question about making/dipping cake balls

04JaxBride

what is the best method for covering them in chocolate?  claire made some last night and while they are tasty, it was like, a comedy of errors and a giant mess.

we did chocolate melted in the micrwave (baker's semisweet squares) thinned with a bit of butter.

i would appreciate any input...lol.   the cake balls she made are about golf ball sized.

melissa0312

i use a double boiler to keep the chocolate warm and freeze my cake balls. i just drop them in the chocolate and then turn them with a spoon until they are coated, then put them back on the cookie sheet (covered in wax paper).

they aren't always the prettiest, but they get covered completely that way.

usernametaken

Ditto PP--make sure they are frozen first. Also, I have never thinned it out, just melted the chocolate. Not sure if that makes a difference.

I always say, though, I don't eat sweets for the aesthetics ;P

7107bride

Those are some huge cake balls, sound delicious!

 I add a tbsp of shortening to the chocolate, in my experience it makes it harden up quicker and keeps it shiny.  I use this chocolate melting pot which helps a lot, but definitely isn't required.

Ditto pp on freezing, and I use 2 toothpicks or skewers, one to dip with and another to push the ball onto wax paper.

CareBear01

Agree with the freezing of the cake balls first.  I used some fondue skewers - they were longer, so easier to handle in and out of the chocolate than toothpicks.  I usually melt my chocolate with a little crisco or vegetable oil to keep it smooth. 

ZAngel

We put a little bit of oil into the chocolate to make it runny.  The heating process took forever because I was told never to let the chocolate get over 113 degrees.  So, he would stir while I held the thermometer and the heat would go up and down until it was to the perfect temp.  I would take a ball straight from the freezer and dip it.  Using a spoon, I would push the chocolate over the top before pulling the ball up. 

04JaxBride

we have a mini-crockpot, i may just use that this time around to melt the chocolate.  it's always done fine for when i do chocolate fondue.

the balls are frozen... i think claire just had a huge fun mess-making time last night.  at one point she came out of hte kitchen andher hands were covered in gooey chocolate.

 

the first time around, i told her to put a little bit of butter in the chocolate to help thin it, and she plopped in  dollop of smart balance.  UM, NO.  fail.  the chocolate seized up immediately, lol.  

TXsun

I do what everyone else has said as well but I just read about another method that isn't quite so messy.

 

Take the frozen cake ball and set it on a fork. Hold it over the pot of melted chocolate and spoon the chocolate over the ball and let the extra slide off into the pot and through the fork tines. Then slide it off the fork onto the wax paper.

 Hope that made sense!

CareBear01

You can also make-shift your own double boiler by putting a stainless steel bowl on top of a pot of water - make sure the bottom of the bowl is sitting in the water, but not on the bottom of the pan.

Eboix518

CareBear01:

You can also make-shift your own double boiler by putting a stainless steel bowl on top of a pot of water - make sure the bottom of the bowl is sitting in the water, but not on the bottom of the pan.

This.

I took a cooking class last week and we made truffles and I learned that using 2 forks to push around the balls then cradle them out with both forks kind of like a hammock and you can shake off excess chocolate. I did this last night for my oreo balls and I smacked myself in the head for not knowing this method sooner

missjake

I put the cakeball in the bowl of chocolate and cover it using 2 spoons. Then lift out the cakeball and pass it back and forth between the spoons to get rid or excess chocolate ( like separating egg yolks).  It takes lots of practice.

04JaxBride

i didn't get her cake balls covered while she was at school.  i hope she doesn't hate me.

 

i addressed christmas cards instead!!!