Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.
Partying on with the 4th Birthday Party Extravaganza for Little Miss. She asked, rather sweetly I might add, to have cake pops for her family birthday party. Now, cake pops are one confectionary delight I have yet to tackle. So, I have made a conscious (and perhaps humble) choice to share with you the lessons I’ve learned from my first attempt at cake pops. They may not have been the most beautiful to behold, but they were actually pretty easy and I think tasted pretty good too! With a little more practice (which makes the kids VERY happy) I’m certain my cake pops will achieve Pinworthy Perfection.
Ingredients:
1 Box of Cake Mix
1-2 Spoonfuls of Icing
4-6 squares of Chocolate Candy Coating
Cake Pop Sticks
Sprinkles (if desired)
Directions:
(1) Follow the directions on the box for the cake (yep, start easy, use a box). I decided to use half the batter for one tray of cupcakes and baked the other half in a 9″ round pan.
(2) Once baked and impatient to let it cool, I popped it out of the pan and into a bowl.
(3) Use a fork, or your hands, to mash the cake until it is broken up and crumbly (don’t go too crazy with this step). Here is how mine looked.
(4) Add 1-2 spoonfuls of icing. Cake mixes I’ll totally use, but icing-nope-that MUST be homemade. (Link to the icing coming soon!) Mix the icing up until the whole thing has a nice, moist, crumbly texture.
Pro Tip: Don’t add too much icing! You don’t want your cake pops to taste like someone spit on them. Eewww.
(5) Use a small scoop or your hands to roll the mixture into fairly compact balls about 1″ in diameter.
Pro Tip: Don’t let them get too loose or they won’t hold the stick. As you finish each, lay them out on a baking sheet. As you can tell, half the batter will make about 17 (minus the ones darling hubby popped into his mouth as he walked by…)
(6) Grab your sticks and melt the chocolate candy coating in the microwave at 15 second intervals until melted.
Pro Tip: don’t let the chocolate go too long in the microwave, it will end up a gross, ganky mess.
(7) Put the tip of the stick into the melted chocolate and insert about halfway into each ball. This will help the stick stay put inside the ball.
(8) Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes to set. I used this time to frost some super pink cupcake because after all girl+4 years=all things pink.
(9) Once they are firm, remove them from the freezer and melt the chocolate.
Pro Tip: use a narrow, tall dish so the chocolate will easily cover the pop without having to twirl it around.
(10) Before the chocolate dries, add sprinkles.
Do not try to roll it in the sprinkles! You will just make a gooey, sprinkled mess. Rather, launch the sprinkles sporadically with one hand while dodging the small hands trying to grab it with the other. It’s a miracle any at all hit their mark.
(11) Find something (preferably Styrofoam) that will allow the cake pops to dry upright. In the picture, you will clearly see- no Styrofoam to be found at my house!
(12) Enjoy and share with someone you love!
We are really so blessed to have such a close family. Including family willing to pack themselves into a car, after many long days of commuting to work during the week, over their weekend to see Little Miss for her 4th birthday. Along with so many others who show up with barely a weeks notice to celebrate and put a giant smile on a little girl’s face. Thank you all so very much!
We really had great Smiles and Sundays!
~Leanne
Find me on: Web
Everyone should be on the lookout for the upcoming post for the frosting recipe! It was delicious!!!!
It was a joy helping to celebrate my great granddaughters 4th.
Sooo much fun!!! Those cake pops rock! I thought I was at Starbucks for a moment.