If you like getting cake pops at coffee shops or your local grocery store, you’re not alone. Cake pops have become very popular in the past decade or so. Have you ever wondered, though, how to make cake pops of your own?
You may be shying away from trying to make your own cake pops, but the truth is that it’s definitely worth a try. And it won’t cost as much as buying them in the store. Also, when you make your own, you can choose your own ingredients.
Cake pops are great for a variety of occasions, whether you have a birthday party coming up or you just want a sweet treat. That’s why it’s a good idea to learn how to make cake pops at home. The more you try, the better you’ll get at it, and the more you can enjoy them.
What Are Cake Pops?
If you’re an adult, you probably don’t remember cake pops being around for as long as you can remember. http://www.cakepopgallery.com/cake-pop-info/history-of-cake-pops.html“>Cake pops are relatively new in the dessert world, having started to gain popularity in about 2008. If you want to learn how to make cake pops, you’ll be in good company.
A brief history of cake pops
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We don’t necessarily know that much about the origin of cake pops. However, we do know that they started from bakers’ habit of rolling leftover cake into balls. This is the early version of how to make cake pops.
Instead of throwing away the leftover cake, they would break it down into crumbs and mix it with icing or another binding agent. This would make it so that the mixture was actually sweeter than the original cake. Then, they would roll it into balls, and cover it with another coating to make a cake pop.
This innovation became popular among the masses. It was then that bakers quickly saw what a cash cow these cake pops were, and they started making them into marketable desserts in their own right.
And then, of course, there was Bakerella. A lot of people would credit her for making cake pops as ubiquitous as they are today. Cake pops first became an actual item on many shelves in 2008.
HOW CAKE POPS BECAME POPULAR
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Cake pops are a great dessert for a few reasons. You can eat them on a https://www.amazon.com/Lollipop-Including-Sticks-Wrappers-Accessories/dp/B07CXQZJB9/“>stick, just like a lollipop, and you can also enjoy a variety of sophisticated cake flavors, like traditional cake.
The idea of cake balls made out of leftover cake is nothing new, as bakers have been doing this for a long time. However, cake pops didn’t actually take on a life of their own until https://www.cnbc.com/id/45683585“>Bakerella, also known as Angie Dudley, gave it to them.
She not only made cake pops but also wrote about them online as well. Her special recipe that involved combining cake crumbs and frosting ended up going viral, and she was invited on Martha Stewart’s show in the spring of 2008.
If you’ve ever seen cake balls in their original form, meaning crumbs combined with icing, you know that although they taste great, their looks leave a lot to be desired. Dudley took a cake decorating class in 2007 that inspired her to experiment with them and improve upon the concept.
Dudley started dipping the cake balls in candy coating and putting all sorts of decorations on them. Then, she started a trend by sticking a lollipop stick in one of them.
Since then, she’s created cake pops of various shapes and themes, such as bumblebees and pandas. She’s blogged about them and even published a book about them. It’s safe to say that cake pops have earned a solid place in modern culture, at least partially thanks to Bakerella.
How to Make Cake Pops
If you want to know how to make cake pops, the https://divascancook.com/how-to-make-cake-pops-easy-best/“>recipe is actually more straightforward than you might think. However, it does require effort. It’s not as simple as some other recipes are. For example, you actually need to bake a cake before you can even start making cake pops.
If you’re interested in learning, though, you should give it a try. It’s more involved than many recipes, but the end result is definitely going to be worth it once you put in the effort to learn how to make cake pops.
INGREDIENTS
To make about 26 medium size cake pops, you’ll need the following:
- A 9 by 13 cake of whatever flavor you choose, already prepared
- 4 heaping tablespoons of the frosting of your choice
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the candy coating of your choice
- Lollipop sticks
- The toppings and decorations of your choice
As you can see, there’s a lot of leeway as far as the ingredients go. There are so many possibilities and flavor combinations that you can use when you make cake pops.
In order to make things easier, you can use a boxed cake mix instead of making the cake from scratch. As far as the candy coating goes, use your judgment. You just need to make sure you have enough that you’ll be able to dip all of your cake pops into it.
STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS
First, put all the cake you’re going to use into a large bowl. Use your hands to crumble it until it’s really just a mass of fine crumbs.
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Making the cake balls
Add in the frosting a little bit at a time, and mix it with your hands. Keep adding it in until the mixture is moist, and you’re able to roll it into a ball. It should still be a little bit crumbly, however.
Roll the entire mixture into balls that are about 1.5 inches wide, and leave them on a baking sheet.
