Candy Cake Pops

Posted by Joanne MacLennan on 5/13/2012 to Spring Ideas

So excited to share this post with you today from Joanne MacLennan! Joanne is a talented cake pop artist from Nova Scotia, who incorporates candy into many of her pieces. (You can view all of her work at Merry Poppins.)

A few weeks ago, we asked Joanne if she could create her beautiful bouquet of Candy Cake Pops for the MyCandyCrafts blog. Luckily she said yes, and her detailed tutorial follows. Thank you Joanne!

I have lost count of the number of cake pops I have made ... and have a few DIY tips for you to ensure the bottle of Advil stays in the medicine cabinet where it belongs.

If this is your first time making cake pops, allow yourself lots of time. Do not be in a hurry. The end result is worth every moment putting these together, so have fun!

p.s. - This is the first time that I have used candies and candy melts/wafers from MyCandyCrafts.com and Candy.com and I am thoroughly impressed. The colors are vibrant and the candy melts are beautiful to work with.

Here's what you'll need:

Cake Mix (One cake mix makes approximately 40 cake pops)
Homeade or Canned Frosting
Candy Melts/Wafers in desired colors
Lollipop Sticks (I use the 6-inch size most of the time)
Sugar Sprinkles, Nonpareils, and Sugar Pearls
Wax Paper
Flat Plate or Cookie Sheet
Microwaveable Bowls
Spoons
Styrofoam Block or Holder to allow cake pops to "set"

Here's the how-to:

Bake and cool your cake. (For best results, make your cake a day ahead of time.) Once cool, cut cake into sections and pop them into a sealed container or freezer bag, and refrigerate. I make homemade frosting the day before and refrigerate so it's cool for the next day, too.

Ready to make the pops! Pull out your cake and finely crumble it with your fingers. If you have a food processor, pulse cake pieces a few times until fine.

Drop in about 2 Tablespoons of frosting for half of a cake. Each cake mix brand has a different consistency, so I start slow. You can always add more frosting, but you can't delete it. :)

Mix with a fork until blended through. Then, use your hands and kneed mixture until it feels like soft dough. The more you kneed, the smoother it will be. If there are are dry patches in the dough, add a little more frosting. It does not take much, so go slow. Think smooth.

Layer a cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper. Pull off chunks of the cake dough and place on wax paper. (I do not form dough into balls until I have the exact dough pieces I need, plus a few extra, so I can still add or take away from them to get the perfect ball size.)

Roll cake dough pieces into balls. I start firm when I roll, and loosen as I work out the ball, using my fingertips to round it out.

Time for the chocolate coating! In 20-second intervals, microwave approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chocolate melts/wafers in a glass bowl. You may need to do this about three to four times to eliminate all lumps. If after three or four attempts of 20-second intervals you still find lumps, drop microwave time to 18 seconds, then 15 seconds, depending upon the amount of wafers in your bowl. If over-microwaved, wafers will become runny, so take it slow!

Dip lollipop sticks about one-third of an inch into bowl of melted chocolate wafers. Then, insert frosting end of stick into cake pop about 3/4 of the way through each pop. If you don't insert sticks far enough, cake balls will fall off when you begin dipping.

Unless it is really hot the day you are making these, you can pretty much dip the pops into melted chocolate coating right away because the cake and frosting are already cool from refrigeration. The chilled dough will help the candy melts set quickly, with no cracking.

Dip each pop all the way up to the base of the nice little round ring at the stick. Gently tap the lollipop stick against your finger to get the extra chocolate coating off each ball. Be sure to cover the whole pop. (Note: While dipping pops in the melted chocolate coating, you may need to re-melt wafers approximately 10 seconds to keep the coating warm and smooth.)

If a bubble forms, work it out, and make sure cake pop is completely sealed with chocolate coating. If it's not sealed, oil can leak and drip down your beautiful work ... but that is why you make a few extra. You can eat this one and no one will know!

Immediately after dipping each cake pop into chocolate coating, decorate with sprinkles, nonpareils, and candy pearls.

For what I call "Ringed Pops," I hold my pop to the side, and with a spoon in my other hand, I let the candy melts drip onto my pop as I turn it with my other hand all the way around. Three rings will do the trick.

Sprinkle each ring with sugar, candy pearls, or nonpareils generously. You want them completely covered.

To create my signature "Flower Pops," fully dip each cake pop in the melted chocolate coating, turn it upside down, and place on wax paper. (Note: Be sure to tap extra coating off each cake pop to avoid pools of chocolate forming at the base of the pop.)

After the dipped cake pop has set, gently drop a little melted chocolate coating onto the flat bottom. That flat bottom becomes the top!

Start placing mini licorice pastels around the flat top of each cake pop. Hold each piece of candy for a moment until you can feel that it is not going to shift. If your chocolate coating is too hot, the candies will slip right off. If that starts to happen, wait a few minutes for coating to cool, and then start placing candies again.

Stand petal cake pops in a Styrofoam block or holder to let them set. Once set, drop a small amount of chocolate coating into the middle of each flower, and sprinkle with colored sugar, nonpareils or sugar pearls. Let set.

The last thing that I like to do is dip a piece of candy into the melted chocolate coating and place it in the middle of each flower. Hold it in place a few seconds until it sets.

That's it! Hope you have fun creating colorful Candy Cake Pops!