Description
Celebrate the holidays with festive Christmas Cake Ball Ornaments! Made from moist red velvet cake combined with a creamy buttercream frosting, these cake balls are dipped in colorful candy melts and decorated to resemble beautiful Christmas ornaments—perfect as a sweet treat or edible decoration for your holiday gatherings.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake Balls
- Cooking spray
- 1 (15.25-oz.) box red velvet cake mix, plus ingredients called for on box
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (170 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- Kosher salt, a pinch
Assembly
- 1/4 cup Frosted Cheerios (about 70 pieces)
- 1 (12-oz.) bag green candy melts, melted
- 1 (12-oz.) bag red candy melts, melted
- 2 (12-oz.) bags white candy melts, melted
- Sanding sugar, for decorating
Instructions
- Prepare the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13″ x 9″ baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, prepare the red velvet cake mix according to the package directions. Pour the batter into the prepared pan evenly.
- Bake the Cake: Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Make the Frosting: In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat the softened cream cheese and unsalted butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until combined. Beat in the vanilla extract and a pinch of kosher salt until smooth.
- Combine Cake and Frosting: Crumble the cooled cake into the bowl with the frosting mixture. Mix well until fully combined into a dough-like consistency. Form the mixture into 1 1/2″ balls, about 34 in total. Arrange the cake balls on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, approximately 1 hour.
- Make the Hooks: On a baking sheet, place 34 Frosted Cheerios flat. Take the remaining cereal pieces and dip the bottom of one piece into melted white candy melts, then attach it upright to the center of a flat cereal piece to create ornament hooks. Repeat with all pieces and set aside to harden.
- Dip Cake Balls: Dip one-third of the chilled cake balls into the melted green candy melts, another third into melted red candy melts, and the remaining third into melted white candy melts, tapping off excess candy. Before the coating hardens, sprinkle some with sanding sugar for sparkle. Return cake balls to the baking sheet and allow the coatings to set for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Decorate Cake Balls: Transfer three-quarters of the remaining melted white candy into a resealable plastic bag, cut off a tiny corner, and pipe decorative designs onto the cake balls. Sprinkle with sanding sugar before the designs harden.
- Attach Hooks: If needed, reheat the remaining white candy melts. Dip the bottom of each prepared cereal hook into the white candy and carefully top each cake ball with a hook, pressing gently to adhere. Allow to set completely before serving or displaying.
Notes
- Make sure the cake is completely cooled before mixing with frosting to ensure proper texture and shape of the cake balls.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to get uniformly sized cake balls for even coating and presentation.
- Store cake balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator; they can last up to 5 days.
- To soften candy melts that have hardened, melt gently in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each burst to prevent burning.
- For added fun, use different colored sanding sugars or edible glitter to customize your ornament look.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cake ball (approx. 30g)
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
