I don’t know if your aware of the latest food craze, but move over cupcakes, the cake balls are taking over.

Seriously, bakers, blogger, and food magazines are all featuring these little bites of goodness. I believe a couple different people are claiming to be their creator, but they aren’t exactly new; allrecipes has a cake ball recipe from 2003.

New or not, they looked so fun and tasty, I figured I should make some. And they turned out wonderful! They are a great rainy or snowy day activity for the kids. Messy, delicious and easy, what kid wouldn’t love to make these?

The idea is simple and brilliant. Bake a cake mix according to the package directions in a 9×13 pan, cool it, crumble it, and stir in about 3/4 can of frosting. Roll into balls and dip into candy coating/confectioners’ coating/almond bark (whatever you want to call it). If they are on a stick, they become cake pops.

Obviously, the simplest thing to do would be to make a gluten free box cake mix; only that is easier said than done. In my opinion they are only so-so tasting. So I took a Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Cake Mix and spiced it up a bit, literally. I added pumpkin pie spice, canned pumpkin, eggs, and some oil. Ta Da! A flavorful, fast, and easy solution.

I am not a huge almond bark fan, so I always melt chocolate chips or baking chocolate with some shortening (this makes it thin enough for dipping).

Whatever gluten free cake mix or recipe you love, use it. As long as the coating and frosting you choose are gluten free, the flavor combinations are almost infinite. I actually think this method might be a great way to “save” a not so great gluten free cake that stuck to the pan, was too dry, or just wasn’t wonderful on its own.

Happy Gluten Free Baking!

Pumpkin Cake crumbled and mixed with frosting.

Rolled into Cake Balls.

Dipped in chocolate, and ready to eat.

Pumpkin Cake Balls

We loved the combination of the pumpkin cake, cream cheese frosting and chocolate. However, there are so many other tasty options, like vanilla, cinnamon, or white chocolate that would work beautifully with the pumpkin.

  • 1 package Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1-15oz can pumpkin
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9×13 pan.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all cake ingredients and mix on low about 30 seconds. Increase the speed and mix 2 minutes.
  3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or center tests clean.
  4. Allow cake to cool on wire rack.
  5. In a large bowl, crumble cake (I used a wooden spoon, and this cake was rather dense, so it took a little effort)
  • 3/4 of a can cream cheese frosting (although most frosting is gf, make sure and read those labels)
  • 1 bag chocolate chips
  • 2 TB shortening or oil
  • foil or parchment paper
  1. Add 3/4 can of frosting to cake crumbs (don’t use the entire can, or it will be too wet).
  2. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, mix the frosting and crumbs until moist and well combined.
  3. Form into balls (I made 36).
  4. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and shortening, microwave in 30 second interval, stirring as needed, until melted and smooth.
  5. Dip cake balls into chocolate, and using a slotted spoon, fork, or one of those Easter egg dye dippers (some people prefer to use a toothpick, but this never works for me) coat the cake ball entirely in chocolate and allow to set on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet. (Dipped cake balls can be placed in the freezer or refrigerator to speed up the chocolate setting).
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