my attempt at making these supposedly 'simple' cake balls was far from that, but did turn out to be quite cute & tasty! i found several different ways to make these, but i'll just share what i actually
did so that maybe your attempt will be easier than mine originally was! first of all, just make the cake according to the box instructions. i used red velvet cake mix (above) and deep chocolate (below), cooking them in a 13x9 in pan. after the cake is done cooking and still warm, crumble it up in a big mixing bowl. then add a tub of whatever frosting you want...i used cream cheese frosting with the red velvet and milk chocolate with the chocolate one. mix the entire tub of frosting into the crumbled cake mixture and put it in the fridge for at least an hour to completely cool. once it's cool, form small balls with the cake mixture. i used a cookie scooper to speed up the process (and my 5 year old!). next, put the cake balls in the freezer for at least 2 hours or until they are hard enough to stay completely formed. melt your white/milk/dark chocolate bark/chips/or candy coating according to the instructions. in order to make the coating thin enough to last and not tear your cake to pieces, i added some vegetable oil while it was fresh out of the microwave. the dipping process is very delicate and tricky. after much trial & error, i figured out the best way to dip them is to set the ball on top of a fork's prongs and slide it into the coating, cover the ball, then slide back onto the fork. gently use a toothpick under the bottom of the ball to slide onto wax paper. if you want sprinkles and you're using candy coating, put them on right away. if you're using bark/chips, you've got a little more time to play with. put them all back in the fridge to harden completely and make sure you store them in the fridge also. you can use whatever combo of cake/frosting/coating you want...i think i'll try some kind of mint chocolate next time or some funfetti cake mix :)
