Strawberry Shortcake Cake Balls

I hope y'all have a sweet tooth because these cake balls are so delicious! I was inspired to try making these after the pineapple upside down cake balls I made recently quickly became one of the biggest hits on the blog and the most pinned recipe to date! I figured if fresh pineapple tasted great in a cake ball that so would fresh strawberries - and I have to say...I was right! One of my favorite things about cake balls is that they are bite sized so i get to have my cake and cut some of the guilt. I also love how creative you can get with them while decorating by using different color candy melts and different toppings so you can totally customize them to any party or event you want to make them for. Last but not least these are so easy to transport and serve at parties, office events, etc... and just about everyone loves them! On that note, get creative, have fun, and enjoy!!! 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 egg
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pint strawberries

• 3/4 cup vanilla frosting
• 3 bags red candy melts (found at a craft store)
• Approx. 1/2 cup of canola oil (used for thinning out chocolate for easier dipping and coating). 
• Wax paper for laying coated cake balls on as they dry. 
• Optional, white sprinkles for topping

Step 1, Making the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Oil or grease a 9 x 11 baking pan and set aside. 
3. In a large mixing bowl combine all your "dry" ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt). Stir together until evenly combined. 
4. In a small mixing bowl add eggs, vanilla, milk, and shortening. Mash and stir together to the best of your abilities and then use a hand blender to get fully combined. *If you have a kitchen mixer go ahead and use that, or a food processor if you don't have a hand blender. Whatever you have available!
5. Pour liquid mixture into powder mixture and stir until fully combined. 
6. Take out 4-5 strawberries from your pint and set aside. Add the remaining strawberries, tops removed, to a food processor or blender and process until finely chopped and juicy. 
7. Stir strawberries into cake batter and pour mixture into baking pan, spreading evenly. 
8. Bake for about 25 minutes, until you get a clean toothpick out of the center. 
9. Set cake aside to cool for at least 30 minutes. 

Step 2, Making the Cake Balls:

1. Crush up cake with your hands and add to a mixing bowl. 
2. Finely chop, or once again use your food processor to chop up the strawberries (4-5) you set aside earlier. 
3. Add strawberries and vanilla frosting to the cake and stir until evenly combined. 
4. Get out a plate and use your hands to roll cake balls into desired size, adding to the plate as you go. 
5. Refrigerate cake balls for at least 15 minutes, they are much easier to work with and coat if they are chilled!
6. Pour 1 bag of candy melts into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave per instructions on the bag. Add a few tablespoons of canola oil to the liquefied chocolate at a time, stirring in until chocolate is more liquid and seems to be of a consistency you could dip the cake balls in. Test a few out if you'd like so you have a good comfort level with the chocolate! *You may heat all 3 bags of the candy melts at once, I just prefer to do 1 at a time so I can use a smaller bowl and only make as much as needed. 
7. Using candy dipping tools, a fork, or a skewer of some kind dip the each cake ball in the chocolate and set onto was paper. You may need to smooth the chocolate over the hole where your skewer or fork was in the cake ball. 
8. Add candy toppings, if desired, as you go so they chocolate is wet when they stick. 
9. Allow chocolate to harden enough so you can touch them and then move cake balls to fridge to further firm up and dry.