palle di torta (cake balls)

Okay, so they’re usually called “cake balls,” but that’s not pretty! So I gave these delicious cake balls their Italian name, palle di torta - just to make them sound prettier, I suggest you pass it on. I tried (10 or 11 of) these at a party and was in love. The filling is the most moist heavenly thing, ever. I had to get the recipe immediately. It was so easy, I couldn’t wait to try! This is another dessert you can’t really mess up, so it's perfect for a cook like me. You basically bake a cake, crumble it, mix it with frosting and dunk in chocolate.

You can use any combination of cake and frosting, but here are my favorites:

Yellow Cake + Vanilla Frosting + Milk Chocolate shells

Red Velvet Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting + White or Dark Chocolate shells

White Cake + Lemon Frosting + White Chocolate shells

You can also add candies or nuts inside!

 Each cake produces about 70-80 balls. I'm making them for a retirement party for 60 people so I'm making 2 cakes- the yellow cake and the red velvet. For the red velvet chocolate shells, I'm doing half dark and half white.

You’ll need:

Store-bought yellow cake (I used Pillsbury Moist Deluxe)

Store-bought  Red Velvet- (I used Duncan Hines)

Vanilla Frosting – 1 container

Cream Cheese Frosting- 1 container

2 Bags Milk Chocolate melting chips- 1 lb. each 

1 Bag Dark Chocolate melting chips- 1 lb.

1 Bag White Chocolate melting chips- 1 lb.

Prepare cake like regular, according to box directions and bake fully. Be careful not to overcook though, you don't want brown/crispy edges.

While the cake is still hot, take a fork and crumble it in the pan. (This part is sad, yes.) 

Do this to both cakes and then let cool- about 20 minutes. Go watch a Chelsea Lately and come back. Boom- it’s cooled! Now you’re going to spoon in the icing in the same pan (save dishes!). Mix in the frosting until it is all evenly blended.

Next roll the cake/frosting mix into balls. I like them about 1”-2” big. Place the rolled balls on wax paper or parchment, because you’re going to put them in the freezer, and you don’t want them to stick. Once all your balls are rolled, freeze those suckers. I do this whole part a day or two ahead of time. But if not, freeze at lease 1 hour.

Melt your chocolate in the microwave, stirring it every 30 seconds (*this is very important- the bottom center will burn if you don't!). Do one kind of chocolate at a time because it hardens quickly. 


Using a skewer stick, dunk the bottom of the cake ball into the melted chocolate. Then spoon melted chocolate over the top and sides of the ball until completely covered. 

Place back on wax paper again to dry. You can add sprinkles while they’re still wet (which you have to do as you go or they'll dry), or wait until you finish all of them and drizzle a contrasting color chocolate over top for a beautiful effect. 

Once they're all set, place into individual tissue cups. Serve chilled right out of the refrigerator.

I make handwritten labels so people know what the heck these things are and what they can expect inside. Plus it looks cute. 

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