These wedding cake bites are made from a mix, so they’re SO easy – but they’re still great for a special occasion or just to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Okay, okay…wedding season is over. Well, maybe not; I got married in July (16 years ago!), so I guess wedding season extends through the summer, but June is “wedding month”. But once you taste these wedding cake bites, you really won’t care what month of the year it is.
I’ve told the stories about Federal Bake Shop before. My BFF, Angie, and I used to head over there on a regular basis as skinny teenagers (though I foolishly thought that I was fat…I was NOT) and order copious amounts of sweets from their case. We didn’t discriminate…chocolate chip cookies, thumbprints, and cupcakes were all included in our purchases. That said, the classic white cupcakes were always our favorites, and still are to this day.
I am determined that Federal Bake Shop is the reason that a popular chain cupcake shop didn’t last in Hixson. I have no evidence to back that up, but that’s what I want to think. Three inches of mediocre frosting just can’t compete with a more moderate amount of the best frosting on the planet coupled with the best, most moist almond-flavored cake ever. Look, I might be a little biased.
Angie and I have spent the last twenty plus years trying to figure out how to get as much of those flavors in our lives as possible. Wedding cake mix cookies are one of my favorite ways to get those flavors out of my own kitchen, and when I was trying to decide what kind of sweets to gift Angie for her birthday last week I considered buying cupcakes, then I considered making the cookies. Then I thought…wedding cake bites.
I used to make cake balls/cake bites a couple of times a month, no exaggeration. After I discovered them on Bakerella’s site I was basically obsessed. Red velvet were always my favorite, but I haven’t met a cake ball I didn’t love. For some reason, though, I had never thought about crushing up a white cake with some white icing and dousing it with a little almond extract to throw into my cake bites. Once I did…whoa.
And you guys, I know that this blog is usually about cooking from scratch. Sometimes, though, it just isn’t really worth the effort unless you are a total stickler for ingredients. If that’s you, by all means, make a white cake and white icing from scratch. But we’re crushing this cake up and mushing everything together so the texture isn’t really too important, and the flavor is coming mostly from that almond extract. A boxed mix and a can of frosting works just fine here. I usually buy almond bark chips from the baking section at a craft store (Hobby Lobby or Michael’s) but I just stopped at Food City for these. It’s always better to work with a little more than what you think you need, too.
Wedding cake bites are a perfect treat for a birthday, a wedding or baby shower, or just a need for something sweet. They’re so easy and fun to make, you’ll want to make them over and over!
Mary
Yield: 40-48 cake bites
30 minPrep Time:
3 minCook Time:
33 minTotal Time:
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- one white cake prepared from a boxed mix according to package directions but with 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract mixed in before baking, cooled completely
- one tub white icing
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 1/2 pounds white chocolate almond bark (you may have a little left over but it's better to have a little extra)
- sanding sugar or decorative edible pearls for decoration (optional)
Instructions
- Crumble the cooled cake into a large bowl. Use your hands or a potato masher to mash the cake until no large pieces remain.
- Mix the icing and the almond extract into the cake until all of the cake crumbs have been moistened. I find that a large metal spoon works best for this.
- Scoop the cake mix in about 2 tablespoons sized balls onto a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet. Roll into balls with your hands and chill for about 15 minutes in the freezer. Transfer the cake bites to the refrigerator.
- Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Melt one pound of the almond bark in a deep bowl. I microwave it at 50% power for a minute at a time, stirring well after each minute, until smooth.
- Dip the cake bites one at a time into the almond bark. Transfer to the lined baking sheet, swirling the spoon to make a little swirl at the top of each cake bite as you move the spoon away. If desired, decorate the tops of the cake bites with sanding sugar or edible pearls while the almond bark is still "wet". Repeat until all cake bites have been dipped, adding more almond bark if needed.
- Allow the cake bites to stand at room temperature until hardened. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Notes
Prep/cook time does not include time to bake the cake or chill the undipped cake bites.
