A few weeks ago one of my blogger idols, The Baker Mama, posted a picture of Pumpkin Cake Balls on her Instagram page. I instantly fell in love and knew I needed to make a healthier recreation of this recipe.
My idea to “healthify” the recipe was to use 70% cocoa dark chocolate instead of candy melts for the outer shell. Dark chocolate has less sugar, fat, and calories. It can also offer some antioxidant benefits. I decided to skip the pumpkin cake mix and just use a white cake mix. While this doesn’t save calories I wanted to be able to manipulate the pumpkin flavor.
Well sometimes recipes just shouldn’t be altered. The result was a cake ball in which I could only taste the dark chocolate – I wasn’t able to taste the pumpkin cake flavor at all. Additionally the dark chocolate took forever to harden and created quite a mess. Needless to say I was not satisfied with the outcome.
Next go around I decided the almond bark or candy melts were the best way to go for the outer shell. The result was perfect – a gooey pumpkin spice cake ball coated in a sugary vanilla coating. Perfect to serve at your next halloween party! So yes this is not the healthiest recipe posted on the blog, but all foods in moderation right?!
In other news the countdown is on for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. The conference is going to be held locally in downtown Atlanta, so I should be able to attend as long as little man doesn’t decide to come early. In fact I submitted a proposal to speak at the conference. What was I thinking to speak at 38 weeks pregnant?! Stay tuned for the fun new products/foods I learn about and how the speaking goes.
Kristen Smith
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 can pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 package almond vanilla bar (or vanilla candy melts)
- sprinkles of choice
Nutrition:
dina says
i want to make cake balls. these look great!
seo says
nice
Anonymous says
For the White Cake Mix, do I need to add the ingredients stated on the box, in addition to the water and pumpkin puree you called for on this recipe? Or not?
FN says
You do not follow the directions on the box – stick to my instructions
Irena Priddy says
If I didn't want to use the box of cake, what other kinds of flours could I use? Almond? Coconut?
FN says
I have not tried either of those flours – but I do not see why you couldn't try them. You would also need other ingredients to produce a mixture similar to a cake mix.