The candy coating and toppings
Then, melt about two to four ounces of your chocolate or candy coating in the microwave. Once your coating is liquid, dip the tips of all of the cake pop sticks that you plan on using into it and stick them into the balls about halfway. Freeze the cake pops for about 20 minutes.
While your cake pops are in the freezer, you can prepare all of the decorating supplies you’re going to use. This includes any sprinkles, mini cookies, or anything that you plan to put on the outside of your cake pops.
Then, melt the rest of your coating material in a large cup. You should make sure that you have enough that you can completely submerge your cake balls on sticks.
Take your cake balls out of the freezer, and dip them into the coating until you have them covered. Let any excess coating drip off of the balls. You can swirl them and tap them gently against the side of the bowl if you need to.
Put the toppings and decorations on while the coating is still wet. Make sure to do this quickly, because it’ll harden faster than you think.
Let them set
Once you’ve decorated your cake pops, stick them into a styrofoam block. Now, you can let them finish setting. You can put them into the freezer to speed up the process as well. Once they’re completely done, store them in a cool area in an airtight container until you’re ready to use them.
Prepare and enjoy!
Now, you can prepare them for your party or however else you’re going to use them. Cover each of your cake pops with a treat bag, and tie it up with a ribbon. Arrange them in whatever way you find attractive, and then serve and enjoy!
The Dos and Don’ts of Making Cake Pops
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Learning how to make cake pops is actually fairly simple. However, there are a few https://www.mybluprint.com/article/the-dos-and-donts-of-making-cake-pops-by-someone-whos-been-there“>do’s and don’ts that you should keep in mind if you want to have success with the process.
Rolling the cake balls
Do use a cookie scoop or mini ice cream scoop to make sure that the portions are uniform for each cake ball.
Don’t make cake balls that are too big. If you do, they may fall apart when you’re trying to dip them.
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Candy coating
Do use candy coating that is made specifically for dipping. It’ll melt smoothly, and it’ll harden completely.
Don’t use regular chocolate as your coating. If you do, you run a risk that it’ll end up discoloring once it melts and cools. It also may not harden completely.
Do use a tall and narrow cup to dip your cake pops. You want to make sure it’s deep enough so you can completely submerge each cake pop.
Don’t roll your cake pops around on a plate covered with candy coating. They’ll likely end up unevenly covered if you do this.
Do use oil-based dyes if you want to color your candy coating. Keep in mind that the dyes will slightly alter the flavor of the coating, so it would be ideal to get a coating that’s already the color that you want.
Don’t use any dyes that aren’t oil-based to color your candy coating. This can change the texture and make it unusable.
Do make sure that your cake balls and the candy coating are as close to room temperature as possible when you do the dipping. Let the cake balls warm up a little bit when you take them out of the freezer, and let the candy coating cool down.
Don’t dip cold cake balls into hot candy coating. You may end up with cracks if you do this.
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Decorations
Do feel free to use sprinkles or nonpareils to decorate your cake pops.
Don’t use any decorations, such as candies, without testing them first. Put them in the freezer, take them out, and see how they react to the process of warming up to room temperature.
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Storage
Do refrigerate your cake pops in airtight containers or individual wrappings. That way, when you take them out of the freezer, the condensation will collect on the packaging, rather than the cake pop itself.
Don’t store your cake pops without covering them. If you do, they’ll probably end up dotted with condensation.
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Super Secret Option
If you just can’t get those crumbs to stick together like you want them to or you just want to try a different way to make cake pops, we have another choice for you.
Instead of creating the ball out of leftover cake, you could use a cake pop maker, which looks like a waffle maker but isn’t. Inside, the https://www.amazon.com/Babycakes-CP-12-Maker-Capacity-Purple/dp/B0050JRZR2/“>cake pop maker has small circle holes to fill with cake mix. Just close the lid and bake. Once they cool, add icing and decorations like we mentioned above.
It’s a Piece of Cake!
If you’re interested in how to make cake pops, you should know that it can be a somewhat challenging process. It’s definitely doable, especially with practice, but it’s not as simple as some recipes. However, once you master it, it’s well worth the effort.
The sky’s the limit when you think about the different types of cake pops you can make. You can make them with any flavor of cake that you want, any coating, and any kinds of decorations on top. It’s not just a baking project; it has the potential to be an art project as well!
Learning how to make cake pops can be very rewarding. You can get creative with it and really have some fun, not to mention have a great go-to dessert for your next party. Even if your first batch of cake pops isn’t perfect, if you keep at it, you’ll definitely have a great skill to enjoy and share with your friends.
What do you think of everything we’ve just told you about how to make cake pops? Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment!