Recipe: Cake Pops – Cake on a Stick
25 Apr
About a week ago, I found myself at Starbucks for a late afternoon caffeine fix, when my sleepy eyes dawned on the light pink cake pops in the display window. I thought about buying one. Then I started to think, I wonder if they’re hard to make?
After a rigorous internet search, I decided to give it a try, since they didn’t seem too difficult. As many of you know, Bakerella makes all sorts of creative cake pops, from Hello Kitty shaped ones to miniature wedding cake pops! While cake pops are not anything new, she is largely responsible for making them popular.
It’s a good thing, because when you roll cake into balls and place it on a lollipop stick, it goes from good to absolutely amazing!
I decided to make chocolate and vanilla cake pops for my friend Joe’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Joe!). A few days before, my sister and I baked a test batch so I shared with some coworkers. The response I got was overwhelming. Some people said they were too pretty to eat (but ate them after I walked away – can’t blame ‘em 
); while others commented on how pleasantly surprised they were at the moistness of the cake.
Recipe: Cake Pops – Cake on a Stick
Adapted from Bakerella
Makes 45-50 cake pops
Note: Chocolate bark is also known as confectionery coating that melt and dry quickly, similar to the chocolate shell you would see in a Godiva chocolate box. Do NOT melt regular chocolate, as it will not have the same shiny coating or taste.
Chocolate bark, lollipop sticks, wrappers, sprinkles, coconut flakes, styrofoam board were all purchased at a cake supply store in NYC. However, they are also available Michael’s.
Ingredients:
1 box of devil’s food cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can (or less) of cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package of milk chocolate bark (in yellow and blue) aka confectionery coating chocolate
1 package of dark chocolate bark aka confectionery coating chocolate
50 lollipop sticks
50 candy Wrappers
50 ribbons for tying
1 container of small sprinkles
1 packet of dried coconut flakes
Scissors
Wax paper or Silpat Mat
A styrofoam board
Procedure:
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. It may be easier to use a stand mixer, if available. (I used a little bit less frosting to avoid super duper sweetness.) The cake consistency should look like brownies.
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge, uncovered.
4. Melt about 5-6 pieces of chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, over 70% power. Mix until smooth. If necessary, pop in the microwave again for 10 seconds until there are no lumps. It is possible for the chocolate to burn and turn dark brown, so make sure you microwave over medium heat. (These chocolates are not cheap!)
5. Take cookie balls out of the fridge. Add a small amount of chocolate to the end of the lollipop stick.
6. Insert lollipop stick about halfway in. Pop the new cookie sheet, with the sticks attached, back in the fridge for another 20 minutes. This will help firm up the cake and make it 10 times easier for you to coat your chocolate.
7. Reheat your chocolate, as it would have hardened by now. Use a spoon to coat the entire ball in chocolate, rotating the lollipop stick and tapping off the extra. Immediately, over a separate bowl, add sprinkles or coconut, before it dries. You seriously have a 30 second window before this happens, so be quick!
8. Cover a piece of Styrofoam with plastic wrap and let them cake pops dry on it. Once it’s completely dry, wrap with lollipop cover and tie ribbon to the ends. If you have any leftover, store at room temperature.
When the day of the party finally rolled around, I was running around like a mad woman, trying to coat, decorate, wrap, and tie ribbons on about 30 cake pops in 30 minutes. Dan and I actually missed the “surprise!” entrance cuz Dan so wisely said they shouldn’t “waste the good surprise on us.” So we waited to enter the party after making sure Joe beat us there. Many many thanks to seester and Dan for helping me make these under such time constraints!
In the past week, I think we made close to 80 cake pops. I finally ate one today for the very first time, and I must say, they were quite yummy! Though I do have some chocolate and cake left, I don’t think I’ll be making these for a while. Unless someone wants to place an order, that is. =)
