Okay, so I have been dreaming about this dessert ever since I happened upon Bakerella a few months ago – speaking of Bakerella, this blog is amazing.  Go there if you want to fantasize about amazing sweets. 

Well, the dessert I had been fantasizing about were the Red Velvet Cake Balls.  (Although Kevin said we should change the name to cake "bites" instead of balls.  Something about a fear of eating anything with the name "ball" in eat – meatballs, etc)

It was quite the messy enterprise to make them, but the kids got to really get in on the action – crumbling up cake, rolling little balls of dough, and eating the finished product – and so it was worth the mess.  Plus, they turned out DELICIOUS!!  I brought some to YW last night and the girls loved them.

So, here is the recipe I got from Bakerella, with just a few notes of what I learned from the experience, that might save you some trouble – oh, and pictures of the adventure:

Red Velvet Cake "Bites"

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) – or you can use chocolate

• 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) – **I used homemade, see below for recipe
• 1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) – buy an extra one, just in case
  wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)  I started with fingers, and quickly changed to the beaters instead

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.) Line the sheet with waxed paper first – saves clean-up.  Oh, and I used my small cookie scoop – so easy!
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.) I did 15-20 minutes in the freezer, which worked great.
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.  I used Bakerella's tip to only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It's easier to work with when it's hot.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.) I wasted a lot of chocolate, when I put it on the paper – I even ran out when I had only 7 bites left to cover.  I think in the future I will still use the spoon to coat it, but use a toothpick to take it out of the chocolate.

**My Mom's Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8oz pkg cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 t. vanilla
• dash of salt
• 1 lb (half a bag or one box) powdered sugar

Cream together the cream cheese and butter.  Beat in vanilla and salt.  Blend in sugar, beating until smooth.

For a printer friendly version of the recipes, click here:  Download red_velvet_cake_bites.doc   And be sure to check out Bakerella's site and all the variations she did with these!  So cool!

ENJOY!