Make these adorably cute warm fuzzy cake balls to show how much you care. These Valentine's Day cake balls are fun to make and taste great. They can be served on their own or used to decorate cupcakes.
When someone you love does or says something that warms your heart, makes you melt, or gets your heart aflutter, you've been given a warm fuzzy.
Usually, it is just something you feel, but on occasion, someone will actually give you a warm fuzzy, a pom-pom with feet and antennae often with a heartfelt message attached.
For Valentine's Day this year, you can make your Valentines feel warm and fuzzy inside by presenting them with these sweet cake ball warm fuzzies - the kind that just might make your loved ones giggle, sigh, or even say "awww."
I thought Valentine's Day was the perfect occasion for this project. I spent the past week trying to narrow down my choices of recipes to use.
At first, I thought about dipping a doughnut hole in frosting and covering it in colored coconut, then coconut cream chocolate truffles came to mind, but I finally settled on making them out of cake balls, as I haven't really done too many of those projects and I know so many of you like to make them. You could even turn them into cake pops.
It's fun to add a personalized message to your warm fuzzies. Just print a sweet note on a strip of paper and attach it to its feet. If you want to make something even more elaborate, add one of these sweet little fellows on top of a cupcake. I even designed a printable wrapper for that.
Ingredients
a baked cake (see recipe below)
white frosting
melted white compound chocolate (confectionery coating/candy melts)*
warm fuzzy feet template
shredded coconut
liquid food coloring - neon pink or red (the grocery store variety is fine)
candy eyes
optional antenna decorations: red hearts and pink confetti
Ingredients to make 15 cupcakes and 15 warm fuzzies:
24 baked cupcakes
white frosting (2-3 tablespoons for cake balls and more to frost cupcakes)
12-16 ounces melted white confectionery coating/candy melts*
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
liquid food coloring - neon pink and/or red
30 candy eyes
printable warm fuzzy cupcake wrapper (pink warm fuzzy or red warm fuzzy)
optional: pink and purple confetti
*Before you begin, if you don't have experience using compound chocolate , also known as, confectionery coatings, candy melts, or almond bar, read my Chocolate Making Tips. Each brand of coating has different qualities, some are thicker than others, so I've given you a general idea of how much you should need for this project.
If you have any leftover coating, just spread it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until hard.
Supplies
mixing bowl and spoon or a stand mixer or food processor
disposable pastry bag, zip-top bag, or a squeeze bottle fitted with a small round pastry tip
parchment paper
baking sheets that fit in your freezer
zip-top bags used to color your coconut
optional: #18 mini ice cream scoop (a heaping tablespoon)
fork or chocolate dipping fork
Instructions
Make chocolate cake balls.
- Break up the cake into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer (my preferred method**) or a food processor.
- Add ¼ cup white frosting.
- Mix to combine.
- If the mixture holds together well and you can easily form balls, then stop, if it crumbles, add up to another ¼ cup of frosting.
- Set aside for about an hour while you make your warm fuzzy decorations.
- **By using a stand mixer your cake balls will have a smooth truffle-like consistency. If you do this by hand, you will probably want to mix it with your actual hands to get it smooth.
Pipe white candy melt antennae.
- Fill a squeeze bottle fitted with a small round pastry tip (#3,4, or 5) or fill a disposable pastry bag (either fitted with a tip or just snip off the end leaving a small opening) or fill a zip-top bag and snip off one tip.
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Pipe your preferred style of antenna-making extras as several will break while you are working with them.
- I piped straight lines and added small red hearts on some and added pink candy confetti on others. I also piped a line with a curved end.
- You could just pipe straight lines and add a dot on top or pipe a heart on top.
- Once you've filled up your baking sheet, place it in the freezer for about 3 minutes so the white coating hardens.
Pipe warm fuzzy feet using white candy melts.
- Click here to download the warm fuzzy feet template. Print out the warm fuzzy feet template.
- Set the printed warm fuzzy feet template under a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Pipe feet.
