Cake on a Stick!

They are chocolatey on the outside and soft and rich in the inside, and they are all conveniently secured on lollipop sticks. They are cake on a stick or better known as cake pops!

I made my first cake ball when I was nine, but I never thought about putting them on a stick! Sixteen years later, Angie Dudley, also known as Bakerella, geniusly put them on a stick. She then published a book calls Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats, and cake pops got fun and popular since then! Super!

A ready to eat cake pop

Two months ago, my friend, Mei, asked me to make some cupcakes and cake pops for her sister, Meiling's, bridal shower. I was beyond excited because I love baking cupcakes and I always want to try making cake pops. Cupcakes are going to be easy for me, but cake pops will be a challenge since I have never made it before. Since the cake pops look super easy to make, I did not bother trying it out until the day before Mei coming over to pick them up.

I baked the cake and made the frosting the night beofre, but I accidentally added too much frosting into the cake, so in the end, I had to remake everything the next morning. The frosting added to the crumbled cake is an important step! Add a little bit of frosting at a time!. Adding too much frosting will make the pops too wet and adding too little will make the pops too dry--both result in the cake balls not holding their shapes.

I was running behind since I messed up on the mixture, so by the time Mei came over, I still had much to do. Mei was a big help! When it was time to cover the pops with chocolate, I realized I was totally wrong about this simple pop. This part took forever!Good thing we have four hands! So one of us ended up dipping the pops into the chocolate while the other put some sprinkle on and stick them into a styroform box to let dry. So the trick for us is to avoid all excessive movements that will make the cake ball fall off the lollipop stick. So instead of trying to tap off the excess chocolate, we just leave it. The cake pop still turned out good and the outer layer of chocolate is still thin.

Ingredients:
1 - 13 X 9 cake (from scratch or box mix)
8 oz of frosting (from scratch or ready made tub)
2 bags of candy melts
1 - one tablespoon measuring spoon
50 lollipop sticks
1 giant styroform block

Instruction:1. Bake your cake and make your frosting. Allow the cake to cool and frosting to be in room temperature.

2. Once the cake is cool, crumble it in a big bowl or pan.

3. Add 8oz of frosting into the crumbled cake and mix to combine.

4. Use the one tablespoon measuring spoon and scoop the mixture. Roll mixture into a ball.
5. Lay the rolled ball onto a parchment paper or a Silpat. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

6. With a small bowl, melt a little bit of the chocolate. Dip the lollipop stick about 1/4 inches into the melted chocolate.

7. Stick the lollipop stick into the cake ball half way in. Repeat with all the cake balls.

8. Place the cake balls into a fridge and let it cool for 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, melt the rest of the chocolate in a large narrow bowl.
10. Dip the cake pops into the melted chocolate. Optional: Tap gently with hand to rid access chocolate.
11. Stick the wet cake pop into the styroform block to dry. If wish to use sprinkles, add them while the pop is still wet. The cake pop will look glossy when it's still wet, and look matte when dry. (Styroform block is not needed if wish to dry upside down. Just place the pop upside down onto a parchment paper).

A wet cake pop

12. Ready to eat or package when dry.

Enjoy!