Lemon Cake Balls

For 2016, I wanted to work on getting back into blogging. And getting back in just the way I started -- small, attainable goals. What was the small goal? I wanted to post 4 times per month (i.e., once per week). Now clearly, we can see I did not post once a week. BUT, I still have two days to redeem myself. And, if I can muster up some energy and post today and tomorrow .... goal attained. Seeeeeeee ... there is still hope for me! It's odd really. I love blogging but I just seem to be really busy, really tired or both most days and when I finally have a day off ... I want to catch up on the ZZZ's or binge watch television. 

On a sad note ... my twenties are gone ::insert shocked emoji followed by sad emoji followed by screaming crying emoji :: I am officially 30! Did it have to come so fast?!? I never thought I would be THAT person who freaked out about age, but apparently I am. UGH! 30 ... it just hit me like a wall ...a sad pathetic wall of 30. Maybe it would not be so bad, if you know, I wasn't in school or maybe if I had a real job! To soften the blow, my sister and cousin flew out and my close friends here in Rhode Island came out for a birthday dinner. It was a really nice weekend and I felt very loved ... and if I have to be 30, I guess I would want it to start that way. ::tear::

The other day the hubby told me that he had to bring something to work, for his PI's (aka: boss') birthday and I was happy to hear that his PI's favorite flavor is lemon :) This made the hubby happy too, because he's a lemon fan. I wanted a cute way to incorporate cake without making cake, since it is a birthday party and they will ::surprise:: have cake. Well ... what is an awesome bite size way of enjoying cake?!? That would be cake balls, my friends. Plus I love making cake balls. Let's take a trip to summer when the weather isn't freezing and enjoy these lemon cake balls.

LEMON CAKE BALLS
A For the Love of Dessert Original Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

FOR CAKE
1 box of lemon cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
3 eggs
1 c. of water
1/3 c. of vegetable oil

16 oz. container of cream cheese frosting
8 oz. of white chocolate bark
1-2 tsp. vegetable oil
Yellow sprinkles

Note: I did not use lemon cake and lemon frosting, because I thought they may either be too tarte or too "lemony" sweet. But feel free to do make it extra lemon!

DIRECTIONS

Making the Cake balls (pops):

Make cake according to package instructions. Let cake cool completely. Once cooled, cut the edges off the cake (as well as top and bottom layers of the cake--the crusty part). In a large bowl using a food processor or your hands, crumble the cake into fine bits (I use my hands). Add between 1/4 to slightly less than 1/2 of the cream cheese frosting. Mix well. If too dry add a tablespoon of frosting at a time. You do not want it too moist because the cake ball will be too sticky.  

Roll into 1 1/2 inch round balls. Place in refrigerator until chilled, at least 30 minutes.

Dipping the cake balls (pops):

In the meantime, melt white chocolate bark according to package directions. This is my secret, once the chocolate is melted I stir in the vegetable oil. This makes the chocolate have a smoother and shinier coating :)

Now, I am going to tell you how I get perfectly dipped cake balls but if you have your own method that works-- you are more than welcome to do it that way -- this is just whats worked best for me.  

Once chocolate has melted, take the cake balls and while holding the top half, dip the bottom half into the chocolate, then dip a cake pop stick into the chocolate (about 1/2 inch) and push into the center of the cake ball until about, no more, than half way through. Let cool. This will make it much easier to dip the rest of the cake ball. Otherwise I have found that the cake balls get stuck in the  chocolate or falls off the stick.

Once cooled, dip the top of the cake balls and a little part of the bottom, that was already coated into the chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate. Garnish with sprinkles (while chocolate is still wet). Allow to cool by sticking into flower foam. Once dried, holding the cake ball with one hand, gently twist the cake pop stick with your other hand and pull out. If you would like cake pops- leave on stick. 

Also see: No Bake Cake Batter Truffles for "My Little Cupcake" method. 

Enjoy,