Cake Balls, Take 2

I really wanted to try to make cake balls after that gooey fiasco.  I don't really have an excuse for making them, other than that I want to.  I suppose that is a good enough reason, right?  So I bought some red velvet cake and some cream cheese icing (I know!  Store bought!  But I wanted the process to be as little messy as possible so that I could concentrate on doing everything correctly).

Last night, I baked the cake.  Just a regular ol' box mix in my regular ol' (actually, it's kinda new) 9" x 13" rectangular pan.  I didn't bother with flower nails in the middle or even Crisco/flouring the pan; I just used that spray-on fake butter stuff.  I wasn't concerned with how the cake turned out because, well, I was just going to crumble it all up anyway.

Lo, and behold:  the cake was flat!  I don't understand.  I mean, I didn't try at all with this cake; but everything about it was perfect:  It came out of the oven perfectly; it's a perfect shade of red; it's not too lumpy in the middle (although there is a slight hump).  I just don't get it.  Why?!  Of all the times that I have make cakes, praying for them to be flat, why did this one cake turn out flat?

It's so perfect that I almost want to just leave it as a cake...

...Or maybe I'll smush it up and make red velvet cake balls like I originally planned.  I mean, either way, cake balls or no, it's going to get eaten.  So I might as well have fun with it.

So I'll try to finish these babies up this weekend (which would be quite a feat, considered the amound of homework that I have!) and next week I have 2 other cakes:  my brother's birthday cake (he wants a lemon cake?! But he still hasn't decided on the theme), and a surprise cake that I'm making for someone at school (chocolate).  And, of course, the week after that, my BFFF turns 18 and I get to make her delicious cake!