- I found it easiest to get the best shape by making dots for the toes, then piping around the outer edge and filling in the center of the feet.
- Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to harden.
- You can, unless you are making cake pops, attach the two feet together with some white candy coating.
Color coconut using food coloring.
- Break up any clumps in your coconut then place the coconut in a zip-top bag.
- Squeeze in some drops of your preferred food coloring. Seal the bag and shake until the coconut is uniformly colored. Add more coloring until you reach the desired shade.
- You may want some of your warm fuzzies to be red, some pink, and maybe even some of another color, so the color is just what you need.
Dip cake balls and roll them in pink coconut.
- Scoop out 40-48 heaping tablespoonfuls of the cake mixture.
- A #18 scoop makes easy work of this.
- If you use the recipe above to make your cake, you'll get 48 balls.
- If you make a cake mix according to the package instructions you'll get 40.
- Roll into balls pinching together any big seams.
- Set one ball into melted white confectionery coating/candy melts.
- Use a fork or candy dipping fork to submerge the ball in the white coating.
- Set the fork under the ball and lift it out of the coating.
- Tap the fork on the side of the bowl to remove the excess candy coating.
- Set the dipped ball into the colored coconut.
- Sprinkle and press the coconut all over the ball.
- Remove and immediately press two antennae into the ball (if you wait, the white candy coating will harden and you'll have to use a toothpick to create holes before pressing them into the warm fuzzy.)
- Once you've created all of your warm fuzzies, use some white candy coating to attach the two feet to the bottom of each warm fuzzy.
- If you are going to make cake pops, dip a lollipop stick into the white candy coating and insert it into a cake ball and allow it to dry before dipping, coating, and decorating them.
Assemble the cake ball warm fuzzies.
- Use white candy coating to attach two edible candy eyes to each warm fuzzy cake ball.
- Now you can package them as is or if you'd like you can attach a special message.
- Either print a message on a strip of paper and "glue" it to the warm fuzzy with a dab of white chocolate (don't add too much, you want the paper easily removable) or cut strips out of modeling chocolate or fondant and write your message using a food coloring marker; that way the entire thing is edible.
Make warm fuzzy cupcakes.
- Start with 24 cupcakes. Reserve 15 cupcakes and crumble the remaining cupcakes into a mixing bowl or stand mixer.
- NOTE: If you use the recipe above using the pudding mix and sour cream, you should be able to get 28 cupcakes out of the batter, so you can make 17 cupcakes with 17 warm fuzzies on top.
- Add 2 tablespoons of frosting and mix to combine. If the mixture holds together well and you can easily form balls, then stop, if it crumbles, add up to another 1 tablespoon of frosting.
- Set aside for 30-45 minutes while you make the decorations for 15 warm fuzzy cake balls according to the directions above.
- Dip, roll, and decorate your 15 warm fuzzy cake balls.
- Download and print the pink warm fuzzy cupcake wrapper template and/or the red warm fuzzy template onto white card stock. Note: they are big files and may take a few minutes to load.
- Cut out the printable warm fuzzy cupcake wrappers. Wrap each cupcake with a printed wrapper, taping the edges together. Frost your cupcakes. Set a warm fuzzy cake ball on top of your cupcake. Add pink and purple candy confetti, if desired.
Substitutions
Use donut holes instead of cake balls.
Use shredded red or pink candy melts instead of coconut. Check out my Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies recipe for step-by-step instructions.
Or you can roll your cake balls in red or pink sprinkles.
Related Recipes
You can also make a savory version. Check out the recipe to make these cute Warm Fuzzy Cheese Balls.
Check out all of my Valentine's Day Recipes and be sure to check out the collage of Valentine's Day recipe ideas below the recipe card below.
