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One of my favorite Pinterest projects from this summer was Cake Pops. These little gems are moist and cute and yummy! I read tutorials on lot’s of different blogs, but the easiest to follow was from The Pioneer Woman. I was honestly surprised at how easy they were to make, but I did learn a few things along the way.
I didn’t think to take pictures until part way into the process so you are going to have to use your imagination a bit. The first step is to bake a cake. Any kind (I’ve done gluten free and regular and they both work well.) you like. Bake it as a sheet cake because that is easy and only uses one pan. Let it cool over night. Then cut the cake into 1/4’s and crumble it all into a large mixing bowl. Use forks to break up the big pieces because those will make your ball look lumpy. (And we don’t like lumpy balls!) Combine the cake crumbs with 3/4 of a container of store bought (gasp) vanilla frosting. I used a spatula to mix it all together completely.
Next, use a Tablespoon measuring spoon to portion out the filling. The girls loved this part of the process. It was a bit like making playdoh balls. We rolled them in our hands and put them onto plates. After every 5 or 6 balls we rolled we needed to wash and dry our hands completely or they would be too sticky to make nice balls. As you fill a plate put it into the freezer to let the balls set up.
After all the balls have been made it is time to melt the coating. The first time I made these cake pops I used chocolate chips for the coating. The second time I used Wilton’s candy melts and they set up much easier. Not sure if it was because of the temperature of my kitchen, the humidity of the day or my patience level! To make the coating a bit thinner I added a tablespoon or two of shortening. I did all of this in a cute mini crock pot I have. It can also be done in a double boiler or in the microwave. (It’s very important to make sure your vessel is deep enough to completely submerge the pop.) Dip the sticks in the coating before sticking them into the frozen balls. By the time you do this to the whole plate of balls the first ones should be set.
Here is the hard part. Submerge the cake pop in your coating. Tap the stick on the side of your vessel to smooth out the coating and let the excess drip off. This is where I lost quite a few pops the first time I made them. No worries, though, because my helpers were more than willing to make sure they didn’t go to waste. (You can tell by the chocolate on their faces!) Add sprinkles before the coating dries.
I found blocks of styrofoam easiest to hold these little beauties up. I tried to get fancy the first time by putting them into cute little paint cans. They did NOT like being suspended at such odd angles. If you want to keep them on the stick I don’t recommend this. (I also don’t recommend the 45 minute drive to the party they had to endure too. Good thing Mr. Fun has excellent balance!)