WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Cake (For this video I used one 10″ round)
• Frosting (For this video I used 2 Cups)
• Small Melon Baller (or other similarly portioned scoop)
• Round Artists Paint Palettes (I use these to help the cake pops maintain their round shapes)
• Vegetable Shortening
• Lollipop Sticks
• Candy Melts or Chocolate Melting Wafers
• Cocoa Nibs (I add these as needed to help thin out the chocolate until it runs smoothly off a spoon)
• Sprinkles (Optional)
• Block of Styrofoam with holes punched out (I used a bbq skewer in some craft styrofoam)
• Candy Melting Pot (Optional- you can also use the double boiler method of melting your chocolate and keeping it warm)

METHOD:

1.) Mix the cake and frosting together using a fork to break the cake into small crumbs. Combine thoroughly until you get a consistency similar to rolled cookie dough

2.) Scoop portions of your cake/frosting mixture into the wells of your paint palettes using the melon baller

3.) Freeze your scooped portions for approximately 30 minutes. This makes the dough easier to roll into your desired shape.

4.) Remove the palettes from the freezer, rub a small amount of vegetable shortening into the palms of your hands (to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands as you work) and roll the dough portions into balls. Place each ball into each well of your paint palette.

5.) Melt a few of the candy melts/ chocolate wafers for 60 seconds in the microwave. Dip your lollipop sticks into this melted chocolate then insert them into the cake balls (don’t go all the way through to the other side otherwise your stick will poke through the top of your cake pop). You will want to twist the sticks slightly to make sure that there are no gaps between your stick and the centre of the cake pop. This step will act to ‘glue’ the lollipop stick to your cake pop so that when you dip it into your chocolate coating, it won’t fall off the stick.

6.) Put the cake pops with sticks back into the freezer for 30 minutes. This will make the pops nice and firm for dipping, again so they won’t fall off the sticks.

7.) Melt your remaining chocolate melts. Add enough cocoa nibs so that you have a thin consistency that runs off the end of a spoon. You don’t want thick or clumpy chocolate or it will be difficult to get a smooth even coating. For this video, I added approximately 75 grams of cocoa nibs.

8.) Remove the cake pops from the freezer and lightly wiggle each one (from the cake part, not the stick) to ensure they are not stuck inside the palettes.

9.) Dip your cake pop into the chocolate and turn to ensure full coverage.

10.) Lightly tap the stick on the edge of your dipping container while rotating the cake pop around to remove excess chocolate. Do this until no more large drops come off the cake pop.

11.) Add sprinkles while the pop is still wet and place the pop upright in your styrofoam block to dry.

12.) Repeat! This “recipe” yielded 65 cake pops.

13.) If you find any pops have cracked (sometimes this happens when the chocolate is quite thin or from the change in temperature as the cake comes up to room temperature) you can add some melted chocolate onto the crack with a toothpick and then tap to smooth. I will often put extra sprinkles to hide any seams. Another option is to dip each pop a second time and then add sprinkles after the second coat.

I have spent countless hours perfecting my method. Cake pops can be very frustrating but they can also be a lot of fun if you have a method that works for you! I have found that this is such a great way to use up extra cake that you cut off the top of rounds when assembling larger cakes. It’s also a nice way to increase the serving count for cake orders or as a take home party favor for kid’s parties.

HAPPY POPPING 🙂