Video Tutorial
Be sure to watch the video to see how to make your own warm fuzzy cake balls.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="gtJmUPiK" upload-date="2021-01-31T00:48:13.000Z" name="Cake Ball Warm Fuzzies" description="Chocolate cake balls are dipped in white candy melts and red or pink-colored coconut and are decorated with candy antennae and feet to look like cute Warm Fuzzies for Valentine's Day." player-type="default" override-embed="default"]
Printable Recipe
- 1 15.25 ounce dark chocolate cake mix
- 1 (3.56 ounce box) instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- ⅓ cup frosting, vanilla or chocolate
- 24-32 ounces white candy melts, melted
- 4 cups coconut, colored pink and red
- 80-96 candy eyes
- optional, heart and round sprinkles
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Either line a 9 inch by 13-inch baking pan with non-stick tin foil or spray it with baking spray.
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Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
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Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed for 30 seconds.
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Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
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Pour into pan.
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Bake for 28-34 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
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Allow the cake to cool completely.
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Crumble the cake into a large bowl, preferably the bowl of a stand mixer.
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Add frosting and stir or beat until well blended and smooth.
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Scoop out 48 tablespoon-size portions of the cake ball dough.
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Roll them into balls.
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Set aside to dry for an hour.
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Meanwhile, pour the melted candy melts into a squeeze bottle, disposable pastry bag, or zip-top bag.
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Cut the tip off if using a disposable pastry bag or zip-top bag.
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Set warm fuzzy feet template on a baking sheet and cover with a piece of parchment paper.
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Pipe the melted candy melts over the template creating two feet for each warm fuzzy.
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Pop them in the freezer for about 3 minutes just until they harden.
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Pipe antenna onto a piece of parchment paper, adding sprinkles to the tips if desired.
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Let them harden.
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Dip the cake balls in melted white candy melts and immediately roll each ball in colored coconut and insert two antennae.
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Use melted white candy melts to attach two candy eyes and two feet to each warm fuzzy.
This recipe was originally published on January 31, 2012.
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Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
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Meggie says
Is the pudding needed for this recipe instant pudding or regular? Thanks!!
Beth says
I add instant pudding mix to the cake mix to really enhance the flavor! Enjoy.
Jenn Kennett says
I love this...just don't have the time for it. Do you think I could pull it off with doing cupcakes as the fuzzy creatures? I would do the top with the fuzzy icing and eyes, use pretzle stick dipped in chocolate for the antenna, use your template for around the cupcakes, and then cut out feet and glue on the bottome of the cupcakes. What do you think?
Jenn Kennett says
I love this...I just don't have the time or patience for this for 22 kids at school. I was thinking about doing the cupcakes with the fuzzy frosting and pretzels dipped in white chocolate for the antenna, the eyes on the top of the coconut, and cut out little feet and use your template for the outside of the cupcales. Do you think it would work...AND be cute??
beth says
I do actually think that would work and I'm betting the cupcakes would be adorable! I'm sure the kids will love them:)
Kritika Chauhan says
alright thanks a lot and i am madly in love with ur blog i want to try each and everything u make but unfortunately certain ingredients are not easily available in my city like corn syrup which is made for moulding chocolate can u suggest other alternative I'm really excited to try out your other creations thanks a lot lots of love
beth says
Thank you, Kritika. I'm happy you love my blog:) As far as modeling chocolate goes, I have I have successfully used honey (https://hungryhappenings.com/2011/05/how-to-create-school-books-using-corn.html,) jelly (https://hungryhappenings.com/2013/05/strawberry-basket-gifts-for-mom-teachers-friends.html,) dulce de leche (https://hungryhappenings.com/2011/06/celebrate-end-of-school-year-by-making.html,) and even peanut butter (https://hungryhappenings.com/2012/11/chocolate-peanut-butter-fudge-or.html) to make modeling chocolate. Take a look at these posts to see how I did it.
I hope this helps so you can have fun making fun food using modeling chocolate.
Kritika Chauhan says
hi is this coconut dry or fresh shredded coconut?
beth says
I used store bought shredded sweetened coconut. I would think it would work with fresh as well, it just wouldn't be as sweet.
Kritika Chauhan says
hi is this coconut dry or fresh shredded coconut?
Kath Escueta says
what's the diameter of the cake you used for this recipe?
