Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Cake Pops

Ahhhhh, the cake pop. I have to admit I was never crazy about them and couldn't understand how mashed up cake and buttercream rolled together in a gooey ball could become so popular ,but it has, and I knew there would come a day when I would be asked to make them.
Well, that day has come , I have been not only asked, but begged to make cake pops. The culprit, my almost 3 year old son. Apparently he had one at Starbucks a few months ago and it really left an impression.
So for all of you who have avoided the cake pop trend, I'll take you though the steps so you can be prepared when you are begged to make them by someone too cute to resist.

As much as I dislike the cake pop, I have found some good qualities in them. Not only do they make my son quite happy, they use up my shaved off cake tops and left over buttercream so that I won't make them my 4th meal of the day.

I started by crushing up my left over cake top into a bowl and adding about 1/3 of a cup of buttercream.

I mixed it well and rolled it into balls.Then I placed the balls in the refrigerator for a few hours. You can speed this process up by placing them in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Next I melted some Wilton Candy Melts according to the microwave method on the package and dipped my cake pop stick in to coat the tip.


Insert the coated tip into the cake ball and return to the refrigerator or freezer for about 5 minutes.

Now your cake pop should look like this  ( or much better ) .


Dip the cake pop in the melted chocolate straight in.


The next step is very important ! Do not drag or swirl your cake pop, it can crumble and break away from the stick. 
Gently roll the cake pop in a clockwise or counter clockwise motion to coat.


Remove and you can roll them in sprinkles or decorate as you choose.
Seeing as this was my first cake pop experience I did none of that. You can also see in my finished product swirls of chocolate...those shouldn't be there. I didn't have my chocolate melted thin enough, next time I will melt better and work faster to avoid this. Just a tip to learn from my mistake.

I used a Styrofoam block as a drying station/ stand, this worked well.


I have to admit, being the cake pop hater that I am, cake pops truly are an art. They take a little practice but due to their overwhelming popularity it's worth it.
These lasted 1 day in our house so I'd say they were a hit. Looks like I'll be forced to enter the cake pop craze and make them again, and again, and again.

Enjoy!

... and please feel free to share any helpful hints you many have on cake~pops with me. I need all the help I can get .
After watching some Youtube tutorials I have decided to purchase " Cake Pops by Bakerella"

...she makes it look so easy! Stay tuned for new cake pop adventures .