My Sadness Leads to Spice Girls, Cake Balls

Liz, my part-time comic-strip artist and full-time bestie, has left the New York Metro Area for greener pastures—well, she will certainly be surrounded by greenery—her far homeland of Connecticut. And since I’ve made, like, two whole other friends after five years in NYC, I’ve been acting like a whiny turd for months. Anywho, I’m drowning my sadness in old Spice Girls songs, specifically:



It’s incredibly apt for this situation, you have to admit.

There was also a wake (errr…going away party) for the departing and beloved Elizabeth. I contributed spinach dip (of course), but I also tried something new—Red Velvet Cake Balls—which you may recognize. Basically, these are the simple version of the Easter Cake Pops from Bakerella. I wanted to make little Liz zombie heads, but I thought I should keep it simple since this was my first attempt. Maybe someday I’ll manage to do more than the basic version.

Word of advice, if you make these—and you should, because census was they were delish—give yourself a lot of time. The directions seem simple, but it is time-freaking-consuming. The cake alone takes about 30 minutes to bake, another 45 minutes to cool. And then there's the rolling of the balls, the chilling of the balls, the chocolate coating of the balls, etc. (Yes, lots of balls. The hilarity of that sentence is not lost on me.) Of course, if I hadn’t started baking at 11pm when I had to get up at 6am the next morning, maybe the time issue wouldn’t have seemed so important. I'm going to blame 2am on the fact that these look a little busted. Thank goodness for sprinkles in the shape of cows, dinosaurs and stars.

Red Velvet Cake Balls
Recipe from Bakerella

1 box red velvet cake mix, baked according to directions on box for 13x9 cake
1 16 oz can cream cheese frosting
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper or aluminum foil
sprinkles, optional

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for several hours, or pop them in the freezer for 20 or so minutes. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package. Use a spoon to dip and roll balls in chocolate. Tap off any extra and lay on wax paper until firm.

Makes approximately 40 to 50.