Chocolate Covered Strawberries & Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Balls

Valentines Day is just days away, We really dont make a big deal on Valentines Day at our house. We usually buy something small for each of the kid's and have a nice family dinner. But what I really enjoy is making all the baked sweets and fun items for my family and for all the teachers at school. It is so nice to let everyone know how special they are.

There is still time to make something sweet for your Valentine or for family and friends. Why not make them Chocolate Covered Strawberries or Strawberry Cheese Cake, Cake Ball style!!! These little devils are so sinful and good all rolled up in one. After I made Cake balls back at Thanksgiving, I have been dying to try out some new flavors.

I thought the strawberry cake being pink in color would be perfect for Valentines Day. I have to admit the chocolate covered ones are my favorite they really do taste like chocolate covered strawberries. I used cream cheese frosting for both of the cake balls, the chocolate coating just really took them over the top tasting just like a chocolate covered strawberry.

Using the vanilla coating made the pink ones taste like strawberry cheesecake. You really cannot go wrong with either one. Why not surprise your sweetie, they will be glad you did. These would look so pretty in a heart shaped box or tin lined with tissue paper.

Full recipe is at the end of the post.


These are the ingredients you will need:
strawberry cake mix, prepared cream cheese frosting, oil, eggs and water. (follow cake mix ingredients & directions each cake mix is different) also vanilla almond bark or candy coating, milk chocolate candy coating (pictured below) and icing color paste or candy coloring (rose) do not use food coloring. I found the icing paste at Walmart in the cake decorating supply isle in the arts and craft section.




Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. (adding eggs, oil, cake mix and water)


using a hand mixer, blend well.


I usually use a 9 x 13 in baking dish, but it was being used at that time. Any pan or two round cake pans will work since you are crumbling up the baked cake anyways. Make sure to spray your pans with baking spray and dust with flour.


bake the cake according to package directions. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. I used a knife to remove the brown exterior of the cakes on the sides ad the bottom, so it would not get mixed in with the cake and show. Crumble in a large bowl.



add the frosting and mix together. I prefer not to use the whipped frosting as it tends to make the cake lose it's cake like texture and be a bit wet, but that is all i could find. I used only 1/2 - 3/4 of the can of frosting.


roll into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. You will have to wash your hands about every 6-7 balls because it starts to become a sticky mess. Place in the freezer for a couple hours or overnight.

~ Time Saver ~ At this point in the recipe, I froze the cake balls for a couple hours. I then added them to a large (gallon size) zip lock bag and placed them back in the freezer. That way I can dip them at a later date, the most time consuming part is baking and preparing the balls for dipping.


Melt vanilla coating in a glass bowl in the microwave on the DEFROST selection or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Dip the balls in melted candy coating using a toothpick or fork to hold them.


Place on waxed paper to set.


I tinted the vanilla coating light pink (for the cheesecake balls) and and then drizzled dark pink on top in a swirl shape. You only need just a tiny bit of the icing paste so really watch it when you add it. I used a toothpick and dipped it in the icing paste) You can use a pastry bag or just a sandwich size zip lock bag. Add the melted coating and cut a tiny hole at the end. It is so much easier with a zip lock bag, you can just toss it in the trash after.



I dipped some in chocolate (for the chocolate covered strawberry ones) and did a swirl of the dark pink on top or you can roll them in sprinkles as well. It is really up to you. I think dipping them in plain vanilla and swirling light pink on top would be pretty as well.







Chocolate Covered Strawberries & Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Balls

1 - (18.25 ounce) package strawberry cake mix + cake mix ingredients
1 - (16 ounce) container prepared cream cheese frosting (I use only half)
1 - 24 oz package vanilla flavored almond bark 
1cing paste or candy coating paste
sprinkles (optional)

Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. 

When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended. 

Melt vanilla coating in a glass bowl in the microwave on the DEFROST selection or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. 

Use a melon baller or small cookie scoop to form balls of the cake mixture. Dip the balls in melted candy coating using a toothpick or fork to hold them. 

Place on waxed paper to set. Roll in sprinkles or leave plain. I tinted the vanilla coating pink and swirled dark pink over that. 

For the chocolate covered strawberry cake balls, I dipped them in chocolate and swirled dark pink on top of that. 

One recipe yields: about 36 cake balls


39 comments

Shawna said…
OK....I'm sold. I'm making these...I've seen them everywhere, but love the idea (and look) of the strawberry...and I cannot resist cheesecake!! :)
Stephanie said…
So so pretty! You did a great job dressing up those adorable cake balls.
Meg said…
These are so impressive! I love them!

Just a note that I changed my blog address: http://www.megansmunchies.com/
Oh my gosh!! Those look awesome. Great job! Send me some would ya??!!!
Good heavens those look good!
Tina Butler said…
Hi Shawna, I was sold on them as well. My favorite was the chocolate.

Stephanie, my favorite part was tinting the candy coating. I never knew you could not use regular food coloring, what a mess it made. Now I know to only use icing or candy paste. It was fun decorating them.

Meg I got your address change thanks for letting me know.

Mary I wish i could send you some, but they wont last long at my house.

