DIY Cake and Desserts--Cake Pops/Balls & Homemade Icecream?

Maggieaha

My FH and I are beginning to think about cakes and desserts for the wedding. We both like red velvet cake, lemon cake, and white cake, and I like chocolate. My mom told me yesterday about something called a "cake ball" or "cake pop." Supposedly it is a cake that is baked, crumbled, mixed with frosting, and frozen, then covered in a hard shell of chocolate. I think they sound like a fun treat, but kind of messy to eat. I suppose no worse than cupcakes...but...

What do you think? I am baking our cake and desserts because we don't have the money to pay for cakes. I was thinking of making a few (3 or so) 9-inch cakes (16 servings each?) and a few (3?) 9x13 sheet cakes, but I really liked the cake pop idea. What do you guys think? Classy? Weird? Messy? Should we do a combination of the ideas? I want to have plenty for our guests to choose from because we're not serving dinner.

Also, my FH's grandpa makes lemon ice cream and my grandpa makes vanilla icecream. Do you think homemade icecream is too much work for the wedding day? It would surely require a lot of icecream, so I'm not sure if it's feasible, but I wondered.

Additional information:
100 guests (approx)
2:30pm ceremony with reception immediately following, cake/light appetizers/non-alcoholic beverages only
July 1st wedding, indoors with air conditioning
Informal, beach-like feel in a rustic loft building

jessicabessica

I've made those before (I call them cake balls or cake truffles).  They are more time consuming than you might think--bake cake, mix with frosting, shape into balls and cool the balls, dip in melted chocolate (a double boiler helps here), decorate.  I make them fairly small, so they are one or two bites and not messy at all, really.  I don't think they're a substitute for regular cake, I think they are more like candy.  Although they are delicious, and I've been wanting to experiment with different flavors.

Some general thoughts about the rest of your questions...I don't think you should have your grandfathers make ice cream for everyone unless it's something they do a lot (in that quantity) and they offer.  My ice cream maker is pretty small, it would take me a while to make enough for that many people.  You mentioned you want to be sure to have enough to choose from because you're not serving dinner.  What time is your reception?  If it's at a mealtime, people will expect a meal.  A lot of people don't do well just eating sugary things, even if you have a large variety of desserts, so I would suggest having some non-sweet items, even just cheese and crackers and a veggie tray, if you want to do just dessert at a non-mealtime. 

(edited)

sarahfowler38

We are doing cakepops for our favors and I'm so excited about it!! My friend who is an amazing baker introduced them to me and I've been making them like crazy ever since!

Here is a picture of what they'll look like.




The woman who invented them has a website: www.bakerella.com

She is amazing and has so many ideas. We are doing red velvet because of all the flavors I've tried, that one is definitely the best.

The one thing to note is that it definitely takes time. Each batch makes about 50 cake pops and takes about 4-6 hours depending on how quickly you can decorate. We did some playing around with the last batch though and found out that you can freeze them so if you need to make them a month ahead of time, you're probably safe. However, my friend who introduced me to them doesn't freeze them and they still taste delicious even after a month because the candy keeps it in.

And also, they are definitely not that messy. The cake is mixed with frosting so that you can mold them well, which keeps them VERY moist and packed together.

Maggieaha

Oh yes! We are hoping to serve some veggie, fruit, and cheese platters (light appetizers). We can't have nuts because my FH's brother is deathly allergic to peanuts and we're concerned about cross contamination. Our reception will probably land between 3pm and 3:15pm. It's probably not going to last past 6:30pm (our families aren't real partiers, but we're fine with that).

I love the idea of cake balls for favors! The pics are SOOO cute!! That would also help with portioning...I don't want to make 500 of them.

I wasn't thinking of having the grandpas make the icecream (that would be waaaay to much to ask of them), just using their recipes. Perhaps I'll just use regular ice cream bought in bulk from Costco or Sams.

jessicabessica

If you put sticks in them it would be much easier to dip in melted chocolate.  FI and I spend time fishing out dropped ones, trying to smooth over toothpick marks, etc. when we make them.  Those designs that sarah posted look hard to DIY (well, the groom design, at least).  If you look at this recipe (link), there are lots of reviews that give suggestions of flavor combos and things like that. 

sarahfowler38

The sticks definitely make them easier to dip. If you dip the stick in the melted candy before you stick it in the cake ball, it stays on perfectly too!!

I thought the first thing when I saw them too Jessica, especially about the grooms. It ended up being that the grooms are really easy (the tuxs are just dipped sideways into the candy and then you can pipe on the dots for the bottons) and the brides are difficult (unless you're good at piping, which I am not). What I did was an entire batch that was just committed to practicing the dipping and the bride's piping and I felt much more comfortable by the end. And FI loved it too because I didn't want to give away any of the test ones since most looked silly, so he got to eat them all!

OnionBiitch

I prefer bakerella's method to cake pops over the all recipes method.  The cake balls are pretty much unable to be handled if you try to make the balls while the cake is warm.  Also, bakerella recommends using 3/4 of a can of icing instead of a whole can.  If you use too much icing, the cake balls are too soft and they will be hard to shape into balls.

sarahfowler38

Agreed onion. I never use the full can. Also, I just got bakerella's cake pop recipe book (yay!!) and she has some great tips on every step.

jessicabessica

Yeah, the friend that gave me the idea suggested freezing, or at least refrigerating, the cake balls first.  I add frosting as I go, and I don't usually end up using a whole can.  I was just suggesting the allrecipes one for the many reviews of flavor combos and hints about decorations and techniques, not the actual recipe. 

TEA&Co

Ditto that cake balls are a HUGE pain to make.  Also, the idea that someone's or multiple peoples' hands have dug into the cake is a little...off-putting to me (not that your hands are gross, but you know what I mean).  Oreo truffles are a little easier to make and I think hold up better over time.  I put the oreos in bags and smush them with a rolling pin so I don't have to mush my hands around in them.  Good luck!

OnionBiitch

I make cake pops instead of cake balls because I find it much easier.  Cake ball goes on stick, gets dipped in chocolate, and you're done.  I don't have to try to fish the cake ball out of the chocolate with a fork.

TEA&Co, I don't mush my hands around in the cake.  I cut my cake into 6 large pieces, and the rub the pieces together to crumble the cake.  Then I mix in the frosting with a spoon.  Sure, I have to use my hands to roll them into balls, but why is that any more repulsive to you than rolling the oreo truffles by hand?

and Sarah, I have bakerella's cake pop book too, and I love it!

ajroark

I love cake pops! They are time-consuming to make, but they would definitely be a crowd-pleaser and they look pretty too! That's so interesting you mentioned red velvet and lemon cake because red velvet is my favorite and lemon is FI's favorite!

Oh, and I love the homemade ice cream idea - very personal and delicious!