Cake Pops! The Tips & Tricks!

I LOVE baking and I love the idea of cake pops!!! I will be having these at my son's 2nd birthday party!!

Cake Pops are soo fun to make!  There are two ways to make Cake Pops the fun, messy way or the quick, easy way!! Up to you!

Let's start with the Cake Pops {The fun and Messy way!}
{Here is a very comical and informative how to video on cake pops!}

Ingredients

• 18.25-ounce box cake mix
• 9-by-13-inch cake pan
• Large mixing bowl
• One 16-ounce container ready-made frosting
• Large metal spoon
• Wax paper
• 2 baking sheets
• Plastic wrap
• 32 ounces (2 pounds) candy coating
• Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl
• Toothpicks
• Resealable plastic bag or squeeze bottle (optional)

Preparation

Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Let cool completely.

Once the cake is cooled, Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. Make sure there are no large pieces!

If you have large pieces mixed in, the cake balls may turn out lumpy and bumpy. You should not see any large pieces of cake.

Add three-quarters of the container of frosting. (You will not need the remaining frosting.)

Mix it into the crumbled cake, using the back of a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. If you use the entire container, 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 a wax paper-covered baking sheet.

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.

 While you are waiting for the cake balls to set start melting your chocolate and preparing your workstation.

You can get the melting chocolate from Michaels or any craft store!  Trick to melting the chocolate: Place the chocolates in a microwave safe bowl and heat up on 30 second intervals!  Also, add in about 1/2 tsp of crisco oil to help keep the consistency perfect!  

{That chocolate tends to stay chunky or dry up quickly so the crisco oil really helps!}

Remove the cake balls from the refrigerator or freezer and prepare to start dipping and decorating! This is the fun part!

Grab your individual lollipop sticks and one at a time, dip one end of the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate, than place the end with chocolate into the center of the cake ball!  This is where the name Cake Pop comes from!

Once the cake pops are on their lollipop sticks place them in the styrofoam to set.

Once they are all done, start dipping them in chocolate, making sure to completely cover all of the cake!

Decorate as you wish! That's it!!




The easy and non messy way to do this:

Purchase donut holes from your local store or donut shop!  This will bypass the need for baking a cake, crumbling and mixing in frosting!

You will just place on a lollipop stick and dip into chocolate and decorate as you wish!!!

{This would be a great option if your on a time constraint! or frankly to exhausted to do ALL the steps!}