I bake a lot of cakes, which means I throw away lots of cake. Not because I ruin them, but because I have to level off the dome on top in order to layer them without trouble. That extra cake, if I’m being a good girl and not stuffing it in my mouth, gets tossed most of the time.
Not any more! Cake Balls/Pops to the rescue!
I just posted the recipe and step-by-step tutorial for cake pops and you can use the same concept to save a cake that stuck to your pan, came out too dry or heavy, or to use on the extra cake that you levelled off.
If using an entire cake, go ahead and follow the recipe as instructed. If the cake is very very dry, you will probably have to add the entire can of frosting to it. For cake tops, I use just about a spoonful of frosting and then mush it all up with my hands, just like with cake pops.
I ran out of lollipop sticks, so I just made cake balls (also called “cake truffles”) this time. Roll them up into quarter-size balls and put on a plate; refrigerate until very cold (I always do this 24 hours or more in advance of the dipping but a couple hours should be enough). You’ll need about 3-4 squares of white or chocolate candy coating. Melt it and dip the balls using a spoon, tapping off the excess chocolate before placing on wax paper to set. If adding sprinkles, do it quickly before the chocolate hardens. You can also drizzle any leftover candy coating over the tops or melt another color to drizzle over the tops.
This works with any flavor cake mix. So far I have tried red velvet , chocolate and white. Have fun with it!
By the way, I lied when I said I don’t ruin cakes. Though I haven’t in a while, it’s been known to happen.
This was the 14" base of a wedding cake. It was the biggest cake I'd ever made and I didn't realize you had to freeze the layers before trying to lift and stack them. I'm surprised it didn't crack completely in half when I hefted that huge layer on top of the other one!
This was the middle 10" tier of the same wedding cake, which I ruined when I applied the fondant that the bride had insisted upon, despite my insistence that I couldn't do it. I guess I showed her!
There was no hope for this cake. I ended up baking and frosting two whole wedding cakes and barely got the second one done in time for the wedding. Had I known about cake balls & pops back then, I would have saved back some of the cake for that.
Though I've had other cake tragedies, this is the only other one I 
photographed. This is Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake.
To end this on a happy note, here’s some pics of the wedding cake after I completely redid it. I didn’t even attempt the fondant because I didn’t want to risk ruining a second cake when I had absolutely no more time to spare. Thankfully, the bride was very pleased with the cake (though nothing like the one she originally wanted) and had no complaints!
Brenda's Wedding Cake 8-8-08
 
Me with the cake.
Veronica's Cornucopia 
Veronica,
You are so right about never throwing away cake. If it tastes good, you can always make something yummy out of the less than pretty results. And I also love that when a cake doesn’t turn out like you want, you just take a deep breath and start all over again. That was a beautiful wedding cake. Was that a red velvet cake? Wish I was there to have a bite. I really love this blog. Keep up the good work.
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It is good to hear from you! Yes, that was a red velvet cake and the middle tier was white cake. Thank you for the compliments!
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When I wreck a cake (which happens fairly often, lol!) I like to make a triffle with pudding, whipped cream, and crumbled cake. But I like your idea even better! I think cake pops are in my near future. ;) By the way, that wedding cake is gorgeous!!!
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That’s a great idea! I once made a “bread” pudding with some really dry pound cake and that worked OK but I like the cake balls better.
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Thats lovely, You are very talented!
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Brilliant! I’m definitely doing this next time!
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I LOVE these ideas. Definitely NEVER, EVER throw a cake away(unless the taste is absolutely dreadful, of course!).
Now when my mother forgets a step in making one of her awesome chocolate cakes, I can hopefully rescue it and create something that everyone will enjoy. I’m already excited about making the cake pops for my nieces and nephew for St. Patty’s Day and Easter. Thanks, Veronica!
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Great post! I’m always looking for frugal recipes to add to my collection. My weirdest cake disaster was one that rose like a mountain in the middle-I plopped the figure of a downhill skier on top,and everyone thought it was brilliant-haven’t been able to reproduce that effect influentially since then though! LOL
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hi! perfect perfect perfect! i have only one problem! i cannot find anywhere frosting! :( do you have a recipe for this also?
thanks,
Angelina from Cyprus
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I have tons of frosting recipes on my blog: https://veronicascornucopia.com/recipe-index/desserts/cake-frosting/ Any recipe will do, and you could even peanut butter or pudding, or jelly!
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How much cake crumbs do you need for each cup of frosting? I have a whole spongecake left over because I could not roll it into my yule log. But I can’t find the amount of crumbs you would need to make cake balls.
Thanks,
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Depending on how moist the cake is, I use about 1/3 cup of frosting per entire crumbled cake. You can always add more, but you can’t take it out once it’s mixed into just add a little at a time until you get the right consistency.
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