Christmas Cake Balls

My family is having our Christmas Day dinner up in Whistler at my sister's, and I was put in charge of desserts. Several batches of cookies and a pie have already been baked for the occasion, but on Wednesday night I decided to add something new and unique to our dessert line-up. You know - because I don't already have enough on my agenda this week.

I decided to make Cake Balls. For those of you who aren't up-to-date on the happenings of the baking world (or who have been living under a rock) Cake Balls are all the rage among foodies and dessert lovers these days. In a nutshell, they're little balls of cake dipped in melted chocolate. In reality, they're time consuming little suckers that took me several hours to complete and kept me up until the wee hours of the morning.

But look at the finished product ... adorable, right? Yup, I think so too.

For those of you who want to give this treat a try, all you need is cake mix, cake icing and chocolate to melt. Oh, and HOURS of free time. (Kidding. Sort of. No, not really.)

I really wanted the red and white look for Christmas so I bought colored melting chocolate at Michaels for $3.99 a bag, but you can probably get the same result with any chocolate as long as it can be melted down to a smooth, creamy texture. Once you've got all the necessary ingredients, bake the cake as per usual and let it cool for at least 20-30 minutes. I believe this is where I went wrong with my Cake Ball attempt ... I was impatient so I only let it cool for 10 minutes or so. Because the cake was still warm when I added the icing, it was extra gooey and hard to work with. Let it cool people, trust me, otherwise you'll waste lots of precious time trying to get the right texture.

When the cake is cool, crumple the cake dough into a bowl and begin to add the icing. Blend well. You should end up with a sticky, batter-like texture. Roll the mix into small balls. If they're extremely gooey (as mine were) you may need to put them in the freezer for a few minutes to keep them from falling apart. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a small pot on the stove. Using a lollipop stick, a chopstick or a fork gently dip each ball into the chocolate. If you're planning to add sprinkles to your balls, do this as soon as you've coated the ball in chocolate ... if you wait too long, it won't stick. Place the balls on a plate and put in the fridge for one hour to set.

serve & enjoy!