Trick to Dipping Cake Balls

With their precious teeny size, delicious taste and eye-catching appearances, cake balls have become the latest dessert craze. These bite-sized treats come in a variety of flavors, from simple vanilla or chocolate, to more elaborate flavors like red velvet, mint or strawberry. Along with their mouth-watering taste, cake balls are often dipped in frosting for a delightful crunch and an aesthetically pleasing finish. Add this to my Recipe Box.

The Cake

The quality and composition of cake balls greatly affects how well they stand up to being dipped. While regular cake is sure to taste great, it can be difficult to cut and shape pieces of cake into orbs. Even worse, regular cake is far too crumbly to dip into icing, chocolate or other dips. Instead, make sturdier, denser cake balls by mixing together pre-made cake with cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, butter and milk.

Refrigeration

Prepare the cake balls for their plunge into dip by storing the dough in the refrigerator until they are firm. After whipping up the dough for the cake balls, cover the bowl of dough and stick it in the refrigerator. Cooling the dough helps it to solidify and become firm. This texture is far easier for dipping and ensures that you won't lose as much cake in the dip.

Freeze

Freezing the cake balls after they have been rolled out is another trick to making sturdy balls that won't fall apart when dipped. Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator. A melon baller can help make uniform sized balls. After rolling balls of the dough, place them on a baking sheet that's been lined with wax paper. Stick the baking sheet in the freezer for about twenty minutes so that the cake balls harden but are not frozen solid.

Dipping

Rather than worrying about tempering chocolate, rely on confectionary coating or almond bark which can be melted in a microwave or double boiler. For the actual dipping, many tools help make dipping cake balls less of a mess. Consider investing in a candy-dipping fork, which makes it much easier to dip the cake balls and also gives them an even coating of chocolate. For cooks hoping to use tools they already have, using a fork, spoon or some toothpicks is also helpful.