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Sunday, March 28, 2010

*{Let Them Eat Cake}*


I finally did it.  I had been wanting to make the cake balls and cake pops that I had seen on Bakerella's website for an eternity (or so it seemed!).

They are fabulous!  I had never seen such a thing before and was excited to try them.  My friend Leslie was just as excited and next time I want to make them together. Baking + Friends = *FUN*

Anyway, after hearing about a  mexican dinner fundraiser for my friend Steven, who has bone cancer, I decided to make the cake balls/pops for the bake sale portion. Steven has to travel to Chicago (about a 3-4 hour drive) for treatments, so this fundraiser was to help with those expenses.  I was hoping they might fetch a little higher price than a chocolate chip cookie so that we could gather as much donation money as we could for Steven & his family. From what I heard later, the fundraiser was a complete success!  A lot of people spent many hours planning it and they pulled it off beautifully. I enjoyed cooking, baking and serving for this event. It really feels good to serve others in their time of need. Heaven knows I've had friends and family serving my own family in our time of need, so I'm glad that I was able to repay a little of what was done in the past for myself.

Anyway,I didn't make the cake balls/pops too fancy, but I hear they flew off the table, so I must have done something right! Next time I would like to make different fun pops. Maybe flower shaped or Hello Kitty shaped. That would be fun! Aren't they cute?  Bakerella is the queen of baking!

Anyway, if you're wondering what a cake ball/pop is, here is the low-down.

I baked a boxed cake mix in a 13x9 pan. Let it cool and then broke it all up into pieces.  I thought that might feel liberating, but truthfully, it just felt....wrong. I felt like I ruined the cake! Haha.

Next, I mixed all the cake crumbles with a can of cream cheese frosting.  This is a messy process, but nonetheless FUN.  I rolled most of them into quarter sized balls.  Some I made extra big. The small ones where pop in your mouth-able, while the larger ones were meant to be eaten with a fork.  Well, actually, you could just take a big 'ol bite out of those too. Doesn't matter when it's so tasty!


Next, I put them in the fridge to firm them up. To go faster, I froze some of them (I'm always behind and late for events!).  For the cake pops, lollipop sticks were inserted and then dipped in melted chocolate or white chocolate coating.  They turned out cute!  I wrapped them in cellophane tied with a twisty and they were ready to sell.


The cake balls were dipped, finished off and placed into a small cupcake liner. Or a big liner for the monster ones.


I made double chocolate balls and pops. And red velvet balls dipped in white chocolate. Next time I might use a home made cake mix instead of a store bought one. I think they would be tastier made from scratch.



Of course I HAD to try one....
....or 5.
 Mmm....delicious!

7 Whaddaya have to say about this post?:

rachel said...

Come ON Leanne! Some of us had are craving sweets and this does NOT help! Oh they look so good! I love Bakerella, too!

(Have you made Oreo balls yet? Similar recipe but no baking at all and they're divine, too!)

Megan said...

Get OUT! YOU are the queen of baking, Leanne. Forget Bakerella! Those look amazing! I did this with brownies and they were so dang yummy! They totally didn't look that awesome though. :)

Sharon Bollenbach said...

I bought some of those! They were yummy!!!

Nancy said...

Beautiful and yummy they were, too. Wish I had bought more! Sounds like a lot of work, though. Were they a terrible mess to make?

Leanne said...

I haven't tried Oreo balls, but boy, I'd like to!!

Yes, they are a bit messy, but worth it. I've done messier projects, so I was ok with it. A bit time consuming though. And I didn't even do the fancy stuff. I bet those Hello Kitty pops were tiring to make!

Brownie balls?! Fun! I didn't think of that.

Nikki said...

yum.... oh my yum!!!!

Gretta said...

Thanks for the fun idea. I made these while watching confrence on Saturday. I made ones with brownie and the red velvet cake ones both dipped in Ghiradelli milk chocolate. I have to say the brownie ones to me were hands down way better than the cake ones. They kind of tasted like a truffle. I have made the oreo balls you use a package of double stuffed oreos with a package of cream cheese (not cream cheese frosting) mix the finely crushed (food processor works great) oreos with cream cheese. Then shape in small balls and fridge or freeze then dip in chocolate (I like mild chocolate better than white because some of the white chocolate gets bits of oreo in it and it is not pure white. Jon the brownie and cake balls to the Priesthood BBQ that was right before the Priesthood confrence. Very time consuming but hey it helped me consentrate and stay awake during confrence. Have a great time in France.