Holiday Cake Pops

 














This past Christmas I felt like being an overachiever and really diversify the cookies and desserts I was bringing to my family celebrations. I figured if I wasn't making most of the food--my grandma still cooks EVERYTHING for Christmas and all of our celebrations, and its soooo good--I would step it up in terms of desserts. So I decided to make cake pops. I had been wanting to make cake pops for a while but hadn't had the time. I found a cake pop tutorial on Pinterest (did I mention that I LOVE Pinterest?? But then again, who doesn't?) and thought it would be a good time to make some Christmas themed cake pops. It looked simple enough. Here is "Decorate This" cake pop tutorial. It was really helpful to know the mistakes that most first timers make so that I could prevent it from happening to my pops. And of course making cake pops wouldn't be complete without consulting the Queen Bee of cake pops -- Bakerella. I decided to make several variations of cake pops and their recipes are below.


Ingredients

Red Velvet Cake Pops (original recipe via Bakerella)

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) -- I used Duncan Hines
1 package of semi sweet chocolate chips -- I used Toll House
colored melting chocolates (available at Michael's in like every color)

For the white chocolate coating variation I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips.  

Chocolate Cake Pops (original recipe via BHG)

1 box chocolate cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can triple chocolate frosting (16 oz.) -- I used Duncan Hines
1 package of semi sweet chocolate chips -- I used Toll House
colored melting chocolates (available at Michael's in like every color)

For the white chocolate coating variation I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips.   

Tools


lollipop sticks (you can get these at Michael's)
wax paper
a couple blocks of styrofoam (I got them from Michael's but I'm sure you can find them somewhere else for cheaper)

Preparation

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix in enough frosting so that the cake holds together when squeezed. You should be able to roll a firm ball that holds its shape. I tend to add a different amount of frosting depending on what recipe I use; add slowly and test the consistency frequently. (Bakerella says that it may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but it was VERY messy and not that effective. I did the second batch with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and the paddle attachment and it worked perfect.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet with wax paper. (It will make A LOT of cake balls--about 45-50.)
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes. (Bakerella recommends several hours but I didn't really have the patience. You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt a small amount of chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Dip the lollipop sticks in the chocolate (about 1/2") and then place in the center of the chilled cake ball. Stick at least half-way into cake ball and make sure you don't poke all the way through! (This is where the cake pop tutorial I linked above was very helpful.)
7. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm around the lollipop stick.
8. Melt your chocolate--depending on your bowl make sure that you melt enough chocolate so that you can submerge the entire cake pop without tilting the bowl, and without hitting the bottom.
9. Dip cake pop into chocolate, so that it is completely submerged. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT: make sure to cover the chocolate around the lollipop stick! It's really important that the entire cake ball is covered with chocolate - otherwise, the cake will escape from any and every tiny hole in the chocolate. (Not pretty!)
10. Once removed from the chocolate, excess coating will start dripping off of the pop. Hold the cake pop in one hand, and gently tap your hand to help remove excess coating, turning the pop as you go so the excess will come off evenly. (Don't tap too hard or your cake pop will start falling off the stick--this happened to me a couple of times.)  
11. When you have no drips left, hold cake pop upside down for a few seconds to allow coating to dry a bit before inverting. Invert cake pop, and place in your stand to dry completely. (I put mine in the fridge again to harden up so I could decorate.)
12. Get a couple disposable plastic baggies and use one for each color of melting chocolates to decorate. Stick the baggies in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted. If there are a couple bumps just smooth them out by squeezing the bag a bit. Twist the bag and cut a small hole in one of the bottom corners of the baggy. Now just drizzle the colored chocolate over the pops while in the stands and put back in the fridge to harden. And--viola!