Coconut Cake Balls

Since my previous koulourakia post was for something quite labor-intensive, I decided to follow-up with a post about an easy holiday treat!

This entry is yet another of the many variations on Bakerella's cake balls that I've come up with over the years, and one I mentioned offhandedly as a possibility in a previous post. But they are good enough that I decided to give them their very own post -- coconut cake balls! This post is very short, it is really more of an idea than a recipe, but they are easy and tasty, and for some reason, I always associate coconut confections with Christmas, so here is the workflow:



First, make and bake a white cake mix (brand of your choice) in a pan of your choosing (although I think 9"x13" is easiest), following the directions on the box.

Then, put the baked and cooled cake in a bowl, and mash it up with a tub of ready-made vanilla icing and a 14oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut until it is relatively homogeneous. If you don't plan on baking and rolling in the same day, you can store the cake wrapped in saran wrap for a day or two, or freeze it for later use.

Using a #60 scoop, scoop out the cake/icing mixture and roll into balls. Chill these balls in the freezer about 30 minutes or until firm, which could take up to an hour depending on the starting temperature of your cake. If the cake was frozen, it'll take closer to 30 minutes.

Then, dip the balls into candy coating wafers of your choice, thinned with some vegetable oil. I always use dark chocolate for these to simulate something along the lines of a Mounds bar, but vanilla melts will work just as well. You can also use real chocolate, but I find that it is easier to use the candy coating wafers because they melt more evenly and set up faster.After this coating hardens, drizzle on a contrasting color if you so desire.

And there you have it! Easy coconut cake balls for the holidays! I've made a lot of variations on cake balls, and these are definitely one of the best. The mix-in of actual coconut gives them a little something extra, they are tasty little truffles of coconut goodness. Plus, the recipe as written will yield over 5 dozen, so you will have plenty to take places or to give as gifts.