Tuesday 17 May 2011

Cake Balls on a Stick

Who doesn't love cake? Chocolate or lemon or strawberry? So many frosting options. Another great thing about cakes is that you can do so many things with them. Cupcakes are a popular idea. A new trend for cake is cake balls. Bite sized treats, cake balls are balls made of cake and frosting, dipped in coating. You can have them plain or put them on a stick. Cake balls on a stick are also called cake pops or cupcake pops. They make great party food, as you don't need dishes to serve them and they are easy to eat. People even throw cake ball parties, where you come with the undecorated cake balls on a stick and then decorate them with different dipping chocolates and toppings. In this article, learn how to make cake balls on a stick along with different flavors and ideas for them.

Simple Cake Balls on a Stick Recipe

Ingredients

    * 1 cooled cake - any size, any flavor, unfrosted
    * Scraps of different cakes can also be used
    * 1 can of prepared frosting or any home made frosting
    * Melted chocolate (amount varies based on number of balls made
    * Toothpicks or lollipop sticks

Directions

Cut the cooled cake into large pieces and place in a bowl. Use a fork and crumble the cake into crumbs. Run through the crumbs with the hands or a fork to make sure all pieces are crumbled. Mix in frosting to make a paste. Chill crumb mixture for at 2 hours. Use the hands or a melon baller to roll out balls from the crumb mixture. Stack the balls on top of each other, with waxed paper sheets in between, on a platter or tray. Place the tray with the cake balls in the freezer for 6 hours. Remove the tray from the freezer and stick a lollipop stick into each cake ball. One ball at a time, roll the balls in the melted chocolate. Make sure the entire ball surface is covered. Set on waxed paper to drip off.

Tips for Easy Cake Balls on a Stick

    * Make sure the cake balls aren't frozen solid before dipping
    * Try to make small balls, as they are easier to dip and eat
    * Keep the dipped balls at room temperature
    * Dip the balls in small batches, keep both coating and the balls in the freezer until you need them
    * Store the undipped cake balls in an air tight container sealed with both the lid and plastic wrap
    * Add sprinkles immediately after coating the cake balls on a stick. If the coating hardens, then the sprinkles won't stick to the balls
    * Use a styrofoam block to stick the cake balls on a stick into, while drying up the coating

Cake Balls on a Stick Ideas

The best thing about cake balls on a stick is that there are gazillions of frosting and coating options! Mix and match any cake and frosting combination to make a multitude of cake balls. You can use sprinkles, funfetti and jimmies for a festive touch, and get creative with decorating gels, mini candies and colored frosting. For sports fans, make cake balls with white coating and use green frosting at their base, to make golf balls on a stick! For the 4th of July, make cake balls from red velvet cake mix with vanilla frosting. Roll the balls in white chocolate and sprinkle with red, blue and white sprinkles!

A festive, homemade gift idea is to make cake balls on a stick for Christmas. A box of cake balls on a stick, decoratively wrapped, is sure to bring yummy, Christmas cheer to your loved ones. For that extra touch, make Christmas tree cake balls - plum cake mix, green frosting and icing balls and stars, in the conical shape of a tree. Or just plum cake mix, with differently colors of frosting, to make decorative cake balls on a stick. Cartoon character ideas too can be implemented for kids' parties, they would just have a ball.

Cake Balls on a Stick Flavors

    * Red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and vanilla or chocolate coating
    * Chocolate cake, milk chocolate icing, dipped in chocolate bark
    * Chocolate cake, butter cream icing, and dark chocolate coating
    * Fudge cake, mixed in peppermint chips and fudge frosting with dark chocolate coating
    * Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, dipped in white chocolate bark
    * Strawberry with vanilla frosting, dipped in chocolate
    * Lemon cake, lemon frosting and chocolate chips, dipped in white chocolate
    * Fudge mix, peppermint or chocolate chips, fudge frosting, dipped in dark chocolate
    * French vanilla cake with white chocolate almond icing, dipped in chocolate
    * Cherry chip cake mix and cream cheese frosting, dipped in white chocolate

Cake balls on a stick are a popular treat for parties and occasions. Kids love every step of making them, from licking the icing bowl to decorating the cake balls. It's a great way to use leftover cake too. So try making cake balls on a stick and enjoy eating them!

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