Red Velvet Cake Balls
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I sure did, although it was quite hectic. I was planning on talking about cake balls before the holiday, but just didn’t have time. But now I have some time to share this great recipe.
I have been making Red Velvet Cake Balls for the past 2 years now, since I found them on Red Velvet Cake Balls. They are pretty simple to make and I always get compliments on them. Bakerella is a very talented woman. It is amazing what she can do with cake balls. Check out her site, if you haven’t already.
There are not many ingredients. A cake mix, pre-made frosting, and some candy melt. Easy peasy.
So far I have found that only Duncan Hines makes a Red Velvet Cake Mix and Cream Cheese Frosting and not all stores carry them. I always find mine at Price Chopper.
I usually dip the cake balls is a mix of dark cocoa candy melt and a bar of dark chocolate like Ghiradelli for a more intense chocolate taste, but a hard candy coating. And since I usually do mine around the holidays, I buy colored candy melts to decorate.
Last year for decorating, I used my cake decorating bags and tips, but this year I decided to try squeeze bottles. The squeeze bottle has more control, but I like the smaller holes on the cake decorating tips. Either way, everyone loves them. Adults and kids. The taste is incredible and they are so moist. I get compliments every year. I had to make a double batch this year to please everyone.
Red Velvet Cake Balls
Ingredients
- 1 pkg red velvet cake mix
- 1 container (16 oz) cream cheese frosting
- 1 pkg (14 oz) dark cocoa candy melt
- 1 large bar dark chocolate
- 1 pkg (14 oz) red candy melt
- 1 pkg (14 oz) green candy melt
- 1 pkg (14 oz) white candy melt
- optional sprinkles
Cooking Directions
- Bake the cake mix as per instructions on the box for a 9 x 13 cake.
- Once cake is completely cooled, crumble it by hand into a large bowl.
- Then add in the cream cheese frosting and mix well. This can be done by hand or throw the crumbled cake and the frosting into a large mixer and mix on low.
- Then take a scoop at a time of the mix and roll into small balls about the size of a quarter. This will be very messy and you may have to wash your hands several times. But please refrain from licking them!
- Place the balls in a freezer friendly container lined with parchment/wax paper.
- When all balls are complete, place them in the freezer overnight or until you have time to do the rest of the recipe.
- When you are ready to dip, melt the dark cocoa candy melt and the dark chocolate together in a deep bowl in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until all melted.
- Dip the cake balls in the chocolate mixture and place on parchment/wax paper until chocolate has hardened. ( I use a fork to dip, roll, and shake off any extra chocolate.) If you want you may add fun holiday sprinkle before the chocolate hardens.
- In separate bowls, melt the red, green, and white candy melt and place in the squeeze bottles. Then decorate with any patterns you like. Or if you want, dip some of the balls in the colored candy melt instead of the chocolate.
- Makes about 50 cake balls.
I did buy pretty boxes to place the cake balls in to give as gifts for my daughter’s teachers and a few other people, but I was so busyI forgot to take pictures of the boxes all tied up with a nice ribbon and tag. But here are what the balls looked like decorated.
Last year I put them in tins to give out as gifts. Here is what they looked like. I placed the cake balls in mini cupcake liners to they don’t stick together and they look pretty. There are so many ways to decorate the cake balls and many different varieties of cake mixes and frosting to use.
The best part of the recipe is that it can be done in stages. One night I bake the cake. Another night I crumble and mix with the frosting and make the balls. I freeze them until I have the time to finish. I had them in there for a week and no worries. I think I will make some again for Valentine’s day.
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Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites
Here’s a little Superbowl inspired treat for you. I realize it’s not a sweet, but it does have maple syrup in it and barbeque sauce, and bacon. Come on, you can’t go wrong with bacon. Just so you know, I was not born into a sports loving family, not did I marry into one. The closest I get is every four years my husband watches World Cup Soccer and I may watch a game or two, but we are not fanatics about it. So Superbowl day is just another day for me. I just had this idea for a chicken appetizer and thought it would make a great game day snack for those that party it up.
Apparently I didn’t notice the bottle of mayo was upside down when I took the picture. Silly me!
You can cook your bacon anyway you like, in the oven, in the microwave, or on the stove-top. You just need to chop it into little bits after it is cooked. As for the chicken, you can use fresh cooked chicken (about 2 cups), but I just used canned chicken. It doesn’t taste that much different when cooked and it’s a time-saver.
This recipe is based on the Pampered Chef Lemon Herb Chicken Ring I used to make all the time for parties. It’s an easy recipe to make and adaptable. I used to make the ring on a round stone, but I got rid of my stoneware a while back, because I got tired of trying to clean it. Now I just use a perforated pizza pan. It works just as well. I lay out all the crescent triangles in a circle with each piece slightly overlapping, then I use a small roller to seal them together and stretch them out a bit.
Then I spoon the filling onto the wider part of the triangles and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Next I started tucking the points of the triangles in towards the center of the ring and under the wide part of the triangles. Not all the filling will be covered by the crescent rolls. In the end, you should have a nice crescent wreath.
After it is baked, it will be a nice golden color. You need to let it cool off a bit before you cut it up into appetizer sized portions.
See all those bits of bacon. Nom, Nom! It tastes great just as is, but I wanted to make a dipping sauce to go along with it. I used the same barbeque sauce and maple syrup that I used in the ring to make the sauce.
The maple syrup really enhanced the flavor of the barbeque sauce, especially the smoky flavor. I can see this sauce poured over quite a few dishes. I only made a little bit of sauce for dipping or drizzling over each slice. If you are going to slather it on, I suggest doubling the sauce recipe.
My husband and daughter really enjoyed these Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites with the dipping sauce. We ended up having them for dinner. I had placed them in the fridge this afternoon and just warmed them back up in the oven before serving. I even warmed up the sauce a little in the microwave. Ooh, it’s so delightfully tangy and sweet. A perfect compliment to the Chicken Bites. Bacon, chicken, barbeque sauce, and maple syrup, my new favorite flavor combination.
Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites
by The Sweet Chick
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: bake appetizer entree sandwich snack bacon maple syrup chicken barbeque sauce Super Bowl American
Ingredients (24-26 servings)
For the chicken bites
- 1 can (10 oz.) chunk white chicken (or two 5 oz. cans), drained
- 4 slices cooked bacon
- 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
- 2 packages ( 8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls
For the dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Instructions
For the chicken bites
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Finely chop the cooked bacon and chicken. Place them in a medium size bowl.
Add shredded cheese, mayonnaise, maple syrup, and barbecue sauce. Mix by hand until well blended.
On a round pizza stone or pizza pan, arrange crescent triangles in a circle with wide ends overlapping in the center and points toward the outside.
With a small roller, or by hand gently flatten out the wide ends and seal the overlapping pieces together.
Spoon the chicken mixture onto the widest end of the triangles and spread evenly with a spatula.
Bring points of the triangles up over the filling and tuck the ends under the wide ends of the dough at the center of the ring. (Filling will not be all covered.)
Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until crescents are golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before cutting into appetizer sized pieces. Serve warm.
For the dipping sauce
Whisk together the barbecue sauce and maple syrup until well blended. Serve room temperature or slightly warm.
Recipe adapted from Lemon Herb Chicken Ring – The Pampered Chef Season’s Best Recipes – 2002
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