Well...attempt #2 at cake balls...lumpy, bumpy, ugly and dried with white looking speckles all over the green colored candy melt coating. I just don't know why other people can make gorgeous, perfectly round cake balls with silky smooth coatings
Wait a minute... could it be that these folks belong to a private and secret society of elite cake ball makers who are privy to tips and tricks the rest of don't know???
Yeah...or maybe I'm just a cake ball failure.
LOL

I tried candy melts on cake balls this weekend and it was a MESS!!! I used the blue ones and ended up having to dip them THREE times. They look okay after that but geez! First dip you could see the red through the blue (red velvet cake), second a zillion air bubbles appeared and popped leaving holes all over the ball, third dip fixed both of the previous problems. I also have problems (not as bad) with white chocolate and have to dip those at least twice. Regular chocolate are AWESOME....never have had a problem! I've read every page of that super long cake ball thread and here I am....who knows?! (If you get in the private, secret club...I want in! hehe)

we tried and failed at cake balls a few times too! To avoid the bumps & lumps we waited till they were partially frozen and rolled them in our hands till they were perfectly smooth then put them back in the freezer before dipping. That helped a bunch!! Good luck!!!

Don't get down on yourself. Practice makes perfect so just keep swimming... sorry... Nemo on my mind when I saw just keep trying.
I just made some cake balls (I call them cake truffles, not as dirty sounding... lol ) and they turned out really smooth. I use a small scoop so they are all uniform in size then roll them in the palms of your hands like making meatballs... make sure they are moist but not too moist. Then I put them in the freezer for at least a half an hour to make hard. Then I will take a small group out at a time once the chocolate is melted and put a toothpick in each one to help dip. If I don't dip it all the way I will use another toothpick to guide the other one out so it's toothpick free and then use the toothpick to get some chocolate to "seal" up the top and make everything covered. Depending on how good the chocolate is it might smooth out easily and if not, well that's when you cover with a decoration. lol
Hope this helps! Good luck!

did you add a bit of shortening to the chocolate? How did you melt the chocolate...if it was too hot...the white flakes happen. also, when you roll the balls it helps to have gloves on...then I freeze...dip frozen, or very cold. The only thing that sometimes happens when thay are frozen, is that the chocolate cracks.

Thank you all for the advice...
The first thing I did wrong was I made them too big. They looked like a good size when I started but then looked like big ol' green meatballs when I finished. YUCK! And, I guess I let the candy get too hot by repeatedly microwaving it. And I tried to use a spoon rather than toothpicks... I laid them on parchment paper to harden and the coating drippd and pooled around the base of the balls and ruined any possible chance for roundness. All in all it was a big ugly green meatball mess instead of cute cakeball "peas" .

So in case I try this again....How do you prevent a "flat bottom" from the pooling of the candy as it cools?

I scrape the bottom of the cake truffle a few times till it's no longer dripping down then set it on wax paper. Only one spread bad but I had way too much chocolate on it and didn't scrap enough on the bottom.

Round has never been my problem. I use a melon baller to make the ball then freeze them. That makes the chocolate set quickly. I dip on a toothpick then use Bakerella's "tapping" method that she used for her cake pops. I'm usually tapping one in each hand on the bowl of chocolate! Once it is fully set, I twist as I pull the toothpick out to prevent cracking then I take a tiny dab of chocolate on a toothpick to cover the tiny hole and flip that part to the bottom on wax paper. Perfectly round and never any puddles!

I am so sorry for you... I know what it's like when you try something 2x and still noy get it.... I had good luck with cake balls... but with other things... well.... u know.... but as stated above... keep trying... practice makes perfect.... don't give up.... keep in mind how many times you baked before you did THE ONE CAKE that you said to urself... that's it I made it!!! good luck!

Katnmouse, I had the exact same problem when I tried to make them for a party last week -- the chocolate was uneven, it puddled around the bottom, etc. The only good news was that I couldn't take them to the party, so my DH and I got to eat them!

Check out "how about a serious thread about cake balls"
EXCELLENT!!!
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-658476-cakeballs.html

I have the same troubles with cake balls, at the last minute thought I'd make some today, big mess (the uncoated balls are in the freezer for another day) I dipped pretzels instead, everyone loves them and I already had cupcakes so all was well. I find cake balls so stressful esp considering there scraps of cake. he cake ball is NOT going to beat me.

I tried cake balls yesterday for the second time. I used a Merckens candy wafers and the chocolate melted very nicely in the microwave. I used the toothpick method for dipping, tapped on the edge of the bowl, then stuck the toothpick into a styrofoam block. When it was completely set I removed the toothpick and filled the hole it left with little dabs of chocolate. My balls weren't perfectly round to start and my chocolate didn't end up completely smooth but it was definitely better than my first attempt. Next time I will try re-rolling the balls slightly after taking them from the freezer.

The best part of the trial was that I used a small amount of white chocolate ganache mixed in with the cake crumbs instead of buttercream because I thought that made the balls too gooey and sweet. I must say the ganache cake balls were fantastically yummy!