How to Make Perfect Cake Pops: Part 2- Recipe & Instructions

Step 1: Make cake according to directions on package, but with alterations listed above. Bake in 9″ x 13″ pan. Allow to cool completely.

Step 2: After the cake is cooled, don’t just crumble it up. First, cut off the edges. Scrape off a very thin layer of the top. Then crumble it up very well.

Step 3: Make the frosting.
1. Set out cream cheese and butter and allow it to warm to room temperature.
2. Sift the powdered sugar.
3. Cream together room tempature cream cheese and butter. Scrape down bowl and make sure there are absolutely no lumps.
4. Melt chocolate in microwave- 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Microwave in additional 15 second increments, stirring every time, until melted. Do NOT overheat. Allow to cool slightly.
5. Add melted chocolate and vanilla to cream cheese and butter. Mix well.
6. Add sugar gradually, beating well, until light and fluffy after each addition. Add sugar to desired sweetness; may not use all of the sugar.

***Note that you can make the frosting ahead of time and chill or freeze it until you want to use it. When you need to use it, pull it out, place in mixer, and give it a quick whip (add a tablespoon of milk if needed).
***If you end up using store-bought frosting, you can make it a bit better. Mix in a teaspoon or so of good-quality vanilla extract; whip them together well. Trust me, you would not believe the difference. Doesn’t quite taste homemade, but it’s better.

Step 4: Make the cake balls
Mix approximately 1/2 cup of frosting into entire crumbled cake (sides and top removed). See texture above.

To form: scoop up enough mix to make 1″ ball, squash it together, then roll the ball back and forth between your hands. This will do a few things:
• If your mix doesn’t have enough frosting to hold it together, the rolling will cause it to crumble apart.
• Makes a perfectly round shape.
• Provides a very smooth outside for dipping.

Place in refrigerator for at least two hours.

Before we start the next step, a little recommendation: always have a dry towel and a wet (wrung out) washcloth close at hand. You’re going to wiping chocolate or drying hands a lot!

Side note: I’ve done extensive testing, and I suggest either Merkens or Wilton chocolate. If you use Wilton, you’re going to want paramount crystals to thin them out.
>>>>Click here to check Merkens prices!<<<<
>>>>Click here to check out Wilton prices and color options!<<<<
>>>>Click here to check out paramount crystals.<<<<

Step 5: Melt the chocolate. A microwave works perfectly fine, you don’t need a double-boiler. In fact, along with being more time consuming, you are more likely to get moisture in the chocolate.
Heat for 30 sec. at 50% power. Stir well. Even if nothing looks melted, stir the wafers.
• Continue to heat at 30 second increments, always 50% power, until chocolate melted. Stir well between each heating cycle. Feel free to stir and let it sit a minute or so, then stir even more. You would not believe how much the chocolate will melt as you stir (as the heat gets distributed). Always error on the side of waiting a bit before another heating cycle.
• After the chocolate is mostly melted, dump in another handful of wafers. Stir them in, using the heat already in the chocolate and bowl to melt them. Keep stirring…they will melt. If necessary, heat 10 seconds at 50% power.
• Do NOT overheat. It is a bit counter-intuitive: normally if you heat something up, it becomes runnier. However, with this, if you heat it too long, it scorches, clumps, and becomes less runny. Chocolate scorches very easily.

Step 6: Remove the cake pops from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes. This both lets them warm up slightly and lets the chocolate cool slightly. A large temperature differential is the #1 reason for cake pops cracking.  On the other hand, if they’re too warm, they’ll want to fall off the stick or fall apart.

Step 7: Dipping cake pops. I normally use the “twist/roll” method. See “Part 1: Questions and Answers” if you want to look at other methods of dipping cake pops.

Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.This method is the one that has worked best for me. (I sometimes have to drizzle down near the lollipop stick, but the rotate method is your best bet.)

Step 8: Decorate! I know some people serve them with just the perfect coating. But decorating is a lifesaver. Well, cake pop-saver. It covers up any slight problems with the coating. (See above for decorating pictures I’ve done and Bakerella link.)

Some tips:

• If making cake pops- place in a cake pop stand or stab in styrofoam while they are drying. I’ve seen using a metal strainer (flipped upside down), but my cake pops don’t stick well in mine. Another option is simply setting them on parchment paper (with the stick sticking in the air). If you’re going to do that, you might as well just make cake bites (in my opinion).
• If you’re doing sprinkles, you’ll want to (obviously) sprinkle while they are still wet.
• If you’re sticking on eyes, noses, ears, legs- either stick on while they are still wet (best option) or use a little extra chocolate to make them stick.
• Using gels to decorate are great, but often don’t dry, meaning you need to be careful after they are decorated.
• If drizzling more chocolate, wait for the base coat to dry first. Drizzling is GREAT because any slight bumps or cracks can be easily covered up. For drizzling, Wilton makes small plastic bags you can put the chips in and melt in the microwave (the bag is microwave safe). This is by far the easiest method.

Ideas:

• Sprinkles- glitter, plain, little circular sprinkles, go crazy.
• Make “creatures”- mummies, spiders, frankenstein, spiders, pumpkins, vampires, turkeys, Sesame street characters, yoda, zoo animals, smiley faces, etc.
• Drizzle chocolate of a contrasting color.
• Make dots of a contrasting color.
• Cake crumbs sprinkled on the wet chocolate before it dries.
• Drizzle chocolate and while still wet, sprinkle glitter.
• Coconut or cookie crumbles sprinkled on wet chocolate before it dries.