I made these two years ago for a New Year’s Eve party. A bunch of my childhood friends threw a big bash, and I put together a dessert table. I made cookies and brownies as well, but these cake balls were by far the most popular treat. When I met with these same friends over the holidays, they asked if I could “please please please” bring those red velvet cake balls.
When you have a food blog and write a column like this, you tend to keep moving forward with dessert ideas. I love the recipes I make, but I often end up having to try something new instead of returning to old favorites. It’s nice they remembered these because I had forgotten how delicious they were. I whipped them up for the dinner party, and they vanished as soon as they were put out.
These are stunningly simple and much easier to deal with than a regular cake. It requires getting your hands a bit dirty, but once you’re done, they freeze for months in an airtight container. Make these and you will always have something to impress your friends when they pop over. Just don’t serve them still frozen – that would be mean. Enjoy and happy baking!
Red Velvet Cake Balls Adapted from a recipe on The Sweet Art Makes 25 to 30 golf ball-sized cake balls
2/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. red food coloring
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup cake flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. vinegar
1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe follows.)
12 oz. white chocolate*, chopped
2 tsp. coconut oil
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8-inch square pan with nonstick spray or butter.
• Whisk the vegetable oil and sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla, red food coloring and buttermilk.
• Gently fold in the cake flour, cocoa powder and salt with a spatula until there are no streaks of flour.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the baking soda and vinegar. Add the mixture to the cake batter. Use a spatula or whisk to gently combine everything but do not to over-mix, as it can result in a tough cake.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use your hands to crumble the cooled cake in its pan.
• Knead in the cream cheese frosting into the crumbled cake 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, until the cake is moist enough to roll. Roll the mixture into golf-ball sized balls. Place them on the baking sheets and freeze at least 1 hour.
• Microwave the white chocolate in 30-second bursts, stirring until melted. Stir in the coconut oil until combined.
• Remove the frozen cake balls and use a fork to dip them into the melted chocolate, coating them as evenly as you can. Return the dipped cake balls to the parchment paper and refrigerate until set.
• Microwave the semisweet chocolate in 30-second bursts, stirring until melted. Pour it into a zip-top bag, snip off a tiny bit of the corner and drizzle the chocolate over the dipped cake balls. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set. Serve or store in the freezer in an airtight container. Thaw before serving.
Cream Cheese Frosting Adapted from a recipe at The Sweet Art Beat 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons softened butter, 1 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk) and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract on medium-high with an electric mixer until combined and fluffy. Drizzle in more cream or milk by the tablespoon to reduce sweetness.
*You can also use semisweet chocolate for dipping and decorate with white chocolate.
This article appears in January 2014.
