Cake pops are essentially mini cakes, rolled into bite sized balls, and covered in delicious and colorful chocolate coatings. Not only are they absolutely adorable, they are a great way to portion control your cake consumption (unless, of course, you eat them all at once. Will neither confirm or deny if I have done this). Although the technique isn’t easy and it takes a little time, the outcome is a photogenic, Instagrammable dessert that is utterly “pop”able.
Rainbow Cake Pops
Ingredients
Instructions
Following the instructions on the back of the cake mix package, add oil, water and eggs.
Whisk the cake batter until all ingredients are mixed together. Most professional bakers and pastry chefs utilize a stand mixer (love my Kitchen Aid) but a whisk works perfectly fine if you are up to the challenge. A minute or two of medium speed works just fine!
Now that the cake batter is mixed thoroughly, pour evenly into two pans. Try to have two equally sized pans, but if not, make sure to check the cakes as they’re baking to ensure adequate cooking.
Once your cakes are done, (that is, a toothpick or sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean, the cake is spongy to the touch, and the top is golden brown) take them out with a oven mitt and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Invert the cakes onto large plates to allow them to fully cool. This step is critical in making amazing cake pops, so don’t skip it no matter how much in a hurry you are.
Once the cakes are fully dry, take a sharp knife and trim all around the perimeter of the cake to get rid of the rough outer edges.
After both cakes have been trimmed, using clean hands, start crumbling up the cake. I’m talking, destroying all structure of this cake into mere crumbles.
Add about 1/3 cup of icing to bind the cake crumbles together in order to form into balls. Mixing with your hands, make sure that the icing and cake crumbles are thoroughly mixed.
Take a large cookie sheet and place a piece of parchment paper down on it. This helps to ensure the cake pops don’t stick. Then, roll the cake and icing mixture into teaspoon-sized balls with your hands.
Once you’ve got all your balls rolled out, cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap (and if you’re super extra like myself, add a layer of aluminum foil). This prevents the cake pops from drying out. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours. You can leave them covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours and they will not dry out.
Remove your cake pops from the refrigerator. Grab all of your candy melts, sprinkles, and bowls (to melt the candy). Tip: The cake balls will soften quickly – if they get too soft, put them back into the fridge for a few minutes.
Pour your candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl. Following instructions on the package, microwave the candy for 1 minute, stir, and again for 30 seconds. Continue until the candy melts are completely melted, without burning it.
Once the candy coating is melted and there are no visible lumps, dip one end of your cake pop stick in the candy coating. This allows the cake pop to stay glued to the stick.
Picking up a cake pop with one hand, place the stick with candy coating at the bottom of the pop and push through to make sure it stays put.
Be careful not to push the cake pop too hard, or 1) the cake pop could crumble apart (RIP cake pop- I guess you’ll just have to eat it!) or 2) the stick will go through the cake pop, ruining your chances of having the stick remain in the middle of the pop.
If you don’t push the stick enough into the cake pop, it will likely fall off and you will need to make another hole.
Now the fun part! Being extra gentle, dip the cake pop/stick into the candy coating so that all sides are covered.
Slowly remove the pop from the candy coating, and let the excess candy coating drip off of the cake pop. This is very important so it doesn’t weigh the cake pop down and fall off the stick!
After about 30 seconds of waiting for excess candy coating to drip off of your cake pop, turn it right side up to add the toppings.
Repeat this process with the remaining cake pops. To make rainbow cake pops repeat the same steps for each color.
SpoonTip: Cake pops do not need to be placed in the fridge, as they will condensate. Keep them in an airtight container where they will last about 7 to 10 days.
