I had to squeeze in a festive February treat. If you follow me on Instagram you will know I really like Milk Bar products. They have the most fabulous cookies, soft serve, and of course, cake balls. They currently have a red velvet one BUT it is sold out, so I thought I would try to make my own Valentine’s Day Cake Balls. And you know what, I really like them!
These take some time to make but they aren’t horrific. If you want, you can just make the sheet cake part and call it a day, but if not, the whole process took me under two hours. These would be fun to make for a date night or with kids (I would probably enjoy this a lot if I was ten)!
The sheet cake
This cake is pretty fast. The focus here is just a bunch of cake flour, eggs, lots of butter and sugar. Yes, most cakes should be made with a stand mixer as the paddle attachment does a better job of whipping the ingredients. However, I am proving that a hand mixer is fine because that is what I always use (until I get the stand mixer in a few years ;))
DON’T skip the buttermilk as this will help the cake rise. Since we are only baking it in a flat sheet pan, the buttermilk allows it to puff up without losing its structure. After you cream together the sugar, butter and eggs, you are going to add the buttermilk, vanilla and some oil. Be sure to then really whip the batter until it turns into a creamy white. This ensures that all the fat from the butter is well combined, creating an even cake.
I also added cocoa powder to give it a closer taste to standard red velvet. If you want to make it red or pink like I did, add some simple red food coloring or even the red gel that is made for dying frosting. You will need to use quite a few squeezes if you want it dark, or you can just use a few drops to make it light pink.
The Cake Crumbs
I didn’t want the outside to be just a chocolate coating because I just knew it would come out a mess. So I ironically covered it in cake crumbs so it was a “planned” mess. You get what I mean.
These are really easy to make and you can just throw the ingredients together. It’s essentially more cake flour with some oil to make it clumpy, similar to sand. This is what Milk Bar does with its cake truffles, and I like how they look.
All you have to do is bake them in some kind of pan for 15 minutes and they are ready to go!
The chocolate
Just wanted to make a quick note here to say that you can use whatever chocolate you want for the outside coating (which is used to adhere the cake balls). The white chocolate will maintain the red tone of the ball better, but I personally like dark chocolate better, so I did both! Feel free to use milk chocolate too.
Assembly of the cake balls
You need the cake to be super moist to form into structured balls, so once the sheet cake is cooled, you are going to break it up into a bowl and add some milk (can be dairy or non dairy). The idea is to get a wet sand structure, where it is easy to form a packed ball with your hands without it falling apart.
Then all you do is dip the balls in chocolate, roll them into the crumbs and place them on a sheet to freeze for one hour. Simply delicious! Enjoy these Valentine’s Day cake balls!
If you want more dessert recipes, try my Warm Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins or my Triple Berry Sour Cream Crumb Cake. If you try something out, rate it below and leave a comment!
Valentine’s Day Cake Balls
Equipment
- 2 quarter sheet pans
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- spatula
- Whisk
- 2 mixing bowls
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 11 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick + 3 tbsp)
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- red food coloring
Cake Ball Crumbs
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ⅔ cup cake flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Assembly
- ⅓ cup almond milk or regular milk
- ¼ cup white chocolate melted
- ¼ cup dark chocolate melted
- 2 tbsp canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Cream together with a stand mixer or hand mixer, beating for 1-2 minutes until evenly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then add the three eggs. Beat again for 2-3 more minutes.
- Pour in the buttermilk slowly, with the mixer on low. If you are using a hand mixer, just be careful or pour in the buttermilk in 2 parts. Add in the oil and vanilla extract, and then mix everything on medium-high for 4-5 minutes. The mixture should appear fluffy and almost white! It should not look wet but more creamy and puffy.
- Scrape down the sides and add in the cake flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Mix for one minute, just until the batter comes together. Then add a few drops of food coloring and mix until the color is homogenous throughout. Less food coloring will create a pink batter. If you want it to be a darker shade of red, add more.
- Pour the batter into the sheet pan and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Place in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes (mine took about 32), until the cake looks puffed. It shouldn't be jiggly anymore, but it should feel slightly springy to the touch. If it seems like it's going to collapse when you touch it, bake it for a minute or two more.
- Let the cake cool completely. To speed up the process, stick the whole cake in the freezer.
- Next, make the outer cake ball crumbs. Lower the oven's temperature to 300°F. In another bowl, combine the cake flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl with a whisk. Once everything is whisked together, add the vanilla and canola oil, and whisk it in quickly. The oil should create some small clumps in the dry mixture, making it appear like big "crumbs" or sand.
- Line another sheet pan (or just any kind of pan) with parchment paper and dump the crumb mixture on it. Spread it out a bit and then bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove and let cool.
- Once your sheet cake is cool, clean out your batter bowl (or get a clean one) and pour in the almond milk. This is the part where you destroy the cake! With a knife or spoon, break up the cake and dump it back into the bowl. With your hands, mix the cake with the milk. The cake should be moist but not soaking. To test, see if you can reshape some of the cake into a small ball that doesn't come undone (or crack). If it is too dry, add a few more tablespoons of milk.
- Before assembly, melt the chocolate. In two small and separate bowls, melt the white chocolate and dark chocolate in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, ensuring that it doesn't burn. Stir with a spoon and heat for an additional 10 seconds if it's not fully melted. Then, add a tablespoon of canola oil to each bowl of chocolate to thin it out.
- Now you are ready for final assembly! Using an ice cream scoop to measure, start making the cake balls. Scoop out 12 balls of cake, and roll them in your hands, squeezing them gently into tight balls. You may end up with more than 12 depending on their size. Carefully dip each ball in either white chocolate or dark chocolate, alternating with each. Be careful as this can break your balls if not done gently. You can also drizzle the chocolate onto the ball with a spoon, but this takes longer.
- Before the chocolate dries, roll each ball in the crumb topping, ensuring that all the sides are covered. Then place on a plate to dry. Once all the balls are made, put them in the freezer to chill for 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and let thaw for a few minutes. Then enjoy!
