Cake pops are nothing new, and in fact you've probably indulged in this very flavor at your local Starbucks, but I knew it would be a tasty addition to my holiday dessert assortment nonetheless. Most cake pop recipes call for entirely prepackaged ingredients: cake mix, store bought frosting and candy melts, along with your choice of decoration (I chose simple, understated red sprinkles). And while I appreciated the convenient shortcuts considering all the other holiday baking on my to-do list, being an avid supporter of the homemade prompted me to make at least one component of this recipe from scratch. So rather than buy a can of cream cheese frosting, that I opted to make myself while the cake was baking, if only for my own sense of satisfaction. I was also eager to apply some new techniques I had read about which vastly improved my cake pop making experience versus the first time I tried my hand at these laborious treats. I will share these valuable tips with you now:
1.)Prepare the cake balls one day ahead and refrigerate overnight. This will help immensely as they will stay intact much better when coating them in the candy melts the next day.
2.) When coating the cake balls in the melted candy, it is of utmost importance to only dip once, then use a spatula, spoon or toothpick to aid in spreading the coating evenly, rather than swishing the cake ball through the thick mixture. I learned the hard way my first time around that this causes the lollipop stick to slip out of the hole, the hole grows larger and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the cake ball on the stick. The less manipulation the better (and the less frustration for you, believe me.)
3.) A block of styrofoam (easily found at your local craft store) is the secret to a perfectly round cake pop so that you don't have to place the cake pops face down on a hard surface as they dry, resulting in a flat-topped cake pop. Use one of the lollipop sticks to poke holes in the styrofoam roughly two inches apart in advance, so that your cake pops will easily slide into the holes after they have been coated.
makes 30-40 cake pops
Ingredients
1 box red velvet cake mix, cooked as directed on box and cooled to room temperature
1 16 oz. can cream cheese frosting (or made from scratch, as I opted to do)
30-40 lollipop sticks
36 oz white candy melts
decorative sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl and combine thoroughly with frosting.
2. Use a mini scooper to scoop evenly sized portions of cake mixture. roll into balls using hands and lay on a cookie sheet. Chill in refrigerator overnight.
3. Melt candy according to package instructions. Insert a lollipop stick into each cake ball and coat completely in the melted candy, wiping off excess. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired, and stand cake pops in styrofoam block until firm.
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