Valentine Cake Pops with Sara

A very special little girl (she’s really like a niece to me) asked if I would help her make something to take to school for Valentine’s Day.  After some emails back and forth, pictures, ideas and careful planning, she decided she would go with Cake Pops.  We actually made over 40 Cake Pops and most of them round and decorated with sprinkles, but don’t ask my WHY I don’t have any pictures of them!?

I did however take pictures of the very pretty heart shaped pops.

(To make the Cake Pops see instructions at the bottom of this post.)

 

Some of the chocolate cake pops before and after being coated with melted candy coating.

and my only picture of a round one

Here’s my little helper Sara.

and her mother Rosemary.

(I can safely say that we all looked a little fresher when the night began.)

I heard the cake pops were a huge hit with her classmates and teacher.

Good job Sara!

Basic Cake Pops

1 box of your favorite cake mix (1 cake should yield about 48 pops)

1 can of your favorite icing

8” lollipop sticks

Candy coating for melting

Sprinkles, candies, any candy decorations you like

Styrofoam brick or small box to hold sticks

Bake your cake according to directions in a single rectangle or oval pan, (no need to make two cakes)

Let cake cool.  Crumble cake into crumbs in a large bowl.

Add 3/4 of the container of frosting to the cake crumbs. I prefer not to use the whipped frosting as its just too soft.

Mix it all up then roll into balls about the diameter of a quarter. If you make them too big they’ll be too heavy and will fall off the stick when you try to dip them later.  Refrigerate for about an hour.  Take out a few at a time and work with them.  If the balls get too soft they’ll fall off the stick when you try to work with them.

Melt your candy melts in a deep bowl. I like to use a mug. Fill the mug 3/4 full. Microwave first about 1 minute. Stir and then microwave for 20 seconds at a time until completely melted. Do NOT over heat the candy, it turns into something completely different!! lol

Dip your lollipop sticks in the melted candy about 1/2 inch then stick into the cake ball.  Insert stick only about half way in.  Let it sit and dry, do all your cake pops the same.

 

Dip the cold cake pops into the melted candy. Dip straight down until you hit the stick and then quickly pull out. Tap the stick lightly on the edge of the bowl to shake excess off.  Keep twirling the cake pop until all the candy either drips off into the bowl or spreads evenly. Turn upright when dripping stops and stick into the Styrofoam to dry.

There are oodles of shapes, characters, colors and themes to try.  If you’re interested in making these you might want to invest in Bakerella’s Cake Pop book.

She really is a creative genius.

We all had a great time making the cake pops for Sara’s class.  They all realized that they really aren’t as easy as they look. But what a fun night! Thanks Sara, Rosemary, Peter, Mario and of course Robert (who so selflessly consumed all our reject pops), thanks Robert, it was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it.

All the work was worth this smile!