If there’s one thing we love in my house, it’s fun treats. Everything from Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes and heart cut out sandwiches to baked donuts and the ever classic cake pop! Whenever I’ve made these, I always get asked how to do them. So, I’m sharing with you. And surprise! It’s not as hard as you may think.
Cake pops can seem intimidating, but I find them to be more time-consuming than difficult. It can be done in a day, though I like to spread the process out over two to make it a bit easier.
Are you interested in making your own cake pops? They’re wonderful treats for any occasion, and these are my version for Valentine’s Day to share the love. Plus, they’re much easier to transport than cupcakes and prettier than cookies!
Full disclosure, you will need a bit more supplies than a traditional cake, but the pay off is more than worth it. Who doesn’t love cake pops?
Here are some tips to help you get started!
What you’ll need:
- cake pop sticks ( I found mine at JoAnn’s)
- a box of your favorite cake mix plus whatever ingredients to make the cake
- a canister of frosting or make your own mixture of one block of cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract (see below for recipe)
- two bags of melting chocolate in desired color/s
- sprinkles or other fun decorations
- cake pop stand or foam block to hold cake pops
For these cake pops, I kept it simple with a Vanilla cake mix that I added pink food coloring to as well as sprinkles and my cream cheese mixture. Yummy!
Let’s Do This!:
- Prepare cake mix as directed and bake in any form you’d like. You’ll be crumbling the cake after it’s baked and cooled, so shape doesn’t matter, just an evenly baked cake. If using white mix, add food coloring to add flair! *Pro Tip* Bake your cake the night before to allow to cool completely. This is my personal preference, so I can get right to work the next day.
- In a large bowl, crumble cake. Next, add 1/4 cup store bought frosting or cream cheese mixture (see below) This is a perfect opportunity to add in sprinkles if you’d like. The consistency of cake and frosting should be firm enough to roll into a small ball, but not too wet. It’s better to add the frosting/cc mixture slowly at a time. Set aside.
- My preferred method for melting chocolate is in a Crock-Pot. I fill mason jars with the chocolate and place in the Crock-Pot. Then, fill the Crock-Pot with after about halfway up on the jar. Be careful not to get water in the jars, as it wall cause the chocolate to harden and you won’t be able to use it. I use the High setting until the chocolate begins to melt, then I switch to Low.
- While the chocolate is melting, prepare the cake mixture into small balls, about 1 tbsp in size.
- Check chocolate consistency, it should be runny and smooth.
- Grab a cake pop stick and dip it in the chocolate, about 1 inch. Then, stick into cake ball. Place cake pop onto stand or foam block and allow to cool. This step helps prevent the cake ball from falling off when you dip it later.
- Now, the fun part! Take your unfinished cake pop and dip it into the chocolate. Don’t worry about dipping it completely, the chocolate will run slightly once it’s upright. While the chocolate is wet, add your sprinkles and other edible decorations! You can even drizzle chocolate or shape with a spoon for a fun effect. Remember, sprinkles can hide imperfections too!
- Place the cake pops back onto the stand/foam and allow to cool completely.
That’s it! You can package them up however you’d like or keep them on your display. For these Valentine’s Day cake pops I cut small squares of plastic wrap to wrap around the cake pop. Then, I secured with a heart ribbon.
Ta da! Now, one last thing. Don’t forget to taste a cake pop. You know, for quality purposes 😉
Cream Cheese Mixture:
Beat together the following on High
- 1 block cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar to start and add more to taste
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Alicia Charlene 
super cute!
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