Cake on a Stick: How to Make Cake Pops

by Faith Durand

Cake on a Stick: How to Make Cake Pops

Cake pops are basically little smushed balls of cake and frosting (kind of like when you used to smash your birthday cake all in pieces, maybe with ice cream, and eat it as goop). You bake up a cake, let it cool, tear it into fine crumbs, stir in something to hold it all together, and roll it in balls. Easy!

These are incredibly delicious, over-the-top little morsels. The chocolate shell gives way with a little snap to a moist and soft inside, like a brownie that melts in your mouth. They're not as rich as chocolate truffles, but they are still quite sweet.

Cake pops are special occasion treats only, but oh how people love them! They're perfect for spring and summer birthday parties, showers and other festive events.

They're terribly cute, and they're also a great way to use up leftover cake. Most recipes call for a boxed cake mix and canned frosting, but why not go with homemade, as long as you're going to all the trouble of making cute little balls already?

Instructions for this dark chocolate cake pops recipe below consist of three parts: baking the cake, making the cake ball mix, and finishing the cake pops.

This is a very moist dark chocolate cake, which makes it ideal for cake pops. It's best to let it cool overnight at least before making the pops.

Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 60 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

Yield: Makes two 9-inch round cakes

Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe Ingredients

2 cups white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe Instructions

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans, or three 8-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes.

Mix in boiling water -- the batter will be quite thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then tap the cakes out of the pans. Cool at least overnight before making cake pops.

Cake Ball Mix Ingredients

1 batch Dark Chocolate Cake (see recipe above)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon milk (or more, as necessary)

Cake Ball Mix Instructions

Bake the cake and let it cool completely on a rack. It's best to let it cool overnight at least.

When it is completely cool, break the cake into a large bowl. Crumble it with forks or your fingers until it is in fine crumbs.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and milk together until smooth.

Pour into the cake crumbs and mix with a spoon. Then continue mixing with your fingers, kneading and mixing until fully incorporated into the cake.

Check to see if it will roll into a ball. It should: this makes a very malleable, easy-to-handle cake mixture. But if it needs a little extra moisture, add milk a spoonful at a time.

When the mix is completely done, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. You can leave the mix refrigerated for several days at this point. I left mine in the fridge for about three days before making the balls. You could probably also freeze this.

Cake Pops Ingredients

1 batch Cake Ball Mix

Lollipop sticks (found at craft stores)

12 ounces chocolate chips

12 ounces white chocolate bark

Edible wax, optional

Colored sugars, candies, and other decorative sprinkles

Cake Pops Instructions

Prepare two large baking sheets by covering with wax paper or parchment.

Take a bit of the cake mixture and roll it into a smooth ball. Stick a lollipop stick into the end of each ball, pointing upward as you put the ball down on the sheet. (Note: I cut the long lollipop sticks in half; they seemed a little long for the size of the balls.) Repeat until you've used up all the mixture. As each sheet fills up, put it in the freezer so that the balls harden.

Melt chocolate or white chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. If you want to make the coating a little more resistant to melting, add a small square of wax to the pot and let it melt, too. Stir well. Dip each pop into the chocolate until covered.

Dip frosted pop in sugar, coconut, sprinkles or anything else you'd like to decorate with. Put it back on the sheet to harden.

Don't refrigerate these; it will cause the coating to weep or melt. They can be frozen, however.

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Cake on a Stick: How to Make Dark Chocolate Cake Pops

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