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Cake balls, best described as ooey-gooey cupcakes with two tops, have become a certifiable trend in Texas and South Louisiana.
"We've definitely created kind of a craze," admits Robin Ankeny, the baker behind the Cake Ball Company in Dallas, where the local paper recently ran a story on how to make Valentine's versions of the wildly popular treats.
Ankeny started selling cake balls in 2006, inspiring a horde of professional and amateur imitators – and a few detractors: "Put down the cake balls," an Austin blogger pleaded in a recent post bidding good riddance to the past year's fads. The treats were so ubiquitous by Christmastime that the Times-Picayune food editor Judy Walker reported in early 2009 that they "turned up at just about every party or gathering I attended."
Walker admitted she'd never before heard of cake balls, a sentiment shared by food experts across the region. While Ankeny insists cake balls are an old Southern tradition, the treats are still rarely found in states that don't share a border with Texas.
"I grew up eating them," Ankeny says. "My mom learned to make them from a friend of hers."
Cake balls, also sometimes referred to as cake pops or cake truffles, are "a blend of cake and icing," Ankeny explains. "They're hard on the outside, but moist, decadent and rich on the inside."
Cake balls are so simple to make that the Dallas Morning News suggests using them for kid's cooking projects. The basic recipe calls for a whole cake, which is then crumbled up, mixed with frosting, rolled into balls and dipped in confectionery coating.
Ankeny, who sells her cake balls through her own website and the Neiman Marcus catalog, says the birthday cake and brownie varieties are her best-sellers, although almost any flavor combination is possible. Even better, fans claim decent cake balls can be made at home using cake mix, canned frosting and food coloring, so even if the trend does get tired, the ball bakers won't.
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2-17-2010 @3:25PM LinC said... Not living in Texas, I have yet to encounter a cake ball in the wild, but I've seen them on blogs. It's very popular to make them using lollypop sticks (which probably also makes them easier to chocolate-dip).
However, the Dallas Morning News article associated to this post says to make them using a box cake mix and a can of frosting. I don't think that would work. Box mixes make a cake that's much to "fluffy." It would never hold up to combining with frosting and rolling. I predict a sticky mess. If you are going try making them, I recommend making a from-scratch cake or even a pound cake as the basis for the balls.
Anybody reading this who has real experience making these?
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2-17-2010 @4:50PM Geena said... The most popular version of the recipe I've seen from Bakerella: http://www.bakerella.com/make-your-cupcakes-pop/ suggests that boxed mix works for them fine. I haven't tried it yet though (but as cupcake pops on lollipop stick I think they're WAY cute.)
2-18-2010 @9:39AM debi said... cake mix works fine. i made these for christmas and everyone had fits over them. i put the frosting in the micorwave to warm it up just alittle and it made it easier to mix together. then put the mixture in the fridge and was a breeze to roll up the balls. then i put the balls in the freezer before i dipped them. super easy.
2-18-2010 @10:13AM Sharon said... My family has done these for years using Oreo cookies and cream cheese for the center and dipping in white chocolate. More of a truffle than a cake ball, I guess. For a different take on the same, use Nutter Butter cookies and cream cheese and dip in chocolate. Easy prep. Just throw the cookies and cream cheese in blender, roll into balls. Dip easier if refrigerated or frozen before dipping.
2-18-2010 @12:02PM genevieve said... We have been making cake balls at our Bread Winners restaurants in the DFW area for quite a while. We wholesale them (as well as other yummy baked goods) to the Angelika Theaters in Dallas and Plano and sell them in our bakery case in the lobbies of all 3 of our restaurants in Dallas and Plano. Look us up at breadwinnerscafe.com or call us at 214.754.0099 for information on cake balls or any of our other sinful treats.
2-18-2010 @1:34PM Janetta said... Yes, I'm in Oklahoma and we use the boxed cake mixes and canned icing. The only thing is the canned icing is not for the outside. After baking the cake per directions, we dump it in a big bowl (almost painful to do the first time) - then add the whole can of frosting in the dumped cake bowl. We mix it up good so it's kind of gooey.
