Recipes

Monday, April 4, 2011

Cake Pops - The Newest Candy(?) Craze


Delicious looking little things, aren't they?  Are they candy?  Are they cake?  They're both!  I ran across a recipe for the a year or so ago, without the sucker stick though, and have been playing around with it ever since.  And now I'm starting to hear about them all over the place.  So I decide to do a little Internet search, because if you know me, you know Google is my best friend ;)  And lo' and behold, these little guys are all over the place!  Varying flavors, prices, sizes, shapes, etc.  Now to me, I make them for my kids, for my friends, for fun, not for profit though I have been asked many times to make them for money, I never make a business out of it.  Why?  When it's so obvious they're such a big hit?  Mainly because I love making them, but I think if I had to be surrounded by cake pops all day, every day, I may just have to scream.  So why do that to myself?  No.  I will leave well enough alone and make them for my and my friends and families enjoyment.  But if you're looking to buy them, trust me they're out there.  And for a price.  My advice to you, if you get a chance to take the time to make these little beauties you'll appreciate how little money they take to make and make you think twice about paying what others out there are selling them for.  Just sayin ;)

One of the best things about these cake pops, which started out as faux truffles in my original recipe I found a year ago or so, is that you can play around with the flavors and really make your cake pops taste like some great candy truffles just by mixing flavors with cake mixes and frosting's.  By far my favorite one to make is the one I named the chocolate covered cherry.  It is, without a doubt, the best tasting concoction to date I've made.  Now days with the frosting selections out there, you can make ones that taste like chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate truffles, white chocolate raspberry just to name a few.  They're easy to make, fun to decorate and always a hit! 

So has your interest been piqued enough yet?  Are you ready to see how easy these are to make?  Then let's move forward.. Pick your favorite boxed cake mix and follow the instructions to bake the cake.  Allow the cake to cool completely then break it apart in a large mixing bowl, like this:


Easy so far, right?  Gets even easier!  Open up your choice of frosting, just a regular size canister.. I prefer to use a whipped frosting or a cream cheese frosting.  Mix it in gently but thoroughly so there isn't a dry piece of cake left, like this:


Yep, same butter golden cake, I just used a milk chocolate whipped frosting in it!  Once you have it mixed, I throw my bowl in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes while I start to melt my chocolate candy coating in a double boiler on the stove.  Don't have a double boiler?  Grab a pot with some water and put your chocolate pieces in a coffee mug on low heat.  If you heat the chocolate too fast and too hot it will get all crumbly and you'll have to start all over again.  It's best to use chocolate candy coating, not chocolate chips for this! 

After about 20 minutes take the mixing bowl out and begin to roll your mixture into small balls and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Do not make the balls too large otherwise they'll be heavy on the sucker sticks (which did I mention you can get at your local cake supply shop?) and have a tendency to fall off when coating with the chocolate. 



Once they are all formed, take the tip of your sucker stick and insert in your melted chocolate about a quarter of an inch and insert into the cake ball about half way.  This will help secure the cake onto the stick when dipping into the chocolate.  After you've inserted the sticks into all of the cake balls slide them back into the fridge for another 20 minutes. 

Before getting to the dipping, it's important to know where you're going to put your cake pops to set.  I stand mine up in blocks of Styrofoam from the craft store since it's sturdy, cheap and reusable.  If you don't have anything to use you can always put them down so the sticks are facing skyward.

Now comes the fun part!  Your chocolate should be nice and smooth, ready to go by now.  So after 20 minutes take those cake pops out and start dipping them in the chocolate.  Make sure to let them hover to get the extra drippings off before placing them back down.  It's important to mention that you need to cover the ENTIRE cake ball.  If you leave cracks near the base you'll find little tendrils of cake pushing itself out, which while cute is a little disconcerting when you're not expecting it.  This happens when the chocolate is too hot as well or you leave the cake in the fridge too long.  Try not to keep in the fridge longer than 20 minutes.  You'll also get cracks if the temperatures are too far apart from each other too.

If you're doing sprinkles or edible glitter, you'll need to put those one while the chocolate is still glistening or it's not going to stick.  If you're going to decorate with other color chocolate ribbons like in the picture above then let them dry for about 10 minutes and then pipe away.

So there you go.. sounds super easy, right?  It really is.  You don't have to be a master baker to get these little beauties down pat.  Just have fun and enjoy!  Keep them out of the heat, they're like chocolates and will melt!  I keep mine in the fridge when I have any left ;)