Cake Balls

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I have recently become a huge fan of the Pioneer Woman. Through her blog, she has introduced me to Bakerella and the world of cake balls & cake pops. I picked up a copy of Bakerella's book during my weekly trip to Target.


The items in the book are so darn cute! and so out of my league! Oh well....I decided that I would attempt just basic cake balls. They didn't look too intimidating.

The directions are on Bakerella's her website, (Just click on the link) so I won't go into too much detail here.

One thing I really like about her book and website (same goes with the pioneer woman), they show step by step pictures for those of us who are visual learners.

You start with making a plain 'ole 9x13 cake from a mix. I chose a milk chocolate one. Then crumble up the cake. It crumbled very easily.

(I really should have straightened up the kitchen before taking the pictures. Oops!)


Once it is all crumbled up, mix in 3/4 of a can of ready made frosting. I used milk chocolate icing for a double chocolate effect. It's really important not to use the whole can.

Then roll into balls. I'm obviously not very good about making mine the same size. Then I put them in the refrigerator overnight. You only have to refrigerate them for a couple of hours, but it was getting late, so I went on to bed.


Dip the chilled cake balls into melted chocolate. I used Wilton Candy Melts since I had plenty left from my covered Oreo treats that I made yesterday.

One of my favorite tips from Bakerella was to take a toothpick and cut around any excess chocolate that ends up on the wax paper before it dries. Then when it has dried, it will just break off easily. I am going to have to remember that next Christmas when I make Buckeyes!

I made some pink ones, too. I drizzled white over the tops.

Finished items, photographed with poor lighting.

I had purchased supplies to make the cake pops, too, but I didn't have any styrofoam, etc. to put the pops in while they dried. I'll try that on another day.

The Pioneer Woman

Last month, my friend Sue asked me to accompany her to Buckhead for a book signing. The author was Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman. Sue had mentioned the Pioneer Woman on many occasions, but other than that, I didn't know anything about her. I knew that Sue probably wouldn't go to the book signing by herself, so I decided to go with her. That's what friends do! Another friend heard that I was going and she generously lent me her copy of Ree's newest book so I could read it and since I would have it in my possession, she asked me if I would take it and get it signed, too.


I started reading the book, "The Pioneer Woman - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" the day before the book signing. It wasn't too long before I decided that I was going to have to buy my own copy of the book. The book is the true story of how Ree met her husband, the Marlboro Man. Although non-fiction, it read like a novel.



The day of the book signing had arrived. So Sue & I left Powder Springs around 5pm the day of the book signing. We arrived in Buckhead 45 minutes later. We knew parking was going to be an issue, so we parked at Lenox Square Mall and walked to the Borders where the book signing was being held. The walk wasn't very long, maybe 15 minutes, but all evening I teased Sue about making us walk 5 miles to get to the book signing.



When we got to the book store, we were given a wristband telling us which group we were in. We also found out that we could have stopped by at 2pm and picked up a wristband which would have given us an earlier group. Oh well.....it was the first book signing for both of us. We had a ways to go before it was our group, so I went ahead and purchased the Black Heels to Tractor Wheels book and her previous book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.



Sue & I waited around the book store until it was time for our group to enter the "line". Then we waited in line until it was time to meet the author. Our total waiting time was about 4 hours. During our waiting, Sue went over and met the Marlboro Man and got him to sign her book. We also got a snack at the Border's Cafe. We posted status updates on our Face Book accounts, too. It was almost 10 pm when we met Ree. She was very gracious. She signed our books and posed for a picture with us. We didn't chat too much out of consideration for those behind us in line who were still waiting and for the author. For the entire time we were in line, she was sitting and meeting with fans without so much as a break.



By the time we were finished, we were super tired. Too tired to even stop and get dinner on our way home!

The next day I finished reading the book. I LOVED it! I even gave it 5 stars on Shelfari which I don't do very often. I have subscribed to the Pioneer Woman's blog and look forward to reading her posts. I've even tried a couple of her recipes. I've made her Spicy Dr Pepper Shredded Pork and her Sour Cream Noodle Bake. Yummy!!!