Cake Balls!!

Apparently the new trend in cooking and baking is CAKE BALLS. I'm a member of a cooking forum on the internet where you share recipes and ask cooking questions (you never know when you'll need assistance with your Hamburger Helper!). They've been talking about cake balls for the last few years and I have finally decided to give in and make them.

First, the recipe:
CAKE BALLS
-1 Box any flavor cake mix
-1 can frosting, any flavor that will go with your cake (get creative!)
-Something to dip them in-- white candy coating (like almond bark) or dipping chocolate (I use melted chocolate chips and add a small spoonful of Crisco-- it does the same thing but it's cheaper).

Bake the cake in a 9x13 pan. Cool completely. Crumble the cake (in a bowl) using 2 forks until it's in fine little crumbs. Add the icing, little by little, and continue to mix it together until the icing 'disappears' into the cake. Using your hands, form the mixture into walnut-size balls and then place on wax paper and stick them in the freezer. When they get hard, then dip them into your candy coating or melted chocolate and let them set (I put them back in the fridge or freezer). Some people use a double boiler to melt the coating in; I just used a plain saucepan sprayed with Pam, over low heat.

The great thing about this recipe is the versatility. Not only are there an insane number of flavor combinations to try, but you can also decorate them or dye the candy coating for holidays or occasions. I even saw where some people put them on lollipop sticks and then decorated the white balls like ghosts for Halloween. Or, if you're like me and you're trying to cook with 2 kids tugging at your pant legs, just settle for big, ugly blobs. Here are some of mine.
I used red velvet cake, vanilla frosting, and semi sweet chocolate chips for dipping.

I look forward to trying the spice cake and orange cake mixes that I bought next.

And, a few lessons learned:
1. Try to make these when you don't have 2 kids in the kitchen "helping"
2. Find an partner who will hold you accountable for what you do with the leftover melted chocolate in the bottom of the pan. You should not be a) eating it by the spoonful or b) dipping other random things from your pantry. It's OK to let it go.
3. Red velvet has red dye in it. Let's keep it in the bowl.

I'm taking these to a party tomorrow so we'll see how they taste! Let me know if you try these and come up with a must-have flavor combo! Next for me is orange cake, vanilla icing, chocolate coating!