Tips For Melting Chocolate
- Melting chocolate, like many other things in the kitchen, is chemistry and science.
- You need the optimal temperature to make sure your chocolate melts to a silky-smooth consistency, dont do it over high heat, keep it at medium.
- Skip the microwave and use a double boiler. The microwave heats too fast and too hot.
- If you do need to use the microwave, use it at 50% power or defrost mode and go slow, 15 second intervals.
- Dont fully boil the water in your double boiler. Get it hot enough to melt the chocolate, but not to a rolling boil.
- Put the top pot on with chocolate after the water has come to temperature.
- Stir constantly while melting. It should only take a minute or so.
- Use immediately and while shiny.
- If chocolate gets too hot, it gets clumpy and matte.
- You can try to revive it by adding 2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening, but sometimes you are better off just starting over.
How To Make The Easy Version Of Cake Pops
If youre looking into a super fast and easy version of my original vanilla cake pops, you have to try my no-bake oreo cake pops . All you need is Oreos, cream cheese, and candy melts. Thats it!
How To Melt Candy Chocolate For Cake Pops
Your candy chocolate will have directions for melting. This is the step you really want to be careful with. If you over-heat, then add some shortening to it. Turn your microwave setting down as low as possible and stir often in between heating. Let the heat of the candy melts continue to melt on their own before putting in the microwave again so you prevent overheating them.
Tip: Microwave for half of the recommended time on your packaging. Stir and see if the heat from the candy melts will melt the remaining chocolate. All microwaves vary in heat settings so be careful not to over-heat your candy melts or you wont be able to dip your cake pops in them.
Watch the full tutorial video here before you get started!
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What You Need To Make This Recipe
Vanilla cake I use a box cake mix for these cake balls for convenience. However, if you have some leftover cake lying around, you can use that as well because nothing beats homemade cake. If you prefer you can use chocolate cake, red velvet cake, or strawberry cake instead.
Frosting you can use homemade vanilla frosting or store-bought frosting. I prefer homemade for the flavor, but sometimes convenience wins! Of course feel free to use chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting instead.
Candy melts once melted and dipped, candy melts will set up with the same look and texture as chocolate. Its easier to use than chocolate, as you can skip tempering it. Careful not to scorch the melts, or theyll harden too quickly to work with.
Sprinkles Buy your favorite from a store or follow my recipe on easy homemade sprinkles.
Cake Pop Flavor Variations
Use any cake variation that you would use to make a cake. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, coat with white chocolate
- Carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, coat with white chocolate and orange zest
- Vanilla Cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, funfetti sprinkles
- Vanilla cake, lemon frosting, coat with white chocolate and lemon zest
- Chocolate cake, caramel frosting, dark chocolate coating
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Why Is The Candy Coating Cracking
The main culprit of a cracked cake pop coating is due to significant temperature differences in the cake balls. If the cake balls are too cold and the melted candy melt is too hot, the coating will crack as the hot mixture will cause the cake balls to expand and then contract. To prevent this from happening, make sure the coating isnt super hot when you dip your cake into it. Allow your coating to cool for a few minutes before dipping.
Can I Make Different Flavors With This Recipe
Yes, you can easily use a boxed cake mix as mentioned above or another cake recipe like my red velvet cake, carrot cake, or strawberry cake. Keep in mind that my cake recipes typically make two 9-inch layers and you will only need one for this recipe. However, most of my cake recipes can easily be cut in half to just make one layer.
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Why Are My Cake Pops Cracking
There are usually two reasons why they can crack. Before dipping the balls you want to set the stick by placing the cake pops in the freezer for 15 minutes. If you dip them and the candy melts are too hot, they will crack because of the sudden temperature change. Or the cake balls were too cold if you kept them in the freezer for over 15 minutes. Again, the drastic temperature change can cause the cracking effect here as well.
Tips To Melt The Candy Melts
Overheat When melting candy melts, be careful and make sure you do NOT overheat the candy coating. If this happens it will harden up too much.
Thin it out In order to get a smooth candy coating that will ensure that your cake balls have a gorgeous outer shell you need to thin it out. You can mix in Crisco shortening, coconut oil, or EZ-thin dipping aid for a runnier consistency.
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Introduction: Making Cake Pops
Cake pops – tiny balls of cake and frosting on a stick, coated in chocolate or candy. You can find them at Starbucks or any local bakery. Any of a dozen sites provide professional quality tutorials for making hundreds of them, in every color of the rainbow. As an intermediate baker, I found many of these tutorials inaccessible and intimidating. After a fair amount of trial and error, I found a recipe that isn’t very difficult or costly. This tutorial is moderate in difficulty, low cost , and takes less than two hours. Cake pops make excellent gifts, as well as a tasty treat for yourself. This tutorial will make 30-50 cake pops depending on the baker’s preference, enough for a birthday party or a baby shower. They travel well, and can go to the office or your child’s class. Cake pops will keep their perfect texture for about 4 days if not refrigerated. They will be perfectly edible for about a week, but the texture is part of the experience. But, trust me, they won’t last a week!
Making Cake Pops With Leftover Cake
Using leftover cake to make cake pops is the best!! We dont have leftover cake in my house very often, but when we do, its on and poppin!
That leftover cake turns into cake pops, and then all of a sudden, people are in the mood for cake again! Isnt it funny how you can put something on a stick, and everybody wants it?
When making cake pops with leftover cake, you want to scrape off the frosting first and place it in a bowl.
You definitely wont need all the frosting. Crumble the cake up and then add in the frosting a little at a time until the cake can hold its shape once formed into a tight ball.
These cake pops are what I consider cake pop perfection!!! They are the best cake pops Ive 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 youre looking for a tutorial on how to decorate cake popsugh, Im 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!
