These may be dumb questions but I've never made these before.
and I just made some but I have no idea how they are supposed to look or feel. What is the texture of a cake ball supposed to be like? Is it crumbly or smooth (like a fudge more or less), or is it
Sticky? Also how is it supposed to feel after they are dipped and done? How are they stored?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks
Jackie

Hey Jackie, I am not sure that I can answer with any special knowledge but will tell you what I know.

First, the texture will really depend on what you start with. A moister cake will result in moister cake balls. I personally, have found that chocolate cake seems to make the best cake balls. It seems to be a little drier than yellow or white cake.

Also, when you add the liquid, it should be just enough to stick the cake together. I don't use the recipe that calls for buttercream.

The best ones that I have done were crumbly in the bowl but easily smashed into a ball. I have done some that were very moist and I did not care for that texture. Tasted good, just didn't like the texture.

They should appear dry before you coat them. Let them sit for a while or freeze them first. Then coat them in chocolate and put them back in fridge to set up. The chocolate will be smooth and set when they are all done.

Basically, they are like a truffle. Chocolate on the outside, yummy stuff on the inside.

Hope this helped a little.

Thanks for helping me with what you know. The ones I made feel like dough. I had my DH try one and he didn't care for them at all Thats why I was wondering if I did something wrong he usually likes everything I make. I guess I will have to try again when I make another cake. Hopefully they will be beter.


Thanks
Jackie

after reading so much about cake balls and how great they tasted i was excited to try them out. i used a moist chocolate cake recipe and made several batches with different ingredients. everything went fine but with my first chocolate dipping i used nestle chocolate chips in a hot water bath and found that the cake ball difficult to handle when trying to roll in sprinkles or nuts after dipping. this made a big mess and i finally gave up on that part. the chocolate seemed to thicken as i continued until finally i ditched that too. i had wilton candy melts on hand and used these in a water bath and what a difference in the dipping results! this worked great but i still couldn't roll them on the outside without making a big mess. i continued until all my balls were dipped then let them dry at room temperature. end result: they looked great-nice and smooth but i too didn't care for them after tasting them. the peanut butter ones were the best but i'm not really a peanut butter fan either so one was enough for me. cake texture was good on the inside. my kids liked them but i noticed they didn't eat to many. i ended up throwing them out two days later. they were pretty though

Your not alone. I tried these awhile back after seeing all the posts on them to. I also made them blinding expecting "doughnut hole" and getting "truffles". My family wouldn't eat them either. After reading much afterwards, I have decided try again so, but sorta making my own idea. I will use less liquid and maybe not mush as much. Hopefully they will be better because, they sound like a GREAT item to make for gathers.

I found the opposite on the cake type as a prev poster. I found that my choc cake was too moist and I couldn't add much flavor. When I used the white cake or pound cake and added cocoa to it then my flavor, it worked out great.

Just add enough flavor to bind them together. Too much really does make a mess. The texture is more like a truffle than anything else.

I also threw out my recent batches, but they tasted much better than the ones I made with buttercream. The texture was just too smooth and the flavor not intense enough. I think the cake balls would be better if truly made from bakery scraps so the cake wouldn't be so moist. I also think using cakemix was a bad idea as it doesn't have enough flavor and is overpowered by the added alcohol.

I don't particularly care for the texture of them, either. When I first made them, I was sorely dissappointed in the texture--they were too smooth. I prefer something with more of a "bite" to it.

What I have done to compensate for this is add dry ingredients. To peanut butter/chocolate, I will add chopped peanuts.

I made some with butter cake and raspberry and added dried, chopped raspberries. I've also done the same thing with blueberries.

I did some yellow cake/strawberry jam with mini chocolate chips that were good, too.

I did some cookies-n-cream with chocolate cake, Oreo cookie crumbs (that you buy in a box) and buttercream and added broken Oreo cookie pieces.

I liked the Oreo and the crunchy peanut butter ones the best. They are quite a bit of work for what you get, imo, though. The dipping part I find annoying.

Lisa

I made them with half choc cake scraps and half yellow cake scraps. Added leftover choc buttercream, choc ganache and a little rum. Used semi-sweet choc with a little shorting added to cover. I didn't even dip these, I just melted the choc in a pan and threw the cake balls in, moved them around with a spoon until coated and let them dry ona cooling rack. They were very dense and rich, like a truffle. My family loved them, but they were very rich!