Take a fruit baller (is that what you call it?) or use your hands if you want and make balls our of the gooey stuff. After that, I always stick the balls in the refrigerator to get them nice and firm. Melt some chocolate bars in a double boiler and dip those cake balls in. They are fantastic!
2-18-2010 @9:36PM Kim said... I teach cake decorating classes. I also do a lot of baking. I have successfully made many different flavors of cake balls using mixes and canned frostings. I even made some with rum flavoring added to the mixture. I have never had any problems and I always get compliments on them.
K
2-19-2010 @8:26AM Michelle said... Try K & M 's Cake Ball Company in Texas. Their cake balls are amazing and much more reasonable in price than the Cake Ball Company. They will customize them for you and they even make cake ball bouquets. Their website is ucanhaveaball.com.
2-17-2010 @11:39PM Cailin said... I'm wondering if they pinched this idea from Bakerella she's been doing this for ages... I daresay her popularity has more to do with the popularity of "cake balls"!
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2-18-2010 @6:34AM CS said... You can make them from box cake. My sis just did 170 of them for her daughter's sweet 16 and they turned out fabulously!! The fondant was so adorable and she saved a TON of money by doing them on her own:) She did chocolate cake and pink frosting...then the fondant was pink and they did black polka and white polka dots on them with her initial on the top...TOO cute!!
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2-18-2010 @7:39AM Pierpoint Windsor said... ATTN: HANNA RASKIN! Ugh Ugh Ugh! I'm not about to let your oh so clever bit of humor go unrecognized. Thanks for the article, as a retiree whose entire family and extended family, men and women, boys and girls, all enjoy cooking and learning new recipes this titillating tid bit of southern comfort goodies is something we will try soon. HOWEVER, DEAR Hanna Raskin, you certainly are not a rapacious rascal since it is patently clear you saved your cleverest pun for the very last words of your column, making it one of the best and most memorable of note which you well knew, I am fully confident, that some few of your readers would 'get it'. So Mz. Raskin, Hanna a great big THANKS! You've earned a fan~~~~`
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2-18-2010 @8:50AM Nancy said... I'll bake your balls!
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2-18-2010 @8:57AM DallasGirl said... Love those Cake Balls. Have ordered from the Cake Ball Company too! Very yummy and attractive presentation. I've tried to duplicate at home but its very labor intensive, The article is misleading if you think this is as easy as cupcake to make REALLY good cake balls. I think I will leave it up to the professionals.
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2-18-2010 @9:27AM Dorothy said... Donut holes are just as good.
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2-18-2010 @6:55PM Bob said... I don't understand what the big rave is about these cake balls, I've been making them for years, not round, square, also known as: "Petit Fours."
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2-18-2010 @10:00AM Heidi said... They are not all that difficult to make, just time consuming. They can absolutely be made using boxed cake and can frosting, in fact that's the only way I've done it! Bakerella was the first place I saw them too. So far I've done mini cupcakes on a stick and the Chick Pops for Easter. Everyone loves them! http://perpetualhostess.blogspot.com/
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2-18-2010 @10:46AM MissNikki said... I make cake balls, but my process does not involve box cake mix or frosting. I use the leftovers from my scratch cakes and add either flavored liquid coffee creamer or whipping cream depending on the flavor I'm creating, then add in a goodie such as crushed Oreos, chopped Reeses, cinnamon, crushed Butterfinger....mix it all together, roll it in a ball, freeze it, then dip it in chocolate. They're absolutely divine, but very time consuming.
2-18-2010 @10:12AM Dee said... What is the big deal on this? This is not new. Petit fours have been around for ages...same thing--only they are typically squares
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2-18-2010 @10:37AM PamV420 said... I can't help but to notice that your balls are slightly misshapened . . . .
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2-18-2010 @10:44AM Chris said... I can fit two in my mouth at once. Though, I find they make them smaller in Texas than to my liking.
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