Have you had a Starbucks cake pop yet? Oh, I have. And let me tell you- they are delish. You want to know what else? They are really easy to make. Hand on my heart and with the Girl Scout’s Honor, I promise that you can recreate the cake pop in your own home. Cake pops are the perfect alternative to cupcakes for baby shower or a kid’s birthday. Everyone loves cake on a pop.
You ready? Let’s make some magic!
Materials:
- 1 box of white cake mix (and whatever ingredients you need to make the cake)
- 1 container of white frosting (I used whipped frosting, which is lighter, so I ended up using an entire XL container)
- 2 packages of candy melts (I used the pink ones from Michaels) They carry a variety of different colors, or you can buy the white ones and dye them to your liking. Only use gel food coloring to dye candy melts, as the liquid stuff won’t work.
- 1 bag of lollipop sticks (also from Michaels)
- 2 tb of shortening
- sprinkles (optional)
- large foam ring (found in the “wreath making” section at Michaels)
Step 1: Bake the Cake
You don’t need to do anything special. Just follow the instructions on the back of the box. Let it cool off completely before you work with it.
Step 2: Crumble the cake and mix in the frosting.
You really don’t need to over-think this part. Add half the can of frosting and start mixing. Keep adding more frosting to the mixture until it gets sticky enough to roll into a ball. I used a spatula to mix the cake and frosting together, but you can also use your hands to get the job done.
Step 3: Roll the cake/frosting mixture into balls.
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Next, take small portions of your cake/frosting mixture and use your hands to roll them into small balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet. The balls should be the size of a large gum ball. If you make them too big, they will fall off the stick during the candy coating process. Also, their circumference grows when you coat them with the candy, so start out making them smaller than you want your end product to be.
Step 4: Insert the lollipop sticks.
This is what makes the cake a pop! Prepare your candy melts using the directions on the back of the package. I used the microwave directions and melted the candies in a small round tupperware container. Follow the directions carefully. If you burn the candy melts they will taste really, really bad. Not that I would know or anything. *wink, wink* Dip one end of the lollipop stick into the candy melt and then insert the same end directly into the cake ball. After all the cake balls have lollipop sticks in them, put the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer to set.
Step 5: Cover the cake pops with the candy coating.
You might need to re-heat your candy melts again. If the mixture still seems too thick, you can add a tablespoon or two of shortening to thin it out. I suggest putting the shortening in before you re-heat the candy melts. Carefully dunk the cake pop into the melted candy. Turn it around until it is completely covered. Then, take the cake pop out and gently turn it over and over until all the excess candy melt has dripped off. You only need a very thin layer of the candy melt.
Step 6: Stick the cake pops into a foam ring to dry and decorate them with sprinkles.
Stick the wet candy coated cake pop right into the foam ring. Before it dries, sprinkle it with whatever toppings you desire. If I could have done one thing differently, I would have purchased a larger foam ring. I ran out of drying room for my cake pops. I had to wait for them to dry before I could finish the rest of the batch. Place the foam ring full of cake pops in the fridge to harden.
Congratulations! You have just made cake pops!
Once your finished cake pops have hardened you can take them out of the foam ring and store them in a container. I used a cake pan to store mine in the fridge. I made them on a Thursday to take to a party on a Friday, and they totally held up. Look how gorgeous they turned out:
SOOO trying this for my son’s next birthday party!
Thamk you for a FANTASTIC tip!
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m celebrating my daughters First Coommunion and I’m planning on a dessert bar. I have cute flower pots that I’m going to serve them in for a bit of whimsy!!
Happy Easter
Maureen
I mad these last weekend. one batch of confetti and another of strawberry. I couldn’t get the candy melt to liquify enough to just roll them, i ended up having to “ice” each individual one. thanks for the tip on shortening – next time hopefully it’ll be less time consuming with that. (but they were so delicious!!)
I had these last night for the first time at a wedding and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Please please please don’t call this a recipe! How about a technique. Canned frosting and cake mix eek!
You can also dry them with the stick end up like a caramel apple (on a parchment lined cookie sheet) and they can easily be decorated (using mini marshmallows and other ingredients) to look like Mickey/Minnie Mouse, Hello Kitty, etc.
I found this recipe a while back on Bakerella’s website… she made them with red velvet cake and cream cheese icing. I’ve personally experimented with all kinds of different flavors, but my favorite combo is chocolate cake with chocolate icing and dark chocolate candy coating
Check out: http://www.themixersisters.com
Any thoughts on how far ahead these can be made? I want to make them for an upcoming party, but I will be out of town for the two days prior to the party. Do they freeze or refrigerate well for short periods of time?
Has anyone tried dipping them in chocolate (milk, white or dark?)
Not a good recipe, in terms of providing instructions. You didn’t say to slightly freeze the balls so they don’t fall off the sticks. Oh, and did you dip the sticks in the candy melts before inserting them into the balls? These kind of details are sort of important in a recipe.
I wasted half a day and all my ingredients on this so-called “recipe”…
Dear KLOEPELM,
Actually she did mention those instructions you failed to read.! You should read more carefully next time so you don’t waste half a day and all of your ingredients on this amazing recipe!
“Dip one end of the lollipop stick into the candy melt and then insert the same end directly into the cake ball. After all the cake balls have lollipop sticks in them, put the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer to set.”
DELICIOUS!
Thanks for the recipe and tips. It was perfect and fun to make with my daughter.
I’ve had so much fun making cake pops. There really are no limits to the flavor combinations or decoration ideas that you can explore! Let your imagination run wild!
I’ve been keeping a blog on the hits and misses I’ve had so hopefully you don’t need to make the same mistakes I did! If you’re interested, check out http://www.cakepoprecipes.org.
cheers
Hi Karen, I loved you Autumn cake, and of course all that you do is perfect. I am still baking. I am in Arkansas, would love to hear from you. I am still @ grannyid, but use yahoo more. Miss you
Sharon
making themfor a school activity… try them there delicious….. hope they come out good and rite lol
These look amazing, but the directions were not specific enough…my cake pops ended up falling off the sticks.. any suggestions??
Does anyone know the Nutritional info on these? I’m doing weight watchers and ate two the other day and just curious how many points these would be
sooooooooooo good!!!