Hello again! I’m so glad to see you’re back after last week! With all the holidays coming up, and since I mentioned it last week, I thought I’d share a basic guide to making cake pops! I find them irresistible, both to make and to eat. They’re not only simple and enjoyable to create, but they also offer endless possibilities for decoration, making them the ideal treat for any event. Whether it’s pumpkin or mummy cake pops for Halloween, or festive Christmas tree or ornament cake pops. So, let’s dive in!
Cake pops are a fun and easy treat to make and are great for all sorts of occasions. Be it birthdays, parties, or just because. With a few ingredients and little to no extra tools outside of what you should already have in your kitchen, you can have delicious cake pops in about an hour or two.
To start off, you will want to decide how many cake pops you wish to make. Most store-bought cake mix boxes will make between twenty-four to twenty-six cake pops, sometimes more or less, depending on how big you plan to make the pops. On the other hand, if you make a homemade cake, it may yield about the same number of pops as a box mix, but it will vary depending on the recipe used and how big/small you decide to make them. For the purpose of this, we will go over how-to instructions based on the use of box mix.
Next, you want to determine what flavor of cake pop you want to make and what flavor and color you want for the chocolate coating. Regarding cake flavors, your choices may be restricted to what the store offers. However, purchasing a basic white cake mix allows you the flexibility to add flavor extracts and craft a unique taste. For the chocolate coating, there are choices like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. There are also melting wafers that most bakers use for this part, and they come in an assortment of colors and are typically chocolate or vanilla flavored. Now if you want something less traditional, or maybe you or whoever will be eating it is not a fan of chocolate, there are options such as Almond Bark that work as an alternative and taste good. Regarding color, if you’re looking for a vibrant option, melting wafers are convenient as they come pre-colored. Otherwise, you would need to use white chocolate or the Almond Bark and get some oil-based food dye, as anything water-based will cause the chocolate to “seize up”, or get hard and clumpy, and make it unusable.
After that, you will want to figure out if you want to make just basic cake pops, or if you want to add a design. There are plenty of design elements to choose from, the only limit is your imagination (and maybe your cake pop making experience). It can be as simple or as elaborate as you would like, ranging from just adding some chocolate stripes, or adding some sprinkles, or even using two colors of chocolate and making a marble effect. For this though, we will stick with basic.
Next up is gathering your ingredients. Stuff like eggs and oil are usually already in your home, maybe even the cake mix. You will need to pick up whatever melting chocolate you decide to use as well as some lollipop sticks, which if you go to Walmart, you will typically find in the aisle with all the extra baking supplies outside of the normal cooking/baking aisle. If you are going to color your chocolate, you may find oil-based colors at the store, but you will have better luck looking at specialty stores like Michael’s or purchasing some from Amazon. From there, pick up any extras you want to add, like sprinkles, or candy eyes, or whatever you want to add. You will also want to pick up some frosting as a binding agent for when you go to shape your cake pops. Any flavor will do. (Optional: If you so choose, you can also pick up a melting pot for the chocolate. Makes it easier to melt the chocolate and keep it a perfect thin consistency when you get to that step in the process. I recommend this Wilton Candy and Chocolate Melting Pot if you go this route.)
Once you have all of your supplies together, it’s time to start baking! First things first, follow the instructions on the cake mix you chose to make your cake. Ensure your oven is preheating as you combine the ingredients. (Tip: Since the cake will be crumbled later, if you’re impatient like I am, opt for a larger, shallower pan, such as a baking sheet, to speed up the cooking process.)
Once the cake is done cooking, while it is still warm, take the cake and use either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, if you have either of those, to crumble the cake. If you do not have either of those, you can use your hands to crumble it, though you may want to let the cake cool down first if you go that route. Once the cake is well mixed together, you want to check if it can form a ball shape (or if you are doing a different shape, just check to see that it will hold a shape in general). You want the cake to have an almost dough-ish texture, like playdough. If you were able to mix it while it was still fresh out of the oven, it should have that consistency without adding anything. If it does not, or you had to mix it after it cooled, take about a spoonful of frosting and mix it into the cake. Feel free to add more frosting in small increments until you reach the desired consistency. Once you get it to that playdough, or almost playdough, consistency, start scooping about a tablespoon worth of the mix and hand rolling the mix into a ball (or whatever shape you desire) and place them on a non-stick surface. A plate or pan lined with parchment paper works best. Go ahead and pop these into the fridge while doing the next step.
