“Learn how to make cake pops the easy way. Featuring tips and techiniques to make and decorate perfect cake pops at home!”
Visual learner? Watch me make these cake pops from start to finish!
I thought I HATED cake pops. I made them for a baby shower a few years ago and they were a pain in the hind parts!
All that daggum freezing and refreezing, dipping, twirling, decorating, and ugh that texture!! Ewww!!
It was soggy, grainy, and tasted like someone had chewed it up already. My hubby sat quietly, ate the whole thing and calmly said: “you don’t have to make these again please”.
I seriously did not see what all the cake pop hype was about, but I kept getting requests to “PLEASE DO A CAKE POP TUTORIAL!”. I can’t seem to say no to you guys so I got back in the kitchen to figure these things out. Something had to give!
I discovered that I LOVED cake pops. Here’s what I learned:
Cake Pop Making Tips
- Go EASY On The Frosting: What a lot of folks failed to mention in the cake pop tutorials that I was following was to ONLY ADD A LITTLE BIT OF FROSTING. That is super important!! Most cakes are already moist. Too much frosting and it’s ruined in my opinion, not unless you add more cake.
- Use Your Hands To Mix: It really helps to mix it up with your hands so that you can get the feel of it. When I used a spoon to mix it up, it looked as if I wasn’t putting in enough frosting but it turned out that it was way too much when I went to make a ball. The cake should still be a bit crumbly even when the frosting is mixed in.
- Mini Ice Cream/Cookie Scoop Works Great: Use a mini ice cream scoop to scoop out the “dough” so that you will have equal portions.
- No Need To Keep Refreezing- I only placed these in the freezer once. Twice if you plan on bagging them or you want to speed up the final setting time.
- Use A Deep, Narrow Cup For Dipping: The melted chocolate/candy coating should be deep enough to submerge the cake ball completely to avoid having to twirl it around. **NEW METHOD* Another method I saw on Cupcake Wars recently, was to place the melted chocolate in a bowl, place the cake pop in the bowl and then spoon the chocolate on.
- Box Cake Is Just Fine– If you’re not against the ingredients, make it easy for yourself and just purchase a box cake and make some homemade frosting. No one will know.
- Use A Styrofoam Holder- A block of Styrofoam makes a really great holder to stick the cake pops in while they are drying and it’s cheap.
How To Make Cake Pops With Cake Mix
As much as I love all things from scratch on this site, when it come to “food projects” like cake pops, I usually turn to the box cake mix and a can of frosting route. It’s so much quicker!
Although if I’m making these for someone I sometimes do a homemade frosting (depending on how much I like the person).
Box cakes are usually very moist so you’ll only need to use a little bit of frosting for these cake pops. It’s all about the frosting -cake ratio!
Homemade Frosting For Cake Pops
If you’re looking for homemade frosting to use with your cake pops these are are my two favorites!
The Real Cream Cheese Frosting and this Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting. These frostings are so creamy with that homemade taste.
No one will ever know you use a box cake (if you do) with these from-scratch frostings!
Cake Pop Ingredients
To make thse quick and easy cake pops you’ll need:
- 1/2 prepare 9 x13 cake ( I used chocolate)
- chocolate frosting (homemade or store-brought) you’ll only need a few spoonfuls, seriously!
- Chococolate or Candy Coating (for dipping) I use to only use chocolate, now I swear by candy melts! All those fun colors just speak to me!
- Sprinkles (because they are just so doggone cute!)
Making Cake Pops With Leftover Cake
Using leftover cake to make cake pops is the best!! We don’t have leftover cake in my house very often, but when we do, it’s on and poppin!
That leftover cake turns into cake pops and then all of sudden people are in the mood for cake again! Isn’t it funny how you can put something on a stick and everybody wants it?
When making cake pops with left over cake you want to scrap off the frosting first and place it in a bowl.
You definitely won’t need all the frosting. Crumble the cake up and then add in the frosting a little at a time until the cake can hold it’s shape once formed into a tight ball.
These cake pops are what I consider cake pop perfection!!! They are the best cake pops I’ve ever had. The texture is fluffy AND moist and it was nowhere near as messy and time consuming as my first attempts at making cake pops.
