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9781558327627

Cake Balls More Than 60 Delectable and Whimsical Sweet Spheres of Goodness

by
  • ISBN13:

    9781558327627

  • ISBN10:

    1558327622

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2012-09-18
  • Publisher: Harvard Common Press
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List Price: $16.95

Summary

Cake balls are a combination of crumbled cake and frosting rolled into generous bite-sized balls and then dipped in a coating, usually dark, milk, or white chocolate. They look like large truffles, but they are lighter in taste and texture, somewhere between a truffle and a cake. They're an indulgence that's turning up everywhere, from upscale food emporiums to corner bakeries; all across the country, wholesale and retail startups devoted to making and selling cake balls are succeeding wildly. Epicurious.com, among many other media sources, calls them "the next cupcake." Simply put, readers who like truffles or the now-ubiquitous cake pops will like cake balls. Cake balls are easy to make at home. Dede Wilson, author of two celebrated books that are the bibles for make-it-yourself wedding cakes and also of the best-selling Baker's Field Guide series, returns here to give this delectably on-trend topic the expert treatment it deserves. Cake Ballsopens with nine basic cake recipes and ten basic frostings, ganaches, and glazes. Then Wilson spins these building blocks, with the help of some extra ingredients and design tricks, into 63 distinctive cake-ball creations, each handsomely photographed in 4-color. The recipes include kid-friendly ideas, such as jam-filled, gingerbread, and chocolate chip cookie dough cake balls, sophisticated creations like Cocoa-Dusted Truffle Cake Balls and Cranberry-Walnut Cake Balls, and whimsical creations like Teddy Bears, Cake Ball Pumpkins, and the Cake Ball Tower, made of filled cream puffs stuck together with caramelized sugar. For baking pros, she serves up inspiring ideas for how they can create their own cake-ball inventions; and, for rookies, there's advice on how to make cake balls starting from a mix. This is a colorful, reliable, and imaginative guide for making these charming and popular treats.

Author Biography

Dede Wilson is the author of A Baker's Field Guide series, Christmas Cooking for Dummies, Appetizers for Dummies, and The Wedding Cake Book. She is a contributing editor to Bon Appetit and the host of Seasonings with Dede Wilson, a PBS cooking show. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

Introduction

What is a cake ball?

Maybe cake balls have already come into your life, just as cookies and cupcakes have. If not, get ready for fun and deliciousness! It is a rare occurrence for a "new" baked good to appear, and that is just one reason cake balls are so exciting. They are also easy and fun to make and eat and yet unique unto themselves.

Cake balls are, simply put, a combination of cake, a binder (like frosting), and a coating (usually chocolate). Perhaps you have seen versions on the Internet and elsewhere calling for boxed cake mixes and canned frosting (see page 32 for my take on this method). My approach to cake balls is taste-based, and in this book I guide you with from-scratch cake and frosting recipes, stressing high-quality ingredients. My cake balls look like a cross between a gussied-up doughnut hole and a large candy truffle. Their preparation can be as simple as using yellow buttermilk cake, vanilla frosting, and a coating of pure white chocolate, or they can be something quite elegant with deep, dark chocolate cake, fresh raspberries, dark chocolate ganache binder, and a coating of bittersweet chocolate embellished with more berries. You will find both of those recipes in this book, as well as fun renditions like Confetti Cake Balls, Cappuccino Cake Balls, Zesty Lemon Cake Balls, and many others—more than 50 in all!

As with all of my books, my aim is to be your helper in the kitchen. I want you to have the most enjoyable and mouthwatering experience possible. I love hearing from readers; if you have any questions or want to share stories and pictures, please do not hesitate to contact me at dede@dedewilson.com.

How to use this book

This book is set up to be as user-friendly as possible. Whether you want to make cake balls from scratch, try a cake mix, or create a cake ball with flavors of your own choosing, I have provided guidelines to ensure great results.

Chapter 1: baking and creating fabulous cake ballsprovides you with the basics to begin making these tiny, tasty treats. Here you will find information on creating your own flavor combinations; a brief section on ingredients, equipment, and techniques; descriptions of purchased decorations that will greatly enhance your cake balls; and storage tips.

Chapter 2: the basic recipesis where the fun begins; it is divided into two sections. The first part provides you with basic cake recipes, while the second has frostings, ganache, pastry cream, and other moist "binders" to combine with the cake "bases." All of these basic recipes are used in Chapter 3 in complete cake ball presentations, but you can also mix and match them as you please when devising your own flavor combos. Chapter 2 also contains a section on making cake balls using cake mixes and prepared frostings. When time is short, this is an option to consider, and I make suggestions for how to customize this approach to make the finished cake balls uniquely yours.

Chapter 3: the cake ballsis the heart of the book, where you will find more than 50 complete recipes for cake balls, including seasonal Red, White, and Blue Cake Balls; classics like Red Velvet; and soon-to-be favorites like Mocha Toffee Crunch, Boston Cream, and Confetti. Thinking outside the box, I also bring you Crème Brûlée Cake Balls and The Crunchie-Munchie, featuring potato chips, pretzels, and caramel popcorn.

Chapter 4: cake ball creationsbrings you 10 recipes that show you how to use cake balls to make show-stopping desserts on a grand scale. How about a cone-shaped tower made of cake balls or a cake ball sundae party? These ideas and more are found in this chapter.

Last but not least, there is aresourcessection, which details purveyors that offer the ingredients and equipment you need for these recipes.

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