40 cake ball recipes

Butter ball cookies (Russian tea cakes) with ground walnuts, cake flour, butter, and vanilla rolled in powdered sugar twice. A melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie with just five ingredients.

Old-fashioned Southern caramel nut frosting cooked to soft-ball stage with browned sugar for deep caramel flavor. Pecan-studded, glossy, and made for layer cakes.

Russian tea cakes (also called Mexican wedding cookies): buttery nut-studded shortbread balls rolled twice in powdered sugar. A classic holiday cookie tin staple in 30 minutes.

Chocolate fudge icing, the old-fashioned cooked kind made from just milk, sugar, and chocolate boiled to soft-ball stage, then beaten until thick and glossy. Sets to a rich, fudgy frosting on cakes and brownies.

Homemade Swiss roll, a light sponge cake baked thin, rolled while warm to keep it crack-free, then spread with vanilla buttercream and rolled into a tender, swirled slice. A classic teatime treat from scratch.

Classic French chocolate loaf cake bakes in a water bath for a dense, fudgy crumb with a thin crackly top. Semi-sweet chocolate, espresso, and whipped egg whites do the work. Flourless using cornstarch.

Old-fashioned chocolate pudding cake bakes with a cocoa batter on top and a brown sugar water layer that transforms into hot fudge sauce underneath. Drizzled with raspberry jam.

Magic Fruit Cake bakes up tender and jewel-bright with mincemeat, sweetened condensed milk, red and green cherries, and chopped walnuts. A no-fuss holiday tube cake that mixes in one bowl and slices into glossy, fruit-studded rounds.

An upside-down apple cake baked in a skillet over a layer of homemade caramel with golden apples, almond extract, and a splash of amaretto. Flip it out and watch jaws drop.

Vegan fruit cake packed with dried fruit, candied peel, orange rind, and almonds, leavened with a soy milk and vinegar reaction instead of eggs. A dense, dairy-free holiday cake baked low and slow.

Rehruecken (saddle of venison cake) bakes a German chocolate-cinnamon sponge in a ribbed loaf mold, splits and fills with currant jelly, then glazes with chocolate and studs with slivered almonds.

Fairy gingerbread, a soft molasses and ginger cake baked in a shallow pan. An old-fashioned recipe with warm spice, buttery crumb, and no-fuss mixing.

Apple filling cake baked in a tube pan with layers of grated cinnamon apples swirled through a moist oil-based batter. Dense, fruity, and warmly spiced.

Chocolate peanut butter cake baked in a coffee can inside a slow cooker. Milk chocolate cake mix, smooth peanut butter, eggs, and nuts steamed to fudgy perfection.

A streusel-swirled pound cake baked entirely in your slow cooker. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts layered through a box mix for a warm, hands-off dessert.

Easy chocolate pudding cake bakes its own fudgy sauce underneath a tender cake layer. A no-egg, no-butter self-saucing dessert that magically separates in the oven.