Cake Pops for Alec

I made cake pops for Alec's birthday party this weekend.  They were so much fun but the various blogs and you tube videos I consulted weren't kidding, they can be tricky.  I decided to go with a cake mix instead of making the cake from scratch for my first try.  I wanted to give myself the best chance for a successful outcome. 

Here is what you need:

Baked cake (I used 2-9 oz. cake boxes) which I baked the day before & stored in the fridge
Frosting
Candy Melts or melted chocolate
Pop sticks
Something to put your pops in when you're done.  My dad made me these cute wooden stands that he drilled holes in.

Crumble the cake, add the frosting and mix.  Some blogs I visited called for up to two cups of frosting.  I decided to start with a smaller amount of frosting and work my way up.  I think I ended up with about 3/4 to 1 cup of frosting for the entire two cakes.  What you want is enough frosting in the cake mixture to be able to form balls with the palm of your hands but not too much frosting to where they won't hold there shape.

If you want your pops to be uniform in size, use a tablespoon measure.  I used two tablespoons of cake mixture for each pop.  This yielded 32 medium-sized cake balls.  Just scoop out the cake mixture one tablespoon at a time, roll it in your palms to form a ball.  You can use gloves or grease up your hands to prevent the mix from sticking to your hands.  I just washed my hands after a few cake balls to start with a clean slate.

Place the cake balls as you are forming them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt your candy melts following the package instructions.  I used the whole bag of melts.

Take the cake balls out of the fridge, dip the sticks about 1/2 inch into the melted candy and stick it into the cake ball about half way.

Important step: Once you have put the pop sticks in each of the cake balls, put them in the freezer for about 45 minutes.  Do not skip this step or you will end up with cake pop drama like this:

Here are the cake pops, happily frozen and firm enough to withstand the dip in the hot tub of melted candy.

Ta-da!!!  Cake Pops!!!

So, they are not as smooth as the ones Bakerella makes.  I was having a lot of issues using the Candy Melts.  It just never got runny enough for me to be able to submerge the pops.  I even resorted to keeping the melted candy on a double boiler while I dipped.  The only thing I could manage was dipping them in about half way then coating the rest of each with a wooden spoon.   I think they worked out pretty well for my first try.  What do you think?

Alec was pretty pleased with them too!

Sources: Bakerella, and Bakerella's video,  The Kitchn,  Yoyomax12 video, Wilton

More on Alec's Yo Gaba Gaba party later.

Happy Birthday, Alec.  I love you!

XOX
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