Basic Cake Pops Recipe

A friend recently commented about my snow cone cake pops I made for July 4th and asked how to make them. Here is the easiest way I know how, that works and stays on the stick.

Cake Pop Ingredients

• 1 boxed cake mix (any brand, any flavor)

• Use 1/3 of the amount of oil it calls for

• Use milk (any variety) instead of water

• Frosting (from a can or homemade buttercream - any flavor)

• Ghirardelli melting wafers (milk, dark, or white)

• Sprinkles or other toppings

Other things that will be helpful:

• Disposable gloves

• Lollipop sticks (Mine are 6” but choose what works for you. Some people use straws or plastic sticks. Up to you!)

• Parchment paper or cake pop stand (or, try an upside down colander - that’s what I did starting out and it worked pretty well! Just watch out for heavy cake pops that like to tip over.)

How to Make Easy Cake Pops

1. Mix and bake a 9”x13” cake per the instructions (with the oil/milk edits above). Let cool completely. I made my cake the night before I planned to decorate to make sure it was completely cool. Be sure to cover with plastic wrap if you’re doing this so it doesn’t dry out.

2. Cut off the top, bottom, and sides of your cake. You don’t want anything “golden brown” in your cake pops; just the fluffy, moist cake part.

3. Put the cake into a stand mixer and mix with a few tablespoons of frosting (from a can or homemade buttercream - your choice). Mix until it reaches playdough or cookie dough consistency. Add more frosting, as needed.

   • Note: the first time I tried making these, I mixed with my hands (wearing gloves). That’s an option if you don’t have a stand mixer, but mine never got to the right consistency. You could try a hand mixer, but watch out for dough that likes to jump out of the bowl.

4. Put on gloves and roll your cake pop dough into balls about 1” to 1.5” around. No need to measure; go with what feels right. You don’t want them to be too large, though; they’ll fall off the stick.

5. Melt the Ghirardelli melting wafers to temper (microwave or in a melting pot). Make sure your chocolate isn’t too hot!

6. Dip a lollipop stick in the chocolate and then stick it halfway through a cake ball. Repeat for the number of balls you made.

7. Let the sticks in the balls harden for a few minutes.

   • Don’t refrigerate - let them sit on your counter.

8. Dip the balls into your melted chocolate to completely cover them. Gently tap on the side of the bowl/pot to remove excess chocolate. Place on parchment paper (upside down cake pops) or in a cake pop stand (or colander) to dry and decorate.

9. If adding sprinkles, now is the time to do that while your chocolate is still wet. If drizzling with chocolate, let your cake pops completely dry and then drizzle with melted (but not hot!) chocolate.