Simply Cake Pops

Cake pops are actually cake lollipops. They are tiny candy-covered confections made of crumbled cake mixed with frosting that you can mold into different shapes and decorated for any occasion. They are super-sweet, extremely moist, and completely covered in candy coating.

Basic Cake Pops
by Bakerella

You'll need:
1 box of chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/4C water
1/2 C vegetable oil

French Vanilla ready-made frosting (photo shown chocolate, oops!)
1 pack of candy melt/coating

lollipop sticks
Styrofoam block/cup
wax paper/silicon silpat
baking sheets

Steps:
Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Let cool completely. I like to bake the cake the night before.

Once the cake is cooled, get organized and set aside plenty of time  (a couple of hours - it's a little time consuming) to crumble, roll, and dip.

Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. You should not see any large pieces of cake. Add half of the container of frosting. Mix it into the crumbled cake, using the back of a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. If you use too much frosting, the cake balls will be too moist.

The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on wax paper-covered (or silpat) baking sheets.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours in the refrigerator, or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.

Place the candy melt/coating in a deep bowl. I prefer using double boiler over microwave. Either way, make sure you do not overheat the coating. Melt the candy following the instruction on the package.

Now you're ready to dip. Take a few cake ball at a time out of the refrigerator or freezer to work with. If they're in the freezer, transfer the rest of the balls to the refrigerator at this point, so they stay firm but do not freeze. 

One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and then insert the lollipop stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. 

 

Holding the lollipop stick with cake ball attached, dip the entire cake ball into the melted candy coating until it is completely covered, and remove it in one motion. Make sure the coating meets at the base of the lollipop stick. This helps secure the cake ball to the stick with the coating sets. The object is to completely cover the cake ball and remove it without submerging it in the coating more than once. A small, deep plastic bowl is very helpful during this step. If you do resubmerge the cake pop, the weight of the candy coating can pull on the cake ball and cause it to get stuck in the coating.

When you remove the cake pop from the candy coating, some excess coating may start to drip. Hold the cake pop in one hand and use the other hand to gently tap the first wrist. Rotate the lollipop stick if necessary to allow the excess coating to fall off evenly, so one side doesn't get heavier than the other. If you didnt' completely dunk the cake pop, this method of tapping and rotating generally takes care of that. The coating will slowly slide down the surface of the cake ball until it reaches the lollipop stick. Stick the cake pop into the prepared Styrofoam block (i used Styrofoam cup instead).

Repeat with the remaining cake balls and let dry completely.

Store the cake pops in an airtight container on the counter or in the refrigerator for several days.

Happy Baking!

Note: if the melted candy coating is too thick, try thinning it with shortening.