Kath Escueta says
what's the diameter of the baked cake that you used in this recipe?
beth says
I used one baked cake from a cake mix which makes one 9 x 13 inch cake or two 8 or 9 inch round cakes.
Shrey Patel says
OMG!!!
Fuzzy Cake Balls & Cup Cakes looks magnificent...
Recipe sounds good. I will try on this Valentine's Day.
Thanks for sharing.
Staci Melendez says
I immediately thought about when Domino's Pizza started and they had the fuzzy thingies. This is a totally adorable idea.
I cant wait to try this. really nervous about cake balls.
Anonymous says
You just gave me the best idea to pipe little blue baby feet for cupcake toppers for my baby shower. Thanks sooo much!!!
beth says
I love how one project can inspired another! Good luck with your little baby feet.
Anonymous says
I found your website last night and am so happy I did! I had been looking for something different to take to my husbands military unit this weekend and this is perfect. They have been missing the homemade goodies the last few months from me because of a very crazy life. Lets just say I love these little guys. My toddler had lots of fun helping me build our little "army" of warm fuzzies. I am praying the little guys travel well tomorrow.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
i'm glad to hear you and your child have fun making your little army of warm fuzzies:) I hope the guys like them and appreciate all you do for them. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day.
Anonymous says
These are so incredibly cute. So happy to have just found your blog via Verusca's Cakes!
Anonymous says
Hey Beth...What can I truly say that everyone else hasn't all ready said...I guess one more big "THANKS" for all your great ideas isn't going to hurt ya any..... LOL...I did have one quick comment tho..As far as the cake balls go...I used to use doughnut holes for all kinds of goodies but over the last few years I have noticed that you really can't find a good doughnut hole...I'm finding big ugly shaped huge holes...I think it might be because most don't do the old school yeast hand cut doughnuts...Ahhh the good ole dunkin doughnut munchkins days...Now they are huge oddly shaped globs of almost a cake type doughnut...Anyhow...Now days we can whip out cake balls instead..I know I tried a machine that actually bakes little so called cake balls..I tried the recipe that came with this machine...one word description YUK...Little rubbery dense cake balls with no flavor...I guess there is no easy shortcuts for a good uniformed doughnut hole or cake ball...So if ya need me I'll be in the kitchen rolling my own cake balls for this project!!...Take care and keep em coming....Oodie
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Oodie, It is always nice to hear kind words, so thank you! I know what you mean about the doughnut holes. I was tempted to buy a cake ball machine, but read way too many bad reviews. So, it's scoop and roll for me too! I hope you have fun with the project.
Tiffany@Fizzy Party! says
Saw these on Party Frosting and LOVE them. Super cute!!! New fan through Party Frosting.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thank you and welcome, Tiffany:)
Amy says
wow!!I love this....You are so creative..I cant wait until I give a try.thanks for sharing
Anonymous says
Instead of liquid food coloring when dying the coconut, do you think I could use the concentrated gel that you'd put in frosting to color?
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I'm really not sure the gel will work because it might be too thick to really completely coat the coconut. I'd put 1/4 cup of coconut in a zip top bag and try a small dab of the coloring to see if it works before doing the whole batch. If there is water in the ingredient list of your gel coloring, you could thin it out with water. If you have any liquid candy coloring, that would work well. It is thicker than the grocery store variety, but it's thin enough to work.
Anonymous says
It worked! I just thinned the gel coloring with a little water and was able to color the coconut just fine. You do need to use a bit more of the gel. I used red get coloring and it turned out a light pinkish-red color which was just fine with me. I also used donut holes since I didn't have time to make a cake and they turned out adorable. I can't wait to give them away and see people's faces of these cute little Valentine's. Thanks for the idea.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I seriously need to try to make cake balls - these are so cute! Thanks so much for sharing at Taking A Timeout Thursday!
Mindie Hilton says
Featuring on Thursday at Bacon Time 🙂
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks for the feature Mindie.
MiaB says
Too cute!!! Thanks for sharing this with us at Sharing Saturday.
~MiaB
www.mamamiasheart2heart.com