Cute and adorable cake pops have become a major baking craze over the past couple of years. Now, everyone is wants to learn how to make cake pops right at home!
In fact, we'd say that the trend is right up there with the cronut and the rainbow bagel! Best of all, cake pops are a recipe that anyone can master.
We love the trend so much, we decided to figure out how to make cake pops ourselves. Our recipe calls for ordinary boxed cake mix, chocolate melts, and almost nothing else. The only specialty item you might need to track down is lollipop sticks!
Below, we'll teach you how to make cake pops with cake mix, for a no fuss crowd-pleaser.
There's no specialized equipment, no fancy baking techniques, just ordinary cake! Except, y'know, in pop form! Nowadays, you can even buy cake pop molds online for extra-perfect shaping.
That said, we wanted to learn how to make cake pops without a mold. Scroll through below to check out the easy and speedy cake pop recipe.
And if you're looking for an occasion to use them, might we suggest a baby shower? Baby shower cake pops make for an adorable gender reveal announcement!
How To Make Cake Pops The Easy, Fast Way
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- cake mix
- frosting
- white chocolate melts
- Sprinkles
- Food coloring (optional)
- Lollipop sticks
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix as instructed on the package and add food coloring to batter, if desired. Bake as instructed.
- Break cake up into fine crumbs.
- Grab a small handful of crumbs and about a 1/2 teaspoon of frosting, and roll together until ball forms. Repeat.
- Take a handful of candy melts and melt slightly until liquid. Dip end of lollipop stick in chocolate.
- Press lollipop stick about halfway into each cake ball.
- Place balls on freezer-safe surface and freeze 1/2 hour.
- Melt more chocolate melts in a container deep enough for whole cake ball to fit.
- Dip each cake ball in chocolate until completely submerged.
- Before chocolate dries, decorate with sprinkles, then allow to harden.
- Serve and enjoy!
For step-by-step instructions, be sure to keep scrolling below — and please SHARE!
For this cake pop recipe, you will need:
- Vanilla boxed cake mix + ingredients listed on box
- Food coloring (optional)
- Vanilla frosting
- Chocolate candy melts
- Sprinkles (optional)
For your first step, simply prepare your cake as instructed on the box, adding food coloring to the batter, if desired. We made ours blue and pink.
After the cake is done, let it cool, then begin crumbling up the freshly baked cake.
You want a fairly fine crumb, so make sure to break up all of the larger chunks as you go.
If you have a food processor, you can pour coarser cake chunks in and then pulse them until fine so that your cake pops hold together well.
Your cake should already be fairly moist, but to make sure it's extra sticky, start adding in vanilla frosting.
Scoop up a handful of cake crumbs, then add about 1/2 teaspoon of frosting.
Knead the crumbs and the dough together until sticky, then roll tightly into a ball. If the cake is crumbling, add more frosting until it holds.
One box of cake mix should yield about 8 cake pops, depending on how large you make the cake pops.
Take a small handful of chocolate melts and heat them in the microwave, heating in 10-second increments and stirring in between.
Dip your lollipop stick in about 1/2 inch and swirl until coated in chocolate. Push this end of the lollipop stick about halfway into cake ball, and repeat for each one.
If you have chocolate leftover, spoon a little bit around the cake pop stick to hold it into place.
Next, place all your cake pops, stick-side up, on a freezer-safe plate. You may want to grease it slightly to make sure the cake pops don't stick to the plate.
Put the cake pops in the freezer for 1/2 hour to 2 hours, or until firm.
It's OK if they crack a little bit, but add a little more frosting or a drop of vegetable oil if the cake pops look like they might fall apart.
Once cake pops are fully hardened and you're ready to move onto the next step, melt about 1 cup of your candy melts in the microwave.
Stir well to make sure candy coating is smooth. Make sure to melt your candy in a container that is at least as deep as your largest cake pop.
You want to be able to totally submerge each cake pop.
Take your cake pops and carefully dunk them one at a time in the chocolate, dipping them in fully.
You can swirl the cake pops in the chocolate to achieve an even coating, but be very gentle to keep the cake from falling off the lollipop stick.
Pull your cake pop out gently and flip over so the stick side is down. Spoon chocolate over any "bald" spots.
Then, while chocolate is still soft, decorate the cake pops with sprinkles in colors of your choosing.
How do you make a cake pop perfectly round? The key is to hold each cake pop in the air for a moment to let it harden further after decorating, then lay gently down on its side.
Place all cake pops on a baking sheet or large platter lined with wax paper.
Leave cake pops for about 15 minute to harden completely.
Flip your pops over on a plate, or prop them up in a special cake pop stand and serve!
These are the perfect bite to serve at a party as a light dessert or favor.
You can even wrap the cake pops up in cellophane and make them into gifts!
For an extra-adorable twist on this recipe trend? If you're expecting a baby or throwing a shower for a friend, make your cake pops the gender reveal!
Make the cake inside pink or blue for a boy or a girl, then dunk the outside in gender-neutral decorations to keep the secret as long as possible!
If you love this cute recipe (and awesome way to use it!) make sure to SHARE with friends who love darling baking ideas like this one.
