Chocolate Toffee Cake Balls

Can you believe this is my first time making cake balls?

I first read a cake ball recipe on Allrecipes several years ago and was completely intrigued, but I just never got around to making them.

Fast forward a couple of years and all of a sudden, cake balls and cake pops were the newest "in thing", with creative cake geniuses like Bakerella gaining huge popularity.  

I still never made any.

Honestly, I think the main reason I never made them was because I was afraid I'd go to all that work and they wouldn't turn out right.  See, I have a thing against frosting in a can.  No offense if you use it, that's fine - I just don't like the stuff and when I read the ingredient list, I like it even less.  But nearly all the cake ball recipes I've seen call for canned frosting.

I know, I know, I could totally just make my own frosting.  But I have no idea how much frosting to make to equal the amount in a can, and I don't know what texture to look for when mixing frosting in with the cake, etc etc.....so I just kept putting it off.

The beauty of this recipe - and the reason I decided to try it - was that you don't use frosting.
The magic happens with the addition of sweetened condensed milk and caramel sauce.  Oh yeah.  That sounds like my kind of cake ball.

And I wasn't disappointed.  They are dee.licious.  They'll feed a crowd, they'll stay fresh and tasty for several days, and they'll freeze like a dream.  Whatever that means.  My kids and husband absolutely adored them, and our friends did too.

I made the Devil's Food Cake from scratch, using white whole wheat flour, and it was great.  My first time using that recipe, and I'll definitely try it again just for cake with frosting.

Chocolate Toffee Cake Balls (adapted slightly from Love to Be in the Kitchen)

1 13 x 9" prepared Devil's Food Cake (made from scratch or a mix)
1-2 to 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (I used about 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
Chocolate candy coating (I used about 24 oz total, white and dark)
1/2 bag Heath chocolate baking bits

Bake cake and let it cool.  Cut into large pieces and use your hands to crumble it into a large bowl.  Make sure there are no large pieces!  Mix in the sweetened condensed milk and caramel.  Mix it into the crumbled cake using the back of a large metal spoon.  The mixture should be moist enough to roll into small balls.  If it's still crumbly when forming balls, add a little more sweetened condensed milk and/or caramel.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and roll the cake mixture into small balls. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours or freezer for 15 - 20 minutes.  Make sure you don't leave it in the freezer for longer than 20 minutes.  When ready, melt the chocolate.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted. Stir between each 30 seconds.

Remove half of the cake balls from the fridge or freezer and dip in the chocolate one at a time.
Using a spoon or fork, place the cake ball in the chocolate.  If needed, spoon melted chocolate over the top, covering the entire cake ball. Lift the cake ball out of the chocolate and gently tap the handle of the spoon or fork to help the excess chocolate drip off.  Place the cake ball on the wax paper and immediately sprinkle on some toffee bits.  The chocolate hardens up quickly, and you want the toffee to stick.
Repeat until all the cake balls are done. Let the chocolate dry before eating.

Store at room temperature.