I’ve never loved traditional birthday cake with frosting… however, since cake is a birthday party must-have (at least according to the rest of my family) I make several birthday cakes every year, complete with a fair amount of frosting!
I don’t mind making the cakes (truthfully, I actually enjoy it)!
However, since I use at least 2 cake mixes (sometimes 3 or 4) and we only invite grandparents and aunts/uncles to our birthday parties, we end up with TONS of leftover cake.
Our family doesn’t particularly care for leftover cake… and I absolutely HATE wasting food (even junk food!)
My solution = make Cake Balls with any leftover birthday cake!
If you’re looking for a super simple, super delicious way to use up any amount of extra cake and frosting, I have the perfect recipe!
Recipe for Cake Balls
INGREDIENT:
- Any amount of leftover cake and frosting
- Any type of meltable chocolate
- Any type of sprinkles or decorating goodies
NOTE: If you don’t have leftover cake, you could easily just bake a cake, frost it, and continue on with the steps below to make it into cake balls.
DIRECTIONS:
Place chunks of leftover cake (with frosting) in a large mixing bowl
Smash cake + frosting with fork until mixture resembles thick brownies
Roll heaping tablespoons of batter between the palms of your hands to form balls.
Place on cookie sheets lined with wax paper and freeze for 30 minutes.
While balls freeze, melt your favorite chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl (start with 30-second intervals).
Take balls from freezer, carefully dip frozen balls into melted chocolate and then into sprinkles or topping of your choice (I usually only dip half the balls in the chocolate as it’s less messy!)
Place balls back on wax paper and refrigerate until chocolate is hardened.
Eat and enjoy!
Refrigerate (or freeze) leftovers.
These cake balls are SO quick and easy to make — and SO delicious. MUCH better than 5-day old birthday cake!
You can use ANY type of cake, ANY type of frosting, ANY type of chocolate coating, and ANY type of sprinkle or topping — the possibilities and flavor combos are endless!!
Some of our favorite chocolate + toppings combinations are:
- White chocolate + crushed Oreos
- White chocolate + chocolate sprinkles
- White chocolate + colored sprinkles
- Milk chocolate + white chocolate shavings
- Dark chocolate + crushed peanuts
- Dark chocolate + peanut butter drizzle
- Peanut butter chips + dark chocolate drizzle
The kids LOVE cake balls (Dave and I do too!) just as much as they love birthday cake! So the fact that they get cake balls a couple days after their birthday party is practically like an “after party” for them!
This year, after James’ Bob the Builder birthday party, I made his leftover cake into cake balls, put them in the freezer, and used them for James’ birthday party with Dave’s family one week later. Everyone was thrilled with that version of “cake” for the party, and I didn’t have to make a 2nd birthday cake (plus, no wasted food!)
Win-Win-Win!
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Jess says
If I use leftover cupcakes ( store bought with tons of icing), would that be too much icing?
Andrea says
you could always scrape some of the frosting off before mixing them up — and then add more frosting if you feel like it “needs” more. But honestly, can you really have too much frosting! 🙂
Debbie says
This is brilliant! I don’t bake cake often because of the leftovers and the mega calories. Making them into cake balls for later is perfect. One cake ball I can handle to satisfy my sweet tooth would be just right.
Andrea says
one cake ball is just the perfect “sweet treat” to satisfy cravings — and not nearly as BIG has a huge slice of cake!
Kelly K says
Such a great post! I always thought these were a time-consuming, make-from-scratch novelty dessert item. There’s ALWAYS leftover cake at our functions! Thanks for sharing!
Andrea says
Thanks Kelly! If you make traditional “cake pops” on little sticks with perfectly coated chocolate all the way around, they CAN be fussy and time-consuming. However, if you just mold the balls with your hands and dip half-way in melted chocolate, they are fairly quick and easy (much more my style).
They might not look as fancy or pretty as the more traditional cake balls, but I’m positive they taste just as yummy! 🙂
Maria says
Wonderful idea to use leftover BD cake! Can’t wait to try it. Also, loved the birthday cakes you made for the kids – so cute!
Andrea says
Thanks Maria!
JJ says
Yesss!!! I made cake balls for a baby shower, and they were a hit! We love cake balls!!! We made them for one of my son’s birthday’s and my birthday. They remind me of a heavier donut hole. Yum!!!
Andrea says
yes, a heavier donut hole! I’ve read that the texture is also like a dense brownie — either way, they are amazing and fairly quick/easy to prepare!
Summer says
I love this! What a great idea! I feel the same about wasting any food. I will try this! Especially since you can freeze them for later. As always, thanks for useful tips!
When it’s close to grocery day, I will deliberately look at what we have around and make a meal with it. Not because we can’t afford to get more groceries, but because it forces me to create something new, use what we have and so many times it becomes a new favorite!
I am also the one that people always ask ‘what’s in this recipe’ and often it isn’t even an actual recipe. I use what I have and you learn how to marry flavors as you experiment and try new things. Eliminate spices you don’t care for and play with ones you do. We both love cooking for lots of people and rarely do we spend huge amounts of money on it.
Andrea says
yes! I’ve started to push my grocery trips further and further apart because I actually have fun trying to come up with recipes to make out of “what we have in the house” to use up all the fruits, veggies, meat, etc. we have in the fridge before buying more!
Melissa says
This is such a great idea! Thank you. How long do you think they keep in the freezer and in the refrigerator?
Andrea says
These cake balls should last several months in the freezer if you keep them tightly sealed. In the fridge, they could easily last a few weeks (if you don’t eat them first!) I always make them several days ahead of time and they’ve always tasted perfectly fresh to me!