself by color and general design that you wish to make. I break things down into what main candy chocolate covers I wish to have and according to how may cake balls I am making. If I am making 50 or less, I stick to two different colors of candy melts. If I am making over 50 Cake Balls, I usually use 3 different colors but often up to 4.
Crafts places usually have sprinkles and colored sparkling sugar packets that I stock up on as well since they add a lovely touch to the cake balls. These are usually inexpensive so stock up and have them on hand.
Once you are organized, if you are going to use fondant cutouts, now is the time to make them. I start about a week before I decorate the cake balls. For these balls, I made white bells, as pictured here. You can do about any design that you want with fondant and use any color fondant you wish. You can also color them with an edible marker as I did for some of the bells.
Form the Balls at least 2 days before you dip, as this gives you time to rest a bit, especially if you are making a large quantity. I form them, refrigerate them in an air tight container and then get ready to dip them 1 to 2 days later. I organize by color. since I made 100 of these, I first made 35 chocolate covered balls and decorated. Then 35 red covered cake balls and decorate and finally, 35 white and decorate. I realize this is 105 but for the sake of evenness and because I have a young son who loves these, I make extra.
Here they are! Ready to go to family, friends, co-workers, or anyone you wish to gift.
Enjoy and please let me know if you make them!