Once you have all your cake pop balls rolled out and ready go ahead and get the chocolate melted. If you have decided on getting yourself a melting pot, go ahead and take about half of your chocolate, put it into the pot and get it heating up. Melting pots typically feature both a high and a warm setting. Begin with the high setting to melt your chocolate, then switch to the warm setting to keep it melted without burning, especially when working with delicate substances like chocolate. An affordable and effective alternative is a double boiler, which requires just a standard pot and a compatible metal bowl. For those interested in this method, I recommend this Boiler Pot Melting Bowl available on Amazon as it sits in the pot without you having to hold it while you work with the chocolate. If you did not opt for a melting pot (trust me, it’s worth it) or the double boiler, you can use either a glass bowl or one of those old Chinese take-out plastic soup cups (I know you have one) and put, again, about half of your chocolate into it. Then put it in the microwave and heat up the chocolate in twenty-second intervals, taking it out each time and stirring the chocolate until it is nice and runny.
Once your chocolate is melted and ready, go ahead and pull the cake pop balls back out of the fridge and grab your lollipop sticks. Next, take a lollipop stick, one at a time, and dip it about an inch into your melted chocolate, and then stick the end with the chocolate into your cake pop ball. Repeat with each ball until they all have a stick. You will have a bit of chocolate in a ring around the stick where it is sticking out, that’s what you want. Once you have a stick in each cake pop ball, put them back in the fridge for about five to ten minutes to allow the chocolate to harden, so that the ball stays on the stick when you go to dip them.
Once the chocolate has had a few minutes to harden, pull it back out of the fridge and allow about three to five minutes for the cake pop to come somewhat to room temperature. Otherwise, as the chocolate hardens on the cake pops after dipping, you run the risk of the chocolate cracking (if it’s just for you, or you don’t care about how it looks, then you can skip this part and go straight to dipping). While they come to room temp, check your chocolate to see if it is still a runny consistency. If it has started to thicken, go ahead and reheat the chocolate the same way you did previously. If it was with the melting pot, it really shouldn’t have thickened up, but you can always put it back on high heat until it thins back out. If you use the microwave, heat it in twenty-second increments again until it gets back to the right consistency.
Once that is done, take your pops by the stick and, one by one, dip them into the melted chocolate, completely submerging them to cover the full surface of the cake, then give a little twirl and pull the cake pop straight back out. Then, very gently so as to not knock the cake off the stick, keep the cake pop over your chocolate and spin the stick of the cake pop with one hand while tapping (again, very gently) the stick with the other hand to remove excess chocolate from the pop. Once it stops dripping a lot of chocolate, go ahead and place the cake pop either back upside-down on the parchment, or if you have an old egg carton, you can use it as a stand. (Just make sure to pre-poke the holes into it so you don’t jar the cake pop too much attempting to poke new holes into it). Repeat with each cake pop until they are all coated. If you plan to decorate with anything that would need to stick to the cake pop, such as sprinkles, go ahead and add them to the cake pop while the chocolate is still setting. Afterwards, you can leave them on the counter or put them in the fridge to allow time for the chocolate to harden, usually about twenty minutes is all they need.
Once you have all your cake pops dipped and set to dry, you’re all done! You can decorate them to your heart’s content or just leave them as is and start enjoying. As mentioned previously, depending on how big you decide to make them, you should have between twenty-four and twenty-six, give or take a few. In conclusion, making cake pops is a delightful and straightforward process that allows for creativity and customization. From selecting your cake mix and flavor combinations to rolling, dipping, and decorating, each step contributes to creating these fun treats. Whether you opt for classic flavors or experiment with vibrant coatings and designs, the joy of crafting cake pops is in the details. Once you’ve mastered the basics, the possibilities are endless, making them perfect for any occasion. So, gather your ingredients, unleash your imagination, and enjoy the sweet satisfaction of sharing your homemade cake pops with friends and family.
Should you decide to try making cake pops after reading this, or if you’re interested in seeing some of my cake pop recipes, please leave a comment and share your creations or the type of recipe(s) you’re interested in! That concludes my post for this week, but remember to return next week for my next update. As always, happy baking!
~Kaity