Easter Egg Cake Balls

The last time I made cupcake pops it was September and I cursed my way through them and even pounded one flat in anger.  I swore then that I would never make them again...or at least wait for at least 6 months when the amount of work I put into them wore off my brain.  Here we are just past the 6 month mark and I was cursing but did not flatten any so I consider that a victory.  I tried everything I could to lighten these up so hopefully if you decide you'd like to make these for Easter you can spend your Saturday cursing too that you can fit them into your calories.  (Do NOT even attempt to do these on Easter Sunday or you will be in the worst mood ever...good thing for them they taste so damn good!)

Here's what you'll need:

1 box of Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
4 egg whites
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup water
1 can reduced sugar vanilla frosting
Food coloring (if desired)
1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts (I used one whole bag of yellow and half a bag of dark cocoa melts)
1 tbsp canola oil to thin the melts
Sprinkles


Preheat oven to 350.

Add first 4 ingredients and mix well.

I had this vision of this bright, brilliant purple against the yellow melts I was using so I put my elementary school skills to work and added blue and red food coloring.

I gave it a good stir and got...poi.  No seriously, if it didn't smell sweet, I would've thought I was supposed to dip 2 fingers in and mix it with my salty kalua pork.  These pics coming up don't even do it justice because the color isn't found in nature.  It looks like the frosting on Jackson's aunt's armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias.

Pour in a 13x9 baking dish with a little butter cooking spray and bake for 20-22 minutes.  Check for doneness with toothpick or stab it with a knife like I did.  Apparently that red food coloring earlier had me channeling my inner Dexter.  (Is it September yet...who else is waiting for the new season with baited breath after the ending!)

Let the cake cool and then sadly, it's time to break it apart and put it in a big ol' bowl.

With a pastry cutter or fork or heck even your hands, break the cake up into crumbly pieces.

I only use half a can of frosting for this.  I know other people use a whole can but with the melts being used I feel like that's overkill and too mushy.  I use reduced sugar just to cut where I can on things without sacrificing flavor.

Add the frosting to the crumbled cake.

Mix until well combined so there are no blobs of frosting, like so.

This small cookie scoop will be a lifesaver making them so if you don't have one, get one and thank me later.

Of course if I had unlimited calories, I'd be making them with this bad boy.

I know you probably won't but this is where I strap on my food prep gloves.  The thought of people manhandling food like cake pops, fondant and such grosses me out so I do others the favor of not touching it when making stuff that others are going to eat.  (If it's just the Mr and I he can hack my cooties)  Note to self:  You do not wear size large in food prep gloves, get medium!

Do a little scoopie scoop.

Plop it in your hand and roll the ball until smooth.

Roll 'em up and put them in a freezer safe container.

If you need to stack them, put wax paper in between and then cover with plastic wrap and snap the lid on.  Put them in the freezer for at least 30-45 minutes.

Just before they're ready to come out of the freezer, grab your candy melts/bark and put in a microwave safe dish.  Microwave for 1 minute.

Mix until smooth and add the oil to thin out the melts and make it easier to coat the "eggs."

Roll the balls into an oblong egg shape.  Drop it in the bowl to be covered with the melts.

Roll it around and use a small spoon to retrieve it.

Immediately use your favorite sprinkles with each egg that gets turned out onto a wax paper coated cookie sheet.

You can also do dark chocolate melts to appease the chocolate fans.

They look just as pretty!

Go ahead, put all of your eggs in one basket.  Thank you Easter Bunny!  ("Bawk bawk!")  Yeah, the old schoolers will know what that's from.

This nutritional information is approximate!  Per ball:  Calories  130  Total Fat 6g Sat Fat 3g  Sodium 25g  Sugars 10g  Protein 1g  Iron 1%

Have you ever made cake balls before?  How'd they turn out?

EDIT:  For those wondering about the "bawk bawk" reference, take a peek at this vid.
====================
Like this post? Don't miss another one...subscribe via email or RSS feed. (Because you're cool like that!)