Chocolate Surprise Cake Bites are so cute and so easy! Vanilla cake and buttercream frosting create a creamy, cakey middle that’s covered in a milk chocolate coating, with white chocolate drizzle and a surprise chocolate candy treat inside!
The scrumptious little cake bites may look intimidating to make, but I promise they are so, so simple. They are essentially the same thing as a cake pop without the stick. With just five ingredients and basic steps, you have a fun little dessert that will put a smile on kids’ and grown-ups’ faces alike. Made with a boxed cake mix, store-bought icing, Hershey’s Kisses, and melting chocolates, they really can’t get any easier!
My kids used to love getting cake pops at our local bakery. We’d always go on Fridays after school, and they’d look forward to it all week! One year, on my daughter’s birthday, she asked me to make them from scratch at home, and so this recipe was born. My kids are now teenagers, but they still aren’t too grown-up to eat them.
These little cake bites are also a great dessert for special celebrations or holidays or for gifting to others. I often make them for birthday parties and use fun colored sprinkles. They are also a staple around Christmas time and I cover them in red and green sprinkles, and of course, no Valentine’s celebration is complete without the tasty little treats!
Variations
There are so many flavor combinations for these tasty treats, the options are endless!
Hershey Kisses flavors – white chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel, peanut
Dipping Chocolate – reverse this recipe and dip in white chocolate with dark chocolate drizzle
Cake flavors – chocolate, strawberry, red velvet
Sprinkles – different flavors and colors
Add a bit of peanut butter to your cake mixture
Sprinkle a bit of confectioner’ sugar on the top
Tips for Making Chocolate Surprise Cake Bites
You want to break up the cake into little pieces but don’t smush it all together. Once it mixes with the icing, it will become a creamy texture
You must put the cake pops into the freezer at least an hour before dipping them into the chocolate or they will fall apart
When melting the chocolate, it should be thin enough to dip the cake into but not too thin that it will slide off, you want there to be a nice thick layer of chocolate
Melting chocolate goes on smoother and creates a nicer finished look than melting chocolate chips
Allow the chocolate to dry at room temperature for a couple of hours or put it into the freezer for it to set earlier. Be sure not to touch it until it’s fully dry so you don’t leave fingerprints
If you’re adding sprinkles, wait until the chocolate has set for about 15 minutes or the heat from the chocolate will melt the sprinkles
Ingredients
I box vanilla cake mix
Eggs
Oil
1 – 16 oz container of vanilla buttercream frosting – I like the whipped kind since it mixes in a bit easier
8 squares of melting chocolate (chocolate)
16 hershey kisses
2 squares of melting chocolate (white)
16 Hershey Kisses
Instructions for Chocolate Surprise Cake Bites
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box and allow to cool
Break the cake into small pieces and add to a large mixing bowl
Stir in 3/4 of the frosting container and mix well until it’s fully blended into the cake. Make sure there aren’t any clumps of frosting. You may need to use your hands
Spoon a bit of mixture out of the bowl, and roll into 2-inch balls, making a hole with your thumb at the top, and pushing a Hershey kiss inside, take another small piece of cake mixture and cover the whole, then roll into a ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes
Add the milk chocolate melting chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl and cook at 1-minute intervals until it’s smooth and creamy, stirring in between.
Remove the bites from the freezer and drop them one at a time into the chocolate. Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the bowl and allow excess chocolate to fall off.
Place them back on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze for one hour
Melt the white chocolate the same way as you did the milk chocolate and taking a small spoon drizzle it over the top of each bite.
Put back into the freezer for another hour before eating
Q&A
How far in advance can I make cake pops?
If you’re making cake balls ahead of time, you can keep un-dipped cake balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. After dipping and decorating, store them in an airtight sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. They’ll also last 1-2 months in the freezer. Be sure to separate them with a layer of parchment so they don’t stick together.
Will Cake Pops Melt?
Be sure to keep them out of direct sunlight or high temperatures like when it’s hot outside
Who made cake pops popular?
Today’s ever-popular cake pop was made so by Angie Dudley, aka “Bakerella.” Dudley started a recipe blog circa 2007 after taking a cake decorating class and she is, for all intents and purposes, the creator of the cake pop.
Chocolate Suprise Holiday Cake Bites
Ingredients
- I box vanilla or yellow cake mix – baked according to the package with eggs and canola oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup container of vanilla buttercream frosting
- 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup of white chocolate chips
- 12 Hershey kisses
- Red and green food dye
- 1.5 tbsp coconut oil not melted
- Glitter sprinkles or any festive holiday colors
Instructions
- Bake the cake according to the directions on the box and allow to cool
- Break the cake into small pieces and add to a large mixing bowl (you don’t want it to be mushy, just into small pieces)
- Add frosting to the cake, and mix well until thoroughly blended into the cake (but not mushy). Make sure there aren’t any clumps of frosting. You may need to use your hands
- Spoon a bit of mixture out of the bowl and roll into 2-inch balls, making a hole with your thumb at the top, and pushing a Hershey kiss inside, then place another small piece of cake mixture and cover the top, then roll into a ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes
- Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl and cook at 1-minute intervals until it's smooth and creamy, stirring in between.
- Remove the bites from the freezer and drop them one at a time into the chocolate. Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the bowl, allow excess chocolate to fall off, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place them back on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze for one hour.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave with coconut oil, then separate it into two small bowls. Add red and green dyes to one and mix until you get the desired color. Drizzle both colors across the top, then add the sprinkles.
- Allow to fully dry before eating.
Adding these to my Christmas dessert menu! 😍