Now if you’re looking for a tutorial on how to decorate cake pops…ugh, I’m not the girl for the job!! Sprinkles is as good as it gets over here : )
Even without fancy decoration, these cake pops can still make a pretty cute, cheap and festive gift idea! Let your imagination run wild!
CAKE POP FAQS
Can I make these the day before? You sure can! But I’d use candy melts instead of chocolate. That way you can store them on the counter and not have to worry about the chocolate melting and smearing on the treat bag. Plus candy melts come in so many fun colors!
HELPFUL CAKE POP MAKING SUPPLIES
Give these cake pops a try and let me know what ya think! I can’t wait to make these again!
How To Make Cake Pops EASILY!!!
Ingredients
- Chocolate Cake prepared (I used 1/2 of a 9x13 devils food box cake)
- Chocolate Frosting amount depends on moistness of cake. I used two big spoonfuls. See video
- 2 boxes Premium white chocolate I used Baker's brand *update* I now use candy melts
- cake pop sticks
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Add cake to a large bowl.
- Crumble until it resembles fine crumbs
- Add in frosting a little bit at a time until cake is moist and can hold a ball shape, yet is still slightly crumbly. (Use your hands to incorporate the frosting into the cake crumbs)
- Using a mini ice cream scoop, scoop out two scoop worth of cake mixture.
- Roll the mixture into a tight ball and place on a plate.
- Repeat until all the cake mixture has been rolled into balls.
- Melt 2-4 ounces of white chocolate in the microwave.
- Dip the tip of the cake pop sticks into the white chocolate and insert into the cake balls about half-way.
- Freeze for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare all of your decorating supplies.
- Melt the remaining chocolate in a large cup. Make sure you have enough chocolate to completely submerge the cake ball.
- Remove cake balls from freezer.
- Dip cake balls carefully into the chocolate until covered.
- Let the excess chocolate drip off. Swirl and tap gently if needed.
- Add the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet. It will harden quickly.
- Stick the decorated cake pop into a styrofoam block to finish setting.
- Place into the freezer to speed up setting time.
- Cover with a clear treat bag & ribbon for gift giving, if desired.
- Store in a cool area in a single layer, in an airtight container.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Want to use food coloring? I'd suggest using the candy melts instead of white chocolate for the coating. I wasn't impressed with how the white chocolate took the food coloring. It made the chocolate thicker.I purchased all of my ingredients including the cake pop sticks and sprinkles at Target. The styrofoam I had already, but you can get a block of styrofoam at crafts stores or Walmart.
The recipe (using only 1/2 of a 9 X 13 cake) makes about 13 medium sized cake balls.
Feel free to change up the cake, frosting and coating. Red velvet cake, with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate coconut, is really good!
You can also use homemade cake and homemade frosting but I seriously can't tell the difference in taste.
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Original Cake Pop Creator: Bakerella!!! How fun is her site?!
I have tried this twice. It didn’t work. As soon as I dip into the frosting the cake falls apart, and then they fall off the sticks. It just doesn’t work. I will have to find a new recipe.
Hi Jennifer, are you using too much/too little frosting to hold the cake together? The amount of frosting needed will vary based on how moist your cake is. If it all holds together nice and tight when you roll it into a ball then that should be enough. If the balls are falling apart as soon as you dip them, then you may need to add more frosting.
I made these today- giving them as favors for a sports team on tournament day. My first thought is that if you are not experienced with using the candy melts, this may be challenging. Following the recipe is quite easy, rolling the balls too but when it came to dipping the chilled pops in the candy melts it got borderline unsalvageable. I was able to save the pops and still use them as favors but it was not as smooth as I was hoping. The melts actually can be overheated and the dipping actually becomes hard, literally, the candy melt is not melty, it turns hard. I was able to thin it out again using a teeny bit of vegetable oil added to it and then stirring a lot. Overall, once I was able to manipulate the candy melted coating and dip the pops and get the coating to look somewhat presentable, I’d say this is a great recipe and tutorial. Thanks again!
How many cake pops will usually come from 1 box of mix?