WHAT A MESS!
This was supposed to be a simple little project.
You know, those cute little Cake Pops you see at Starbucks?
In my mind, I thought these might be perfect for Movie Night!
I’d just make a dozen or so and move on with my day.
How hard could it be?
It turns out, this was NOT the simple process I had thought it would be.
Let me start at the beginning.
(If you want to skip the story, I’ve included the recipe in pdf…..but……you just might save yourself some angst if you take a quick read. I promise, no songs)
Remember last week, when I made Compost Cake? Well, I had left-over chocolate cake and left-over chocolate icing. On the same day I had these left-over ingredients, I bought a book on Cake Pops (by Bakerella). Kismet.
I mixed the chocolate cake and chocolate icing into the perfect consistency for Cake Pops (yep, that's what cake pops are made from. Why ice a cake when you can just mix it all together?) and formed them into the appropriate shapes.
Once they were hard, I dipped them into the melted chocolate. Oops. If you are going to cover your cake pop with white candy, don't use chocolate cake or chocolate frosting!!! And double dipping makes for a very lumpy surface. I know. It's seems obvious...now.
The instructions said to use styrofoam to hold the cake pops in place while they harden. I evidently missed the part where they tell you to pre-set the holes so that the cake pops won't touch each other
You are supposed to dip the top of the cake pop in the melted candy and then apply the marshmallows. Not a good idea. I think it looks like a toupe'.
Once everything hardened, it was time to decorate. I used my Wilton Pens, and came to a screeching halt. They didn’t work!! I briefly had a faint line, but then…..nothing. I tried scraping the candy coating to provide a rough service. Nothing.
I tried using Food Coloring and a paint brush. What a mess....
I considered using Sharpies… Bad Idea
I considered using Lacquer…. Bad Idea
By now, a week has passed. I don’t think you can even eat the cake any more.
~Sigh~
I started again.
Introducing my new and improved Cake Balls!!!
Recipe: Cake Balls
Notice. The AmeriWriters pens work on the candy coating. Also, be sure you pre-space the holes in the styrofoam for the lollipops to dry.
Ingredients:
1 pre-made cake
1 can of frosting
Lollipop Sticks
Candy Melts
Mini Marshmallows
Edible Ink Pens (be sure to use AmeriWriters!)
Styrofoam block
Directions:
Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9 x 13 inch cake pan. Let it cool completely and then break into a large bowl.
Further crumble the cake so that there are no large pieces of cake (I used a pastry blender, but if kids are helping you they will LOVE doing this - just make sure their hands are squeaky clean).
Add three quarters of the container of frosting (you will not need the remaining frosting)
Mix the frosting into the crumbled cake. Make sure it is well blended.
The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 ½ inch balls and still hold a round shape.
After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on a wax paper covered baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several house in the refrigerator or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.
While you are waiting for the Cake Pops to harden, you will want to make your "popcorn"
Make 2 or 3 cuts on each mini-marshmallow.
Don't cut all the way through. Looks like popcorn, doesn't it? How clever (I can say that as this was not my idea)
Once the balls are hardened, shape them into rectangles. Place them back in the refrigerator (or freezer) so they will harden again
Melt the candy coating, following the directions on the package. (Microwave for 30 seconds at a time at medium power, stirring with a spoon in between)
Once the candy coating is fully melted, put it into a deeper bowl. (it makes it easier to dip the cake pops)
One at a time, dip ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating.
insert the stick straight into a rectangular cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through.
Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating. Place in the Styrofoam block to dry.
When the cake pops are dry, tip the bottom of the marshmallows into the melted candy and place on top of rectangle.
Once the cake pop has dried completely, write “POP” on the front of each cake pop with a black edible ink pen and draw vertical lines on each pop using a red edible ink pen. Return them to the Styrofoam block to let the ink dry completely.
All ready for the little (and big) munchkins......I'm spent
They came out so cute! I will definitely have to make them with my sister.
It only took a week and several trips to get the right pen!!!! Be sure to send a pic when you are done. I suspect they will be much better than mine, but then i’ll just, er, “borrow” your pic!!!
That was a lot of “hit and miss”. It’s good when someone else gets the bugs out. I think I would have had to figure it out, too. The finished popcorn-cakepops are really darling, though.
These are too cute for words, but I really love your Sharpie jar. Swoon!
Ha Ha. I know. I almost don’t want to use the pens. Might mess up the symmetry!
Absolutely brilliant!!
Thanks. They were fun to make, and sadly not up to the standards of the gal that originally made them, but gosh we had a fun time….
Oh these are just darling! My daughters 2nd birthday is coming up right after Christmas….so we will be broke. I’m doing a carnival/popcorn/cotton candy theme. I think I just found her “cake”. Do you have any idea for cotton candy?
Hmmm. I haven’t made cotton candy at home (although when I was a teenager, I did man the cotton candy wagon…very sticky)…
My best thought is to buy the bagged cotton candy and then affix it to sucker sticks (the same size as the popcorn bag suckers. Because the cotton candy dissolves so easily, I am thinking it would stick to the stick pretty easily. Now that you have me thinking about this I will go see if I can find some cotton candy and see what I can do….I’ll get back to you.
BTW, love the theme for your daughter’s Christmas. I know it’s hard when their birthdays are at a holiday…..
Good luck and Happy thanksgiving!!
I am making these for my nephews baseball theme bar-mitzvah. How many cake pops does one box make? Also, if I make them ahead of time, do you think they would keep well in the fridge for a day or 2?? Thanks
What fun! Be sure to share pics. I think it’s great that you are doing this for your nephew. What a good aunt! You should get around 40 cake pops out of one box ( unless you keep popping them in your mouth the whole time). Yes you will be fine to make these a couple of days ahead of time. Have fun.
Thanks so much, just in time! This will be an added touch to the sundae bar along with some baseball Oreos! I’ll be lucky if I make it out of the house with my children…better yet, my husband! Will post pics, fingers crossed! The process has begun! I do have to thank you, not only for your prompt response but also for sharing your experience! I looked through several searches and almost didn’t make them until I saw yours. Although a process, I love the reward! Always looking for new things to do for the kids and for school. Thanks again!
Your sundae bar and baseball oreos sound perfect. Have fun!!
P.S… I couldn’t find Ameriwriters, I ended up getting Wilton Fine tip Foodwriter edible markers. Have you heard of them? Lets hope they are similar!
I hope the Wilton work okay for you. I have to admit, I did try them and didn’t have much success. You might want to try Amazon to see if you can (quickly) get the Ameriwriters. Good luck!!