Cake Pops!

I am helping to throw a baby shower today. On the menu was cupcakes, cake, and favor cookies (all to come in later posts!)… but after the cake (actually a giant cupcake) was baked, I realized it was way too small. I had about 34 servings between the cupcake and the mini-giant cupcake – and over 40 people. Not okay! So I made a last minute decision to make cake pops as well.

I have been dying to try making cake pops lately and since I got the opportunity here I jumped for it! So yes, this is my first attempt at them, and they look pretty darn CUTE if I do say so myself!

For everyone who has never had a cake pop or doesn’t know much about them, here is how it works.

1. Bake a cake in a 13×9 pan.

2. When the cake is completely cool, crumble it finely into a large bowl.

3. Add to the crumbs about 12 ounces of frosting. The cake pop creator and master, Bakerella, says to use store bought. This is where I diverted from the path a bit and used my vanilla buttercream recipe.

**Update: I use my own frosting, and I have no idea how much I put in it. I just add a little at a time, and stir it up, until it’s sticky enough to form balls. But not so wet that it’s going to slide off the stick.

4. Form sticky cake mix into balls (or whatever shape you want really) and set on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Put in fridge for about 15 minutes.

5. Melt candy melts (Wilton, can be bought at Michaels) in microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring until smooth consistency.

6. Remove balls from fridge. Dip the end of a lollipop stick into melted candy coating, then shove it into the cake ball. (Not all the way through, but at least 3/4 the way. You don’t want it to fall off.) Do this for all the balls on the tray, then put them back in the fridge. Let chill for a few minutes so the candy will harden.

7. Remove one cake pop from the fridge at a time and dip into melted candy. If you want it to have sprinkles, this is the time to add them. Stick upright into a styrofoam block to dry. (Or if you want them displayed stick up, just plop it back down on the wax paper – before adding sprinkles.)

I am so excited about these because they were pretty easy overall, look fabulous, and one batch makes over 50 cake pops! The candy melts come in so many different colors, plus the white can be dyed to any color you want (and/or flavored with oil-based flavorings). I can’t wait to get more creative and make more of these! I even added “Cake Pops” as a category to this blog because I know there will be more to come!

So back to the baby shower. Since I sprinkled the tops of the cake pops, I didn’t want to display them stick up, since they don’t look very cute that way. I tried mugs filled with shredded paper, but it just wasn’t supporting the heavy cake pop well. I ended u wrapping my styrofoam block in tissue paper, and then in wrapping paper before sticking the pops back in their holes. Cute huh? I will definitely do this in the future again too!

More baby shower goodies to come!