Cake on a Stick or Cake Pops by Any Other Name Could Not Taste Any Sweeter (Partly Because They are Already Very Sweet, but Mostly Because I Made Them with Chessy)

I’m a sucker for projects.  That’s why when Chessy, my very creative, very patient and very cute pre-teen co-conspirator, decided to take me  up on my idea of making cake pops I didn’t blink.  Projects like this don’t faze me, for I am the daughter of the Queen of Arts and Crafts.  I’m also a pantry pack rat so I had most of the necessary supplies on hand and only had to buy the cake mix and frosting.

Cake pops are popular.  Cake pops are cute.  You use a cake mix, prepared icing and commercial candy coating, how difficult could they be?  Well, the answer is a very tricky, even with using the always inventive Bakerella’s brilliant directions for basic cake pops.  We made our cake pops with white candy coating and planned on decorating them with my extensive collections of colored sugars, decorating candies, sprinkles, etc.

Chessy and Cake Pops to Go

There were a few hitches.  I had to improvise a stand when I discovered I had misplaced the styrofoam. I didn’t plan enough ahead and the cake wasn’t cool enough.  Make yours the day ahead.  I probably should have planned on getting more candy melts and working in batches.  Part of the process of successful cake pop process is to dip your stick in the hot candy, stick in the cake ball and let freeze for a bit so the cake ball and candy stick have a chance to bond.  Let’s just say we rushed that step, too, and had more than a few cake balls list or even fall off their sticks. Swirling the cake balls in the melted candy to cover them (somewhat evenly) is also an acquired skill.The whole process also took a LOT longer than I anticipated.

Chessy was in charge of decoration and had a grand time sprinkling, dusting and spraying our arsenal of cake decorating products on our somewhat lopsided and misshapen just-dipped cake pops.  Despite everything they came out looking grand.  We wrapped the best looking ones in colored cellophane for her to pass out proudly to friends and family and snacked on the fallen and lumpy.  We both enjoyed the experience, but I found the final product teeth-achingly sweet, an opinion she did not share. Since cake pops are about, well, the pop not the cake, the final taste didn’t bother me, but if I was making these for adults I might see about using a different mix/frosting or even make my own for a bit more subtle taste.  But really, I mostly wish I had the skill/practice/patience to make ones that looked half as nice as Bakerella’s. 

The best part of the recipe was making them with Chessy (we made these over winter break).  That’s always my favorite ingredient.

(For another resource, the Oakland Tribune, my local newspaper, recently featured info and directions for cake pop making, a recipe from Bakerella and  tips from Bakerella herself)