Melissa I visited your site, thanks for stopping by.
Anonymous said…
These look so good, I love cake balls!! Great job!
Joan said…
Those are prettier than anything you could buy at the store!
Jennifer said…
I can not belive I can go to my kitchen and make little pink balls that taste like strawberry cheesecake! Holy weight watchers! haha.
Ingrid_3Bs said…
Those came out adorable & you're right they would look pretty sitting a in a tissue lined box! I love how you put some sort of swirl on top.
~ingrid
shweetpotato said…
How adorable omgosh I am so scared to try the chocolate coating though, I have tried to melt chocolate chips before ..didnt work, I ruined 2 bags of them ROTFL I SO want to make these though :D Carm
TLK KNS said…
oh that looks so yummie
Tina Butler said…
Hey Carm thanks for stopping by. If you use the milk chocolate candy coating (almond bark) it is so much easier. It melts so easy and smooth, just remember to use the DEFROST setting. The blocks are 1.98 at walmart in the baking isle by the chocolate chips. It is almost no fail.
Anonymous said…
Love these cake balls. They're like truffles for kids. Or anyone who likes cake. :)
Maria♥ said…
Wow, I love these, especially the pink ones!!

Maria
x
These are so adorable! What a perfect treat for Valentine's Day! Great pics!
Anonymous said…
These were delicious! And they look super cute served on a platter with fresh strawberries in the mix. I made some for a friend who came for tea and ended up sending some home with her because she wanted to serve them to a friend she is having over for lunch. My kids LOVED them too. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Anonymous said…
The Grammar Police are here to tell you that there's no apostrophe in BALLS, SOUPS or SALADS. There should be an apostrophe in "COOKIN", however.
Tina Butler said…
Sorry, I cook better than i am in grammer.
Diane Schmidt said…
Great job! I love cakeballs. They are such a sweet bite ful of goodness.
I tried cake pops prior to having my blog. I think I need to give them another try. I love the Almond Bark, I buy the same kind. Thanks so much for linking up to the Valentine Party!
~Liz
Unknown said…
I made red velvet with cream cheese coated with white chocolate and sprinkled some chopped pecans on top! It was awesome!
Heidi said…
Sounds like a keeper to me!!!
LeAnn said…
I love these!
Linda said…
I have a Ladies Valentine Tea this weekend. This is perfect!! Thanks for the idea.
Jennifer N said…
How did you tint the almond bark? I made some cake balls for Christmas and tried to tint the almond bark red but as soon as the food coloring hit the bark it globbed up like if I had used water.
Tina Butler said…
Hi Jennifer,
I used icing paste. I think it is pictured above. I get mine at Walmart in the cake decorating isle. They have all sorts of colors. I made the same mistake you made with food coloring, but it doesn't work because it adds water to the almond bark. Use icing paste and that will solve your problem. You need just a bit to tint the bark.
Anonymous said…
Have you ever frozen the cake balls? I have done a lot of research and can't find any advice on the topic.
Tina Butler said…
Sorry I am just replying to your question. I have been out of town and trying to regroup. Yes you can freeze cake balls. I make them ahead of time quite frequently. When finished dipping and decorating the cake balls I just place them in a large ziplock bag or container and place them in the freezer. I have froze them up to 3 weeks in advance.
Liz said…
I found this recipe on a different site about 3 years ago. I made 25,000 of these little jewels in about 7 months as fundraisers to send my oldest child on a People to People trip to Europe. The trip was $7000 and a good deal of the money was raised from these babies!
Anonymous said…
About how many little balls can one batch (one box of cake mix) make?
Tina Butler said…
One batch yields about 36 cake balls. I just added it to the post to reflect.
Anonymous said…
How long do you bake these? or is that needed?
Tina Butler said…
You don't bake the cake balls after they are assembled. The only baking required is to make the actual cake to turn them into cake balls. Once you add the frosting to the crumbled cake pieces you just form into balls and freeze. There is no other baking required after that point.
Unknown said…
Tina,

I made 4 batches of the Valentine Cake Balls and have gotten rave reviews. Thank you. It is such a simple recipe.
I did have one thing...after I dipped the frozen balls some of them expanded and cracked the chocolate or some of the cake found a way out (made out like a worm). I also had more success with the vanilla than the chocolate. I don't know why. I am not complaining, just wondering if there was something else I could do to keep this from happening. Or I probably just need to keep trying. Practice makes Perfect.
I made the balls for my children's daycare staff, my people at work and for my husbands office.
I found your page by accident about a month ago and have enjoyed it. Your ideas and recipe posts have been great.
Thank you for taking your time to inform, help, inform, etc…. I cannot wait for the day I can spend more time experimenting in the kitchen and less time at work. SOon!
Thank you again, Tina. Have a great V-Day!!!
Stina :)
Jennifer said…
Made these for the snack day at work..They were a HUGE HIT! Everybody kept coming up to me, saying how good they were! I used strawberry cake, strawberry cream icing, dipped them in white chocolate, and then melted some cherry chips for the swirls...SO GOOD!
Tricia said…
Tonight was my very first attempt at making a recipe of yours. I made both cake balls for a friend's bridal shower tomorrow. I must say......they're both DELICIOUS!! I just hope they have room in their fridge because my husband said they taste better cold. Looking forward to making MANY more of your fantastic recipes:)))))
Carol said…
These look delicious! I'm pretty clumsy in the kitchen too. You husband is too sweet!
erinbonnieshoes said…
I have always wanted to make these they look mouthwatering!