I Thought Dipping Would Be Easy....
Decorating By mellormom Updated 24 Sep 2008 , 4:40pm by mellormom
It turns out I have a lot to learn! LOL My first problem is the excess that spreads out after you put the cake ball on the wax paper. My second problem was I couldn't get my white chocolate to melt enough. It never got to the runny consistency. I've been using bakers chocolate is that one of my problems?
Any dipping advice would be greatly appreciated!
Jen...
okay, I've experienced thesee same problems and here's how I've fixed them
1. when I dip my cake balls, I stick a toothpick in them (while they're frozen) then dip in the chocolate, shake off the excess and then (here's the important part) I put a wire cooling rack on my counter, elevated between two containers of shortening or coffee cans or whatever you've got, I turn the cake ball over put the end of the toothpick through the wire rack and grab it from underneath with my other hand, twisting the toothpick as I pull it out, then there is no puddle and the cake balls just have usually two little lines on the bottom that nobody will ever notice unless they specifically look at the bottom.
2. add one tsp. of shortening to every 8oz. or so of chocolate it will help it get a thinner consistency and adds a beautiful shine but allows it to still harden up, I use the wwhite almond bark stuff all the time!
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1171223
all your little treats look so good .. I tried making cake balls once, but I am pretty certain they ended up not edible .. I don't know what I did, but sure would love to try again some time before the holidays. ...
Ok, so I just did a hundred or so cake balls yesterday. Here is what works for me.
First off I freeze the truffles. I use chocolate chips w/veg shortening for chocolate and white almond bark for the white. I melt it in the microwave in a glass bowl. Then I place it on a low temp burner for the duration of my dipping to get it fluid. Part of the excess of pooling chocolate comes from too thick coating.
So I bring out the balls in small batches 20 or so. I stick a toothpick in the top and dip in the chocolate, rolling the ball along the side of the bowl to help get rid of excess. I then place on wax paper. **the frozen ball helps the coating to dry quickly to avoid excess pooling. When I have the batch done, I stick it back in the freezer. Then dip another batch.
When I transfer that batch in, I pull out the previous one and quickly pull out the tooth picks. The I put a swirl of chocolate on the tops to make it pretty and to cover the hole. The process works great!
HTH
Stephanie
I melt my dipping chocolate using 1/2 Merckens and 1/2 good semi sweet chocolate chips. I add 1 square of unsweetened choc. to the mix and a little parrafin wax. I found one of those wonderful old candy double boilers at a garage sale and I swear by it. Keeping the chocolate fairly hot works the best for me because as it cools down it gets harder to get a nice finish. I let the cake balls thaw partially but not all the way.
Someone on CC posted by favorite tip of all for a dipping tool. Take a plastic fork and break out the two center teeth. Dip your cake ball and tap it on the side of the pan letting the bulk of the chocolate drip off. Let it roll off on the paper and there is never (well almost never) a puddle.
It takes a little practice to get the chocolate the right temperature.
LOL Guess I should have posted this before I bought the supplies. LOL The only sure way I have found to get ZERO foot print is to cover a piece of styrofoam with plastic wrap or foil and after dipping poke the toothpick into the foam and let it set up for a minute or two while you dip several more pieces. Then go back and remove the toothpick carefully and place the piece on waxed paper with the hole side down. I use a second toothpick
to help remove the first so I don't mess up the visible area.
I will have to try out that toothpick idea! Duh...I didn't figure that out before! I just made a bunch in my bon bon mold - painted the mold, shove in the cake ball then cover the top with choc. really pretty and consistent but definately not as fast as dipping!
, now I don't know how to remove the other two 
My only problem with cakeballs is that the centers always seem mushy (I am really picky about anything that even remotely tastes like soggy bread or soggy cake!).
Also, seems like the frozen cakeballs, once dipped, make my chocolate crack once they thaw and expand a bit. But nobody here seems to have that problem...?
Are you able to use chocolate discs, the ones you use for chocolate molds to cover the cake balls?
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