Tutorial Tuesday - DIY Cake Pops!

If you are planning a bridal shower, birthday party, or baby shower, this could really help you. If you aren't and you just like chocolate, you'll appreciate this just as much.

A friend of mine is getting married soon. For her bridal shower, they expected around 100 guests. I asked the hostess if I could help in anyway and she mentioned they didn't have any favors yet. Even if we discovered a favor for a dollar a piece, $100 was still more than what we wanted to spend. Here is a great favor for about $0.30 a piece.

Today, we are going to learn to make

Cake Pops! 

These are really easy to make, but they take time. Your guests will love them and they'll be absolutely worth it.



What You Need: (Amounts depend on how many you want to make)

• Cake Mix (and the ingredients listed on the box)*
• Frosting
• Lollipop Sticks
• Treat bags with ties
• Almond Bark/Baker's Chocolate
• Sprinkles (optional)
• Custom Stickers (optional)
• Cookie Sheets
• Parchment Paper
• Plate/bowl
• Styrofoam 
• Food Coloring (optional)

*Each box of cake mix makes about 40-50 cake pops

Directions:

• Bake your cake like normal. Let cool.

• Line Cookie Sheets with Parchment Paper.
• Empty baked cake into a large bowl.
• Add 8oz frosting per cake in the bowl.

• Mix together with your hands (should be a thick consistency) - this will be messy, so have paper towels close by. Enlist your kids and have a blast!

• Form 1in balls with cake mixture and place on Parchment Paper. Do this until all of your mix is gone.

• Put cookie sheets into freezer for 1 hour. (I left mine in overnight just due to life's demands)

• Melt chocolate according to directions. 
• Dip about a 1/2in of each lollipop stick into the chocolate and put halfway through the cake ball. (The ball will have a flat spot from sitting on the cookie sheet, so this is a good spot to insert the stick.)
• Let the chocolate set.

• Dip the ball into the melted chocolate. Tap off the excess chocolate. You will have greater success with this step if the ball and chocolate are cool and set from when you inserted the stick. (If chocolate is too thick, you can add shortening to thin it out. Do not use butter.)
• If you'd like sprinkles, pour over ball while the chocolate is still wet. Pour the sprinkles over a bowl or plate to collect anything that drops. You'll be able to reuse these sprinkles in the bowl. This gets messy.

• Stand the Cake Pop upright into the Styrofoam. This will allow them to dry without having a flat spot.

• While the Cake Pops dry, add your custom stickers to the Treat Bags.

• Once set, wrap with the Treat Bag.

These make great favors and taste delicious. You can use all sorts of combinations for flavors of cake, frosting, and Almond Bark. My favorite is chocolate cake, white frosting, and vanilla almond bark.

I happened to run out of sprinkles and had extra almond bark. I decided to decorate several of them in blue and brown. Just remember that the decoration on the outside helps hide imperfections in the coating. Plus, they just look great!