Red Velvet Cake Balls, easy and delicious cake balls with cream cheese frosting! Make for a fun dessert anytime or decorate for the holidays!
Cake balls are super easy to make and are a fantastic treat to bring to dinner parties or to make for special occasions!
I love making red velvet cake balls especially for Christmas and Valentines Day. You can easily decorate them to fit any holiday or theme!
What are cake balls?
Cake balls are cake mixed with frosting and then dipped in chocolate to for a nice hard shell.
You can use any type of cake and frosting combo to make cake balls. Eat them as balls or stick them on stick and make cake pops.
Anyway you eat them you will enjoy it!
What you need for red velvet cake balls:
1 Box Red Velvet Cake Mix plus the extra ingredients according to the box (usually eggs, vegetable oil, and water)
Cream Cheese Frosting- I use store-bought but you can whip up some homemade if you prefer!
Candy Melts- I used White and Red but any colors will work. I don’t recommend using chocolate chips since that would require you to temper the chocolate to get it to harden again.
Decorations- Sprinkles, Crushed Oreos, or different colored candy melts to drizzle!
Cake Mix from a Box? Store Bought Frosting?
Yep! It makes this recipe super easy and still tastes amazing!
I love making red velvet brownies from scratch, but when it comes to these cake balls a boxed cake mix works just fine!
Grab an extra red velvet cake mix box and whip up some crinkle cookies while you are at it!
When I am super crunched on time/ingredients I just grab store bought frosting too. For cake balls making frosting from scratch doesn’t really make them way better so I typically go the easy route and buy it!
If you do want to make cream cheese frosting from scratch use this recipe- it’s my absolute favorite!
How to make red velvet cake balls?
- Mix up the cake mix according to the box instructions then bake. I like to make in a large rimmed sheet pan for a fast bake, but any pan will do.
- Allow baked cake to cool then crumble.
- Stir in frosting, then drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes to set.
- Once set roll the cake balls into smooth round balls and return to freezer.
- Melt your candy melts, then dip each cake ball into the melted candy melts.
- Decorate with sprinkles or drizzle with other colored candy melts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a cake ball and a cake pop?
The difference is cake pops are on a stick. I love to turn these into heart Valentine Cake pops- just follow these instructions or the best tips!
What is the best way to coat cake balls?
Melt candy melts in a microwave safe dish. Place the cake ball in the melted chocolate and coat by rolling it around or spooning the melted chocolate over it.
Use a fork to scoop the cake ball out of the melted chocolate then tap against the bowl to get the extra chocolate off. Carefully scoot the dipped cake ball onto a parchment line baking sheet to harden.
What is the best way to dip cake balls in chocolate?
You can place the cake ball on a fork and lower it into the chocolate. Then gently roll the cake ball to cover it completely.
Alternatively, you can stick a toothpick into the ball and dip it. Sometimes the ball will slide off though- just a heads up.
What candy goes with red velvet cake?
Chocolate or White Chocolate pair wonderfully with red velvet.
How long do cake balls keep?
Cake balls should be refrigerated and eaten within 3-5 days. You can freeze cake balls for up to a month.
Can you use chocolate chips to coat the cake balls?
I don’t recommend this. Using any type of chocolate chips will require you to temper the chocolate (which is a pain) and if you don’t the chocolate will not harden.
Candy melts have additives to help them set up nicely without tempering.
Whether you make these for a holiday or just because, you will love these red velvet cake balls!
Watch how to make this recipe!
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Red Velvet Cake Balls
Ingredients
- 1 box red velvet cake mix
- 1 ¼ cup Water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 16 oz cream cheese frosting store bought, or homemade
- 12 oz white candy melts- may need more see notes*
- Sprinkles or Other Candy Melts for decorating- optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a large rimmed sheet pan* with cooking spray (17-¾” x 25-¾”).
- Combine the cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large bowl.1 box red velvet cake mix, 1 ¼ cup Water, ½ cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs
- Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides when needed.
- Pour into prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool, then crumble* and place in a large bowl.
- Add cream cheese frosting to the bowl and stir until well combined.16 oz cream cheese frosting
- Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then freeze for 10 minutes. This will allow the batter to set up enough to roll into balls without being super sticky.
- Once set, roll each spoonful into a nice ball, then return to freezer.
- Melt candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Melt on 50% power stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.12 oz white candy melts- may need more see notes*, Sprinkles or Other Candy Melts for decorating- optional
- Dip your cake balls in the melted candy melts and set on a parchment lined baking sheet. * If you are wanting to add sprinkles, I recommend adding them pretty soon after dipping, otherwise the candy melts will set up and the sprinkles won’t stick.
- Once all are dipped and the shells are hardened you can add a second color as strips or a spirals by melting more candy melts of a different color, placing in a Ziploc bag, cutting the tip off of the bag, then drizzling on.
Notes
- *I used 12 oz candy melts to make ~30 decent sized cake balls. If you make smaller cake balls you will need more candy melts.
- *If you don’t have a large rimmed sheet pan baking a 9x13 dish or in cake rounds according to the box’s instructions.
- *Crumbling by hand is the easiest and fasted way, but you could also place the cake in a gallon Ziploc baggie and shake/smash until it was crumbled.
- *Keeping the cake balls in the freezer will keep them from falling apart when you dip them. I like to work with only 2-3 at a time, while keeping the rest in the freezer, then once those are dipped, I grab the next 2-3 and repeat.
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