A simple recipe: How to Make Cake Pops

I love to bake. I really, really love it. I especially love to bake cakes and cupcakes. This might be because I especially love to eat cakes and cupcakes. So, when I heard the term "cake pop" for the first time, I obviously knew that I had to investigate how to make cake pops! I Googled a few articles and found that cake pops are actually very easy to make! It seems that the genius idea came from Bakerella.com and it just exploded from there. After I discovered them, I noticed that they were all over the bakeries and treat shops, as well as the Green Devil (that would be Starbucks) in our local mall.

It is quite literally cake + frosting + stick + dipped in chocolate = cake pop!

Now, I must preface my "recipe" by saying that I've been suffering from an awful head cold the past few days.  Normally, I really enjoy taking the time to bake from scratch. But feeling like death warmed over + an hour in the kitchen? Not so much. I took the easy way out and bought a Duncan Hines box cake mix and butter cream frosting. Say what you will about box cake mixes, but it was still absolutely delicious and I had zero complaints! Companies like Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines are profitable for a reason - they make great-tasting products.

A simple recipe: How to Make Cake Pops

Ingredients:

1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Fudge Mix

1 canister Duncan Hines Creamy Home-style Butter Cream Frosting

1 bag of 50 lollipop sticks

1 tablespoon Crisco shortening

1 bag of White Chocolate melts ( bought mine from JoAnn's Fabrics but you can find these at Michael's stores, some Targets, and other crafty stores)

Step by Step:

Bake cake mix as directed and let cool. Once it cools, crumble the entire cake mix in a large bowl. Take ½ of the frosting and mix it in with the cake crumbles. Mix it thoroughly, until you have a very large, moist cake ball.

Roll cake into about 1 inch balls. Make sure they are nice and firm and don't have any large cracks (that could cause them to fall apart later on). You should have about 35-40 balls from a single box of cake mix. I ate a few bites while making mine, so I ended up with 30. I had to make sure the flavor came out alright, after all!

Melt the chocolate melts according to the package directions, in a small microwavable bowl. I microwaved them for one minute, took them out and stirred them, then microwaved them for another minute. After they are completely melted, stir in the tablespoon of vegetable shortening (I used Crisco because it was what I had on hand). This is really important, as it things out the chocolate a little and keeps it from getting lumpy or hardening too quickly while you are working with the balls.

Take each stick, dip it into the chocolate, and then quickly into the cake ball. Set aside for a few minutes so that the chocolate has a chance to harden and anchor itself to the cake ball. After they have dried, dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate, and rotate, making sure that there is an even coat all the way around the ball. Tap the stick against the side of the bowl to shake off any excess chocolate.

If you are going to decorate the cake pops, now is the time, while the chocolate is still wet. I used pastel colored sprinkles and some leftover cupcake sprinkles. I stuck them in the fridge to harden and they came out beautifully!

I let my daughter and cousin snack on a few during the weekend, but their main purpose was to serve as a treat for the children after Sunday's Easter egg hunt! Fortunately, there were still quite a few left and everyone loved them!

Now, I realize that these things are much easier to duplicate when there are pictures accompanying the step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, I was suffering from major sinus aches while creating these little masterpieces. So I'll refer you to this wonderful website where I found the most useful recipe!