Sun(DIY): Cake Pops

Last time I was visiting Chicago my brother-in-law wanted to make dessert for a party they were having, so we decided to give cake pops a go. They were surprisingly easy! (And no we didn't use any fancy tools or baking trays. Just good old-fashioned ingenuity.)

First we baked two cakes, one strawberry and one key lime. Once they cooled we broke them up into fluffy bits with a fork.

They were then ready to be mixed with icing. We used pre-made store bought icing and mixed in cream cheese as well (so they wouldn't be overwhelmingly sweet). We used 3/4's of a can of icing with equal cups (equal amounts) of cream cheese. (Ours still came out out pretty sweet though so I would recommend more cream cheese than icing for my next go round.) We mixed everything well until the cake now had the consistency of a dough. Then we froze it for an hour till it was cool enough to work with.

After removing the "dough" from the freezer we rolled it into balls. (I recommend rolling smaller balls about the size you would do when using a spoon to make cookies. You can make larger ones but they become heavy on the stick, are harder to dip, and are prone to falling off the stick while dipping.) Then place each ball on a waxed paper lined freezable tray and put a stick in each one.

After that's done it's back to the freezer with them till they are frozen.

Once frozen and ready to go, stop, and prep. Put any sprinkles your using in a bowl. Then prepare your chocolate. I like to use the Wilson melts because they are super user friendly. I put a handful of melts in a small microwaveable bowl and nuke it for one minute at a time, occasionally stirring, till all the chocolate is consistently melted. I like to use a butter knife to stir and then keep it handy (for exactly) that when I'm dipping as well. And BE CAREFUL! The chocolate is HOT and can burn you!

Now's also when you want set up the tray you're going to put the dipped pops on. I used an old styrofoam cooler lid that we had lying around. It not only worked great but was also a great way to give a seond life to the styrofoam. (Just be sure to wash it first!)

Now you're ready to dip! Take your tray out of the freezer and start to dipping by taking each pop, one at a time, and starting at an angle swirl the pop in the chocolate till its completely covered. (Resist the urge to dunk... The cake gets covered waaay to thickly and tends to fall off the stick.) Once covered carefully push the pop, stick down, into the styrofoam tray, or receptacle of your choosing, so as not to smear the hot chocolate. Then take some sprinkles, be sure to do this while it's still hot) and sprinkle them onto the pop. Be sure to stir your chocolate lightly as needed while dipping. I also like to sometimes "cheat" as the chocolate cools and pick up the bowl and tilt it as I swirl the pop.

As you run out of chocolate melts it will become difficult to dip so you will need to pause and melt some more in the microwave. Be sure to do this as needed rather than trying to melt and use a whole bowl. A large bowl of chocolate melts is not only harder to heat without burning them (and creating an awful mess) but it's also harder to work with while dipping as the chocolate tends to change consistency in different areas too fast.

Once all your pops are melted and sprinkled put them back in the fridge to harden them and keep them cool till ready to serve. (You can leave them out on the counter to cool as well but they will take longer to harden.)

Once hardened, that's it! You're done!

Find an attractive way to serve them and voila! Finé!

Let me know if you liked this DIY or if you have any questions!

Kisses,

K

(All images by and owned by Krista Carson. Please use with permission and give credit.)