I have to admit I was a little scared going into this week. I thought that this would be my first Pinterest Fail on Foster, but it actually turned out quite successful. Cake pops, despite being kind of time consuming, are really fun to make and everyone seems to love them. They can be customized for any holiday and are much easier to eat than a piece of cake when you’re on the go (perfect for bake sales like our upcoming She’s The First Cupcake Bake Sale!). So if you want to know how I baked up some delicious cake pops, then keep on reading!
This Week: Halloween Cake Pops (courtesy of Stagetecture)
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The Cake
Ingredients
Now this is where the time consuming part comes in. You have to bake a cake before you even start thinking about the cake pops. A lot of websites give you instructions to bake a cake from scratch or to add things to a boxed cake mix, but plain boxed cake mix worked just fine for me. Follow the instructions on the back of the box to make your cake.
Baking the Cake
Anyone who has ever baked a cake before has got this part down pat. I made the cake the night before, which I thought made the cake pop part more fun because I wasn’t stuck in the kitchen for two hours straight.
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Cake Pop Time
Ingredients
I did not have any of the ingredients for the assembly of the cake pops at home, so I just stopped by a local craft store and picked them up.
What you need:
- 1 can of frosting (any flavor)
- Popsicle sticks (I couldn’t find any, so I just brought Halloween colored straws, but make sure they are strong enough to hold the cake on top without breaking or bending)
- Melting candy (I used white and orange, but they come in all different colors)
- Writing Frosting (I just chose a black one, but again there are a variety of colors to pick from)
Assembly
1. First, you need to crumble up the cake into fine pieces in a bowl.
2. Next, use about half the can of frosting (or less) and mix that in with the pieces of cake. Make sure not to add too much frosting because the pops won’t hold up as well. I used about 3-4 spoonfuls on frosting.
3. Once the frosting and the cake are mixed together, grab a handful of the mix and roll it into a ball (a lot of the sites say use a mini ice cream scooper, but that is unnecessary). The ball should be a little smaller than a golf ball – remember it needs to be small enough to go on top of the stick.
4. Place the ball on a plate (you do not need to lay down wax paper).
5. Take your candy melts and put them into a cup. Place in microwave for 1 minute (don’t use a shallow bowl – the cup is easier when it comes to dunking the pop). Take out, stir, and put back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Be careful not to overcook the candy melts because they will burn and turn brown.
6. Take one of the sticks or straws, whichever you have, and dip it into the candy melts (which should be melted down into a thick liquid). Insert the straw into the cake ball.
7. Once all the straws are in the cake balls, put them into the freezer for 20–30 minutes. Make sure you don’t take them out too soon because they will fall apart when you dip them if you do.
8. Take the cake pops out of the freezer and dunk them into the same cup of melting candy you used to dunk your straw in. You might need to heat it up again if the candy started to harden in the cup. Turn the pop to make sure all the cake is covered.
9. Place the pop in a cup, cake side up, to dry. If you want to put sprinkles on your pop, now is the time to do so. Make sure the pops don’t touch though because they will stick together.
10. Once dry, you can add the writing frosting to them. Just follow the instructions on the back of the writing frosting to see what to do.
Ta-Da! You have beautiful and festive cake pops. Enjoy!
Final Product
Time Spent in the Kitchen: Over two hours
Rating: 8
Yes, this treat is very time consuming, but it’s worth it if you want to make an event or a birthday extra special. Everyone in my house loved these! So much so, that I’ll probably be making ones for Thanksgiving as well. Tune in next week to see what I cook up next.
Peace, Love, and Pinterest
-Katherine