Red-White-and-Blue Cake Balls Recipe

By
Elizabeth LaBau
Sweet Book of Candy Making Elizabeth LaBau
Elizabeth LaBau
A professional pastry chef, cookbook author, and writer, Elizabeth LaBau has published more than 600 articles on baking and candy making.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 05/29/22
Tested by
Jacqueline Tris
Jacqueline Tris
Tested by Jacqueline Tris
Jacqueline is a freelance recipe tester and developer, with a love of content creation and fun recipes.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Red-White-and-Blue Cake Balls

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Total: 80 mins
Servings: 36 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
158 Calories
8g Fat
20g Carbs
1g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 36
Amount per serving
Calories 158
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 11%
Saturated Fat 4g 22%
Cholesterol 4mg 1%
Sodium 47mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 19g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 41mg 3%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 80mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

This recipe for red-white-and-blue cake balls makes moist bites of cake in a spectacular tri-layered red, white, and blue design. These are perfect for Fourth of July parties or other patriotic events.

See the note at the bottom of the recipe for variations and suggestions on how to simplify the preparation.

These cake balls are best served at room temperature and can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

"I love that these cake balls have an unexpected surprise inside. They’re perfect for birthday parties or holidays. I really like that you can easily change or customize the colors as well. My only suggestion is that if you think your chocolate is too thick, add a bit of coconut oil to loosen it up." —Jacqueline Tris

Red, White & Blue Cake Balls/Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 1 (13 x 9-inch) store-bought or homemade baked white cake

  • 16 ounces white frosting

  • 1 tube blue gel food coloring

  • 1 tube red gel food coloring

  • 4 cups white candy coating

  • Red and blue sprinkles, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Red-White-and-Blue Cake Balls ingredients

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  2. Prepare a large, rimmed baking sheet by lining it with foil or waxed paper.

    aluminum foil lined baking sheet

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  3. Place the cake in a large bowl and crumble with your hands until it becomes fine crumbs.

    cake crumbled in a bowl

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  4. Combine about 2/3 of the frosting with the cake crumbs until the mixture is evenly moistened and able to stick together. If the cake mixture is too dry, add more frosting.

    cake crumb and icing mixture in a bowl

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  5. Transfer about 1/5 of the cake crumbs to a small bowl. Stir in enough blue gel food coloring to make the crumbs a vivid blue.

    blue cake mixture in a bowl

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  6. Transfer about 2/3 of the remaining cake crumb mixture to a separate medium bowl. Stir in enough red gel food coloring to make the crumbs a bright red. Leave the remaining 1/3 cake crumbs uncolored.

    red cake mixture and plain cake mixture in a bowl

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  7. Making these balls is a multi-step process. Start with the blue cake crumbs and form it into tiny balls about the size of a dime. Depending on how much cake you set aside, you should get about 36 miniature cake balls.

    Place on prepared baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

    blue cake balls on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  8. Take a spoonful of white cake crumbs and press it into a flat disc between your palms. Put a frozen ball of blue cake in the center of it, and fold white cake over it, pressing together so that it completely covers the blue.

    Roll it between your palms to get it round, and place it back on baking sheet. The white layer should be fairly thin, so that the finished ball at this point is about the size of a nickel.

    Once all the balls are covered with white cake, put the tray back in freezer to firm up, another 30 minutes.

    blue cake balls wrapped with white cake mixture

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  9. Take a scoop of red cake crumbs and press it between your palms until it is a thin disc. Place a white cake ball in middle and fold red cake over it, rolling it between your palms to get it round. Repeat until all of the balls are covered with red cake.

    red cake mixture wrapped around the cake balls

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  10. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the tray (do not freeze). The cake balls should be cool enough to hold together, but if they are too cold when dipped, the candy coating will crack, so it's best if they are at a cool room temperature.

    Put the white chocolate candy coating in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring continuously, until melted.

    white chocolate candy coating in a saucepan

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  11. Using dipping tools or a fork, submerge a cake ball in the melted candy coating. Let any excess coating drip back into the pan. Place the dipped truffle on the prepared baking sheet.

    cake balls dipped in the white chocolate mixture in the saucepan

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  12. While the coating is still wet, sprinkle the top with a few red and blue sprinkles, if using.

    Red-White-and-Blue Cake Balls, sprinkled with red and blue sprinkles

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

  13. Refrigerate the cake balls until the coating is set, about 20 minutes.

    Red-White-and-Blue Cake Balls on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet

    The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

Recipe Variations

  • The most basic variation would be to simply divide the cake into 3 equal parts and dye one red and one blue. Instead of layering the cake, simply roll the different colors into cake balls and dip them all in a white coating and top them with sprinkles.
  • Another option is just to do two layers of cake instead of three. For instance, you could make a blue center layer, wrap it in red cake, and then dunk the whole thing in white candy coating.