10 Tips for Poppin' Cake Pops

Hey guys!
I recently learned that not everyone really understands all that a cake pop is supposed to be, so I am here to clear the air and give you my best tips and tricks to getting the perfect pops!

First off, what are cake pops? They are essentially little cake truffles where the filling is crumbled up cake mixed with frosting, and then they are dipped in chocolate. That is what a cake pop is supposed to be- so do not fall into the marketing trap of those little "cake pop maker" machines that encourage you to spoon cake batter into their George Forman-rip off countertop contraption that'll just give you little doughnut hole-like balls of cake.  And while cake doughnut holes sound delicious, that is not a cake pop.

So the next question you might be asking is well okay then what is the right way to make a cake pop? I'm glad you asked, buckle up it's time to learn! 

1. Start by making a batch of your favorite cake! Any flavor, boxed or from scratch: any will do the job. I Go ahead and make mine in a sheet pan, since we will be crumbling it up anyways.
2. While your cake is baking and cooling, go ahead and make some of your favorite frosting. (Or if you're using canned frosting, sit back and relax but just know I'm silently judging you for using canned frosting.)
3. Once your cake is baked and cooled, time to start crumbling it up into your mixing bowl!
4. After your cake is sufficiently crumbled, add no more than 2/3 cups of frosting to your cake crumbles. If you add too much frosting, your pops won't hold their shape: so start small and go from there. (You know the saying, "you can always add more, but it's not always as easy to take it out.")
5. Once your mixture resembles that of a firm cookie dough, you're ready to roll out your pops! Now you can make them as large or as small as you want, but I always use a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop and shape my pops.
6. Once you have rolled out all of your little balls, it is time to turn our attention to the sticks. Personally, I find the lolly-pop style of cake pop sticks that are marketed for cake pops are hard to use, and the cake ball falls off of them far too easily. My solution? Using those trendy little paper straws you see all over Pinterest! Not only are they adorable, but the fact that they are a straw helps them stick inside the cake pop better than the average stick! So, I suggest using those.
7. Once you have trimmed your straw-sticks down to your desired size, it's time to melt a little bit of chocolate. Then you will dip the end of the stick into the chocolate, and then stick it into the cake ball. The addition of the chocolate also helps to prevent the cake ball from falling off of the stick after one bite, also makes it easier to dip the pops into the chocolate: so it's a win-win! Another step that will aide in the dipping process is sticking your cake pops in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes before dipping them, to make sure they do not fall off of their sticks when you are trying to make sure they are perfectly coated in chocolate goodness.
   1. A quick note on the chocolate: make sure you are using candy chocolate, that will solidify again once cooled. If you use melted chocolate chips or even ganache, the chocolate will never dry down. So make sure you use something like Wilton Candy Melts, or my favorite the Ghirardelli Melting Wafers.
8. To melt your candy chocolate either pop it in the microwave for 30 second intervals at 50% power mixing between intervals until melted, or melt them over a double boiler.
9. Now, it's time to dip your pops! Dunk 'em in, and gently tap the stick on the edge of the bowl to get rid of any copious amounts of excess chocolate.
   
10. Once dipped place them on a wax paper lined pan until they are cooled and ready to pack up, or eat!

I hope this post has cleared the air of any cake pop misconceptions or helped you root out any errors you might have been making! From this day forward may all of your cake pops be poppin'! (I'm sorry I had to.)

Happy Baking!
Emily B