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Easy Eggless Homemade Cake Pops Recipe Highlights
I love making cake pops because theyre a total crowd pleaser! They are fun and festive bites that both kids and adults alike adore.
If you are wondering, cake pops are crumbled cake mixed with frosting and rolled or shaped into bite-size balls, which are then dipped in melted candy wafers and served lollipop style on a stick.
These cute eggless treats are super easy to make and dangerously delicious.
Here I walk you through the steps to make your eggless 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 dont 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 cant seem to say no to you guys, so I got back in the kitchen to figure these things out. Something had to give!
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How To Make Cake Pops With Cake Mix
As much as I love all things from scratch on this site when it comes to food projects like cake pops, I usually turn to the box cake mix and a can of frosting route. Its so much quicker!
Although if Im making these for someone, I sometimes do a homemade frosting .
Box cakes are usually very moist, so youll only need to use a little bit of frosting for these cake pops. Its all about the frosting-cake ratio!
Whats The Trick To Making Cake Pops
You can use any flavor cake mix: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, yellow, etc. Be sure to check your cake mix to ensure you have whatever other cake ingredients the mix recommends for baking.
You will also need one container of store-bought frosting. I like to use anything with a simple texture like vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry.
I would avoid things like German chocolate .
1. Bake the cake according to the package instructions and allow to fully cool.
2. Spoon the baked cake into a large mixing bowl. Add 2/3 of the container of frosting.
In my experience, using the full container makes the cake pops a bit too soft and harder to work with once we dip them in chocolate. But, this is how you get cake pops to stick togetherwith frosting.
3. Use your hands to mix together the frosting and cake. The cake pop batter is going to be pretty soft, but moldable.
4. Form your cake pop batter into small balls . You dont want them to be too big, just so they easily fit in the palm of your hand.
Once you have formed all your pops , put them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or the freezer for half an hour.
5. Get your candy melts and any other supplies ready like cake pop sticks, sprinkles or other edible decorations you want to use.
I think candy melts work best for cake pops, but you can also use chocolate chips instead.
The mixture will be a little thicker and slightly harder to work with . And, the shell around the cake pops will be thicker once the chocolate sets.
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How Do I Keep My Cake Pops From Falling Off The Stick
If your cake balls are falling off your treat stick, they could be too heavy due to size or adding too much frosting. To help ensure your cake balls stay, be sure to dip the stick in melted candy before inserting it into the cake ball. This hardened candy coating acts as a glue to hold the stick in place.
Can Cake Pops Be Left Out
Storing Cake Pops at Room Temperature
After you have made your cake pops completely, dipping and decorating them to perfection, you can simply leave them at room temperature for 1-2 days. Be sure to keep the dipped cake pops out of the sunlight or high heat where the chocolate has the potential to melt.
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Bake For 4 To 5 Minutes
Bake for 4 to 5 minutes . Remove the cake balls to a tray carefully, as the cake pop maker can become very hot to handle. I like to use a heat glove or spatula. When finished, unplug the unit and let it cool before wiping clean.
COOKING TIP: If there is excess cake on the cake balls , simply remove it with a small knife, once the cake pops have cooled.
How To Make The Perfect Cake Pops For Any Occasion
I have to admit, I had never made cake pops before but I was determined to make them for our gender reveal party. Ive made Oreo truffles multiple times, which are somewhat similar to cake pops. Somewhat. Theyre essentially the cookie version of cake pops. Basically dessert cousins. I figured, how hard could it be?
Im pleasantly surprised to report that making cake pops isnt very hard at all. Its not very time consuming either. Win-win.
Now, I know mine arent 100% true cake pops theyre basically cake balls with sticks in them, but people can still carry them around like cake pops. I mean, who wants messy hands? Anyway, Ill tell you at the end of the post how to make them into legit cake pops with the cake portion at the top and the stick coming out the bottom.
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How To Make Cake Pops
Mix and roll. Crumble the cooled cake in a large bowl. Then add a few spoonfuls of frosting and use your hands to combine. The dough should hold together if squeezed. If its still crumbly, stir in a little more frosting. Then scoop out the mixture with a medium cookie scoop and roll into a ball. Repeat until youve used all of the mixture.
Add cake pop stick. Melt a few of the dark and white chocolate wafers in two separate bowls. Then dip the end of the cake pop stick into the melted chocolate and push that same end into the cake ball. The melted chocolate helps glue the stick to the cake ball. Once each ball has a stick, place them in the freezer to harden for about 20 minutes.
Coat in chocolate. Melt the remaining dark and white chocolate in separate bowls. Dip the cake balls into the melted chocolate, making sure its fully coated. Gently tap the stick on the side of the dish to remove any excess chocolate.
Add decorations. Add sprinkles or jimmies while the chocolate is still wet. If decorating with a chocolate drizzle, let the chocolate coating harden first, then drizzle more chocolate on top. Then let them set for about an hour before serving.
Tips For Successful Cake Pops
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What Cake To Use To Make Cake Pops
The best thing about making cake pops is using leftover dry cake. If you have leftover cake from a birthday party or another event, this is a great way to turn that cake into something new! If you had a cake fail and your cake turned out too dry, then that would also be perfect to turn into cake pops. You can also bake a cake from a cake mix or from scratch to make your cake pops. Whatever cake you use, you can use a food processor to crumble the cake. If you dont have a food processor you can also use your hands.
How To Gift Cake Pops
Homemade cake pops make a fantastic food gift for everyone on your list. Of course, anyone would be thrilled to receive a regular ol’ zip-top bag or storage container filled with cake pops. But you can go the extra mile by wrapping them in decorative cellophane tied with a ribbon, arranging them in a cookie tin filled with colorful shredded paper, or presenting them as a bouquet in a flower pot.
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