Peppermint Cake Balls

Per request, I'm posting the recipe for my Peppermint Cake Balls. They're so easy (albeit time-consuming) and fun to make and will become a staple for your holiday season baking for years to come. The best part is that you can try this recipe with any combination of cake recipes and icings. Experiment next time and come up with what could turn out to be your new favourite flavour!

You will need:

1 Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet boxed cake mix

3 Eggs

Vegetable oil

Water

2 bags Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

1 16 oz package of Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Peppermint icing

2 very large bowls (I recommend using a plastic bowl to mix your cake and a steel bowl for combining the cooled cake and icing)

Spatula

Ice cream scoop or spoon

1-2 cookie sheets

Parchment or wax paper

Wooden skewers or chopsticks

Patience

To start, you will need to follow the directions on the cake mix box. Bake it in the oven. Wait. Maybe write a song or paint your nails or watch an episode of Friends. Beep beep beep. Congratulations, your cake is finished. Take it out of the oven and let it cool (throw it in the refrigerator if you're really impatient like I am). Watch another episode of Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond or something (30 minutes at least recommended).

Hopefully at this point, you can now touch your cake without putting massive blisters on your hands. Take your larger bowl now and carefully transfer your cake into it and break it apart into crumbly little bits. Now open your icing and lick the lid if you want. Yum. Use your spatula to transfer the icing into the bowl. Get all of it out. Lick the spatula. Wash your hands.

This is the messy part. If you have kids, they're going to love this bit. Use your hands to combine the cake and icing into one gooey delicious substance. Once you feel like it's as combined as it can be, alas, you must separate yet again and put your bowl into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. While you wait, you can take out your cookie sheet(s) and line with parchment paper, waxy side up.

Take your ice cream scoop or spoon and use that to scoop out the same amount each time to roll uniform size balls into your hand. Try to make them as smooth as possible if you can, but don't stress over it. They will taste the same even if they don't look pretty on your first try. (I really recommend spraying some non-stick cooking spray onto your hands and rubbing them together to keep the cake from sticking to your hands. It makes it much easier to roll the balls overall and will save you a lot of grief and time.) Place the balls onto the cookie sheet(s) and once each sheet has been filled, place it in the freezer or refrigerator. Wait some more. Maybe you could watch Arrested Development this time.

Your cake balls are nearly ready to be coated. You just need to melt your chips into a bowl of your choice but make sure it is microwave safe! Microwaving will suffice unless you want to go through all the trouble of a double boiler. More mess means more waiting, so no thank you.

Now take your skewer and stick it into the center of the ball and fully coat it with your melted chips. (If you want, you could crush peppermints and top them like sprinkles. It looks really cute, but takes a little more time and you have to be quick about it before the coating fully sets; in other words, coat then top every ball one at a time.) Return to the cookie sheet. It will start to harden right away. Continue this process until all of your cake balls are coated. Return to the fridge or freezer for about ten minutes or more.

Congratulations! After waiting and waiting and waiting some more, your cake balls are finally done. You can eat them frozen, cold, or room temperature. Bon appétit!

These also make great gifts. I made oreo balls for a friend's birthday and bought a cardboard craft box, some tissue paper and yarn to make little gift packages.