Last week was my niece, Little Miss's birthday. She turned four. Crazy... To celebrate, Auntie Twin made treats for her to bring in to pre-school and to ballet class. The treat looked amazing. I wanted to try it for myself! But I needed an occasion... This was the kind of treat that needed to be make for a reason, not just because... (Ok, it absolutely can be made just because... any day is a day to celebrate, right? I guess I just wanted to make this for more that just myself and Hubby...) Well, last week was a friend's birthday. So we invited her for dinner. She wasn't able to come until this week. Yesterday, to be precise. I was psyched. A birthday celebration? The perfect reason for me to make Cake Pops!!
When Auntie Twin said she was making cake pops, I was confused. I didn't quite understand the whole idea. She explained it to me, then I looked at her post, and at her source. It then became not only clear but also irresistible!
I started with a store-bought cake mix and store bought frosting. Not a common occu
rrence, but I just went for convenience. I used a vanilla cake, but I did add some cinnamon to it, just to make it my own... I cut the cake into cubes, then crumbled it up. I can't wait until Little Girl is old enough to help me in the kitchen, and this is a job that any kid would love!! (I only used about 2/3 of the cake, just to try to keep the quantity of pops at something close to reasonable.) Into the cake crumbs went about half of the can of frosting, then the whole mess got mixed together. Using chocolate frosting made the whole thing loo
k chocolate. At that point I was kind of glad to have use vanilla cake. I love chocolate, but I thought that might have been a little intense. Once the cake and frosting were well incorporated it was time to roll the cake balls. I wasn't quite sure how big or small these should be. But I used the popsicle sticks as a guide for what would be reasonable and just sort of went with it! Once the cake was rolled, I put the balls into the fridge to set. I actually did this a day ahead - partly to give them time to set up well, and partly to make sure I didn't run out of time if Little Girl wasn't napping well.
rrence, but I just went for convenience. I used a vanilla cake, but I did add some cinnamon to it, just to make it my own... I cut the cake into cubes, then crumbled it up. I can't wait until Little Girl is old enough to help me in the kitchen, and this is a job that any kid would love!! (I only used about 2/3 of the cake, just to try to keep the quantity of pops at something close to reasonable.) Into the cake crumbs went about half of the can of frosting, then the whole mess got mixed together. Using chocolate frosting made the whole thing loo
k chocolate. At that point I was kind of glad to have use vanilla cake. I love chocolate, but I thought that might have been a little intense. Once the cake and frosting were well incorporated it was time to roll the cake balls. I wasn't quite sure how big or small these should be. But I used the popsicle sticks as a guide for what would be reasonable and just sort of went with it! Once the cake was rolled, I put the balls into the fridge to set. I actually did this a day ahead - partly to give them time to set up well, and partly to make sure I didn't run out of time if Little Girl wasn't napping well. 
Cut to the next day.
Time to make these cake balls turn into cake pops! Using milk chocolate candy melts, I employed my makeshift double boiler - a bowl over a pot of water. I started my dipping the ends of the popsicle sticks into the chocolate, then pushing the sticks into the balls. (Please keep your thoughts "G" rated...) I was hoping to avoid any major messes, and wanted the sticks to stay in place! It was then time to dip the whole thing in the chocolate... Sorry there are no pictures of this step - I kind of needed both hands at all times! I used a combination of dipping, rolling, pouring and using a spoon to get a nice coat of chocolate on there... I then finished each pop by sprinkling on some crystal sugar. Just to make it pretty...
Hubby, Birthday Buddy and I were very pleased with the results! The pops stayed together, looked adorable and tasted really good! (Hubby asked how I made the cake so moist... I had to explain that the cake part was actually a combination of cake and frosting...) This is going to be a keeper recipe for when Little Girl gets bigger, and is (as Auntie Twin said) the perfect (albeit time consuming and somewhat labor intensive) treat to bring in for little ones - preportioned and with a handle! This was totally worth the effort, and it will be fun to play with flavors, colors, shapes and sizes! Thanks, Auntie Twin!!
I have always wanted to make these! You should host a tutorial :)
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