Yellow cake. Nutella. Chocolate. Three things that make so much sense together, especially in cake form. Especially if the cake is in the form of round, poppable cake balls.
I’ve been wanting to make cake balls ala Bakerella for a long time now. And when I went to Houston a couple of weeks ago, our lovely host made some delicious red velvet cake balls. I knew that I’ll have to recreate it when I get back to Boston, but using some of my favorite flavors. Yellow cake. Nutella. Chocolate.
Cake balls are very easy to make, albeit a little time consuming. They are adorable little desserts that are so simple in concept, it’s genius. You just need cake (any kind – butter, lemon, red velvet, vanilla, carrot), some sort of icing or binding ingredient (peanut butter, chocolate/vanilla/cream cheese frosting, Nutella) and some chocolate to melt and coat the cake balls.
Nutella Cake Balls
1 box yellow cake packaged mix
1 jar Nutella (I had the 13 oz jar but recommend getting the larger one because it wasn’t enough)
1 package chocolate bark/baking chocolate (I used a bag of milk chocolate chips)
Bake the cake according to the box instructions. Let the cake cool completely, then crumble into a large bowl. Mix in the Nutella thoroughly. Shape the mixture into little balls with your hand, or you can use a mini ice cream scoop. I made them about pingpong ball sized, but I think next time I will make them smaller. Chill for a few hours, preferably overnight.
Are those meat balls? No, they're cake balls.
When the balls are done chillin’, melt the chocolate. I like using the microwave to do this, heating it up in 30 second intervals and stirring. Using a couple of spoons, dip each ball in the melted chocolate to coat completely and lay on parchment or wax paper until firm.
milk chocolate chips do not melt as smoothly as regular baking chocolate bars, and resulted in a thicker coating (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Errr they look very rustic, don't they?
While my first batch of cake balls did not turn out to be very good-looking, they fared well in the taste department. I brought these last weekend to a party and everyone liked them! Because what’s not to like: yellow cake and nutella goodness, enveloped in sweet milk chocolate.
Nutella Cake Balls
These would be the perfect party dessert (Superbowl party, anyone?) and it’s fun to eat, and even fun to say. Cake balls.
Have you ever made cake balls before? What flavor combo would you prefer?
And don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a copy of One Big Table!
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I made pumpkin spice cake balls once and it resulted in a terrible mess when I tried to coat them in chocolate. They tasted good, but I can’t imagine anything better than a combo of Nutella and chocolate. Now I really want to try my hand at these again!
These cake balls look AWESOME! Every time I see a recipe for one, I want to try making it myself!
I think carrot cake with cream cheese frosting covered in white chocolate would be the most perfect cakeball I could think of. I may have to try that!
I’ve seen the cake ball recipe over and over, and keep telling myself I have to try it. The addition of nutella is genius!
Bianca, these looks incredible (albeit a little dangerous to my waistline). I am hosting some friends for a beer tasting Saturday and am definitely going to try these – or some rendition of it!
Um… hi. I live down the street. If you have any leftovers, I’ll take them off your hands!
They look awesome. I have never been inspired to hop on the cake ball band wagon before now.
heehee Megan they all gone! The day that I made them, I actually had to force myself to get out of my apartment or else I’ll just be eating them non-stop :p But I will keep you in mind next time
I’m literally DROOLING over these right now. I’ve made oreo balls before, and I think now I have to make these….yummm!
These were so delicious! I wish I had a big glass of cold milk to go with them. Thanks for sharing – great to see you
My boyfriend is a nutella fiend. I might have to make these for him.
Sounds like a delicious combination for cake balls. A tip on making it easier to dip them and make the end result smoother: stick a toothpick in each ball, dip, then twirl until excess chocolate has all dripped off (only about 1-2 seconds). Remove the toothpicks before the chocolate dries.
I <3 Nutella, and have still yet to try cake balls. These look PERFECT. Thanks for the recipe!
Nutella plus cake? Yes, these look delicious!
Nutella makes me weak in the knees! And, I hate store-bought frosting so this is definitely a GO for me! Thank you!
this is so bad, its good.
i think this would be super if you mixed in some of that dark chocolate peanut butter that we bought in whole foods!
Oh goodness, those look sinful and amazing all at the same time
RJ, you mean my other love, Dark Chocolate Dreams? Next version will have that
If I wasn’t going to a bar for the super bowl I would totally be making these. I’ve seen them on a few other blogs, and this definitely solidifies the fact that I need to make them ASAP!
Wow- look at how amazing that looks!
Bianca- these look incredible!!! thanks for sharing, I’m going to attempt to make them for the superbowl
I’ll let you know how they come out!
Oh my goodness amazing! I need to make these ASAP!
i love bite sized desserts, so much more economical!
Hi Meryl, I’ve been receiving requests for these nonstop heehee. Have fun tonight! xo
OMG, I just printed this recipe and I am making these soon. ASAP. As in STAT!
I even found crunch Nutella in the store the other day and I was so excited!
oh man, everyone but me seems to have posted something for nutella day. i’ve never made cake balls before, oddly enough. they seem like my kinda dessert.
I made these for my book club Saturday night and they were a big hit with the ladies! We actually wind up calling them “Thunderballs” because of the thunder and lighting storm that hit that night. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Holy balls! (sorry, couldn’t resist!)
These sound like three ingredients to nirvana. Yum!
I’m having a giveaway on my blog- come check it out!
meri
merigoesround.blogspot.com
I loved making these. Also made them up with red cake for some fun coloring. Yumyumyum…
These look dangerous! Anything with nutella and chocolate is delicious, add in yellow cake and it’s perfect! I just found your blog and I love it, I can’t wait to see more posts
These look delicious – I’ve never made cake balls before – and I know why.
I would absolutely get caught in the pantry hoovering the whole batch!
hi bianca, i really liked your blog, the pictures are great. thanks for the recipe, i will try to make it. but i have a question, did you bake the yellow cake before mixing with the nutella or after??
greetings from brasil =)
Hi Rafaella! Thanks so much for reading my blog and the nice comment. Yes, I did make the yellow cake first. I just used boxed cake mix, baked according to directions, then crumbled it up in a big bowl – then mixed it with Nutella. Enjoy!!
I LOVE, love Nutella! Great idea w/ using it in a cake ball dessert! Sounds delish
Cake balls are a favorite around here- I’ve gotten raving reviews on strawberry frosting with yellow cake & chocolate coating (chocolate covered strawberries anyone?); and, recently came across peppermint frosting- did that with choc cake & semi sweet chips. Super tasty. Nutella sounds like a fabulous idea!
Hi Dawn, I’m really glad you told me about the yellow cake with strawberry frosting! I haven’t made it yet but will definitely keep it in mind for my next cake balls recipe
Wishing you a fantastic 2012 ahead!
oh. My. Nutella!?!?! Cake Balls?!!? Awesome!
A tip for coating with chocolate chips…add in a little bit of shortening it helps smooth it out for coating. about 2 T for every 2 cups of chips. You could start with less and add in depending on how thick you want your coating.
These sound divine! Thank you for posting this recipe. Yum!
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