Cake Bites

So for the past few days I have been trying to be really, really, really creative and fun with recipes. I got on this crazy kick and made caramels, whoopie pies, and cake balls. The results have been nothing but delicious! I loved the cake balls so much that I decided to make them super cute and give them as fun little gifts :) I bought little Christmas tins for only a dollar at WalMart, some small cupcake tins, and cake mix and I was on my way to kitchen to start baking. This recipe is a little time consuming, but I feel it's totally worth it! I ended up going with Yellow cake mix, cream cheese frosting, and milk chocolate coating...and with cream cheese icing to make little designs on the dark chocolate surface. In my opinion, I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! I would definitely recommend making these, they're fun and great little gifts. Enjoy!!


Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) box cake mix (your flavor choice)
1 (16 ounce) container prepared frosting (again...your choice)
1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored confectioners coating (chocolate bark)
1 tsp shortening
**NOTE** the confectioners coating can be anything you want to dip the cake balls in...any kind of chocolate chips, Andes mints, bakers dipping chocolate, or bark.

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using the 9x13 inch pan size. When cake is done, crumble into tiny pieces while warm into a large bowl.
2. Stir in a little more than HALF of the frosting until well blended.
3. Use a melon baller or small scoop to form bite size balls of the chocolate cake mixture. (I used a tablespoon and scraped it up the side of the bowl to form a dome instead of a ball). Place onto waxed paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
4.  Freeze for an hour or two (or til solid).
5. Once solid, melt chocolate coating with shortening in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
6. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper on a COLD cookie sheet to set. Decorate :)