A few weeks ago I posted cake balls in the form of chocolate covered strawberries, but nothing can quite beat the cuteness of a cake ball on a stick – aka the cake pop. I made a batch of white cake pops with pink stripes for my blog banner a few years ago, but since I only made them for color-coordinating decoration purposes, I never wrote a post dedicated to them. Recently I’ve received a number of emails inquiring about the cake pops, so I re-created them for this post and brought them to a friend’s bachelorette party which worked out perfectly since her wedding color is fuchsia too :).
Since I still haven’t gotten around to investing in a large block of styrofoam to dry my pops, I’ve made these stand upside-down. But they still have a handle, and that’s the best part of eating a cake pop! Although I’m no expert in making and dipping cake balls, I have picked up a few tips along the way that I thought I would share to help you get a nice and smooth coating:
- Rather than freezing the un-dipped cake balls for a few minutes to firm them up, take the extra time to place them in the fridge for a half hour instead. I’ve found that if the cake balls are too cold and the candy coating is too hot, the chocolate will seize.
- After you’ve melted your candy coating for the second interval of 30 seconds, mix vigorously for at least a minute to see if you can melt any solid pieces this way before popping it back into the microwave again. If you overheat the candy coating, it will become too thick to work with.
- Add a dash of vegetable oil to your candy coating to help make it less viscous.
- After you’ve dipped your cake pop, have a few toothpicks handy to help push away any excess that may pool at the bottom.
As far as adding stripes, there are a few options. I first dipped my cake balls in Wilton’s pastel color burst candy melts and let them dry completely. Then you can either put the melted candy coating into a squeeze bottle to pipe stripes or use a toothpick to “draw” on lines. I started off with the squeeze bottle method but my tip kept getting clogged, so I later opted to draw lines with a toothpick dipped in candy. Since candy melts dry rather quickly, I would suggest just piping half of the cake ball at a time and adding the sprinkles as soon as possible. Finer grain sprinkles like sanding sugar are best for this type of decorating because you don’t want the sprinkles weighing down the candy melts. And make sure to put a small plate or bowl underneath so you can reuse the sprinkles that fall!
Cake pops are a great dessert to make for a party – they travel well, are single-serving, and super fun! I chose to make lemon cake for these since that is Caitlin’s favorite, and even decorated a few with C+V (her and her fiance’s initials) and some hearts. The possibilities are endless with cake pops, and I think this stripe design is great for a blog header, bachelorette party, or just because!
Striped Lemon Cake Pops
Yield: 30 cake pops
Ingredients:
1 box cake mix (I used lemon)
1/4 cup canned vanilla frosting
2 bags Candy melts (I used Wilton’s color burst pastel)
Colored sanding sugar
Lollipop sticks
Directions:
Bake cake according to package’s instructions and allow to cool completely.
Crumble baked cake with your fingers and mix in frosting until a malleable dough forms.
Form dough into balls, place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Melt a bit of candy melts and dip ends of lollipop sticks in the candy before inserting into cake balls. Return cake balls to fridge for another 10-15 minutes.
Melt the rest of the candy melts in a deep bowl. Submerge each cake pop in the melted candy and gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl to help shake off any excess coating. Invert cake pops onto a wax-paper lined surface and allow to dry completely.
To make stripes, dip a toothpick in the melted candy and draw the stripes around the ball (I suggest drawing only 1 half-circle at a time since the candy melts dry quickly). Cover with sprinkles immediately and continue decorating as desired.
Let me know if you have any specific questions regarding cake pops and I’ll do my best to help you out!
Awesome ideA!
Well this may sound like a rookie ?. I’ve never made cake pops b/4. I’ve made the cake truffles and always assumed they were the same thing. Are they? The truffles I mixed w cream cheese. Is that the difference? Or is it just your preference btwn the cheese and icing? Thanks for the clarification.
Erica — February 28th, 2012 @ 1:40 pm
The difference is just that cake pops are cake balls on lollipop sticks! So they look like lollipops instead of truffles :)
These are so pretty! I love the stripes, and the initials too!
wow so pretty!!
Love the stripes! Nice touch.
wish you had the little red “pin it” thing on here! I would love for lots of my followers to see these!
These are really great with the stripes on them. I am excited to try this method. I bought floral foam at Dollar Tree for my cake pops. :)
Thanks so much for making these, Erica!! They were an awesome addition to the party & it was SO great to see you too!!! :)
Your blog is so cheerful and your photography is lovely. These look delicious! I love the hot pink. I’ve only tried making cake balls once and they were a little messy because I used too much frosting, but I’d like to give them another shot.
Anonymous — March 29th, 2012 @ 5:58 pm
erica can i make them in advance …
Erica — March 29th, 2012 @ 6:01 pm
Yes! I would say they keep well for 2-3 days in advance. The candy coating keeps everything inside nice and moist. Just store them in the fridge and you’ll be good!
how many cake balls did this recipe create?? :)
Erica — September 28th, 2012 @ 5:29 pm
About 30!
this is pretty and looks delish! im wondering if you are taking orders.
Erica — May 21st, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
Sorry not taking orders but good luck making them yourselves! You can do it :)