Episode 83 – Cake Pops Basics

Episode 83
December 27, 2011
Cake Pops Basics

Here’s another requested episode this time by Alina.  Alina is one of my long time fans and made a lovely version of the white chocolate mousse cake with a dark chocolate mousse cake layer.  I hope this video isn’t too basic for you Alina!  In the future, I’d like to do more complex cake pop designs which will also double as fondant or gum paste design videos.

This video is the very basics of cake pops as I know how to make them.  There are a ton of recipes out there though Bakerella is credited as one of the first people/cookbooks to make them.  Visit her page for all kinds of cake pop goodness!  She really goes all out decorating hers.  Before that, “cake spackle” was commonly what cake pops were used for – not to make cake pops but for helping with 3D cakes and to help seal torn cakes back together.

Cake pops are a great way to use up cake scraps, left over icing, and left over decorations.  Many cakes and icings can be frozen for between 1-3 months before their flavor is affected so this is actually a very profitable way for small bake shops to make money out of product that would’ve been thrown away anyway.  At home, this is great way to use leftover scraps and get kids and friends interested in baking.

Cake pops are simply cake crumbs kneaded with already made icing.  The recipe below will have the ratios you need in order for your cake crumbs to be nice and malleable without being super soft and squishy.

Dipping cake pops in coating or tempered chocolate can be tricky.  I rolled mine like I do in the caramel and candy apples episode.  I do it like this so I don’t need a great deal of chocolate but so that the dunking motion doesn’t pull the cake pop off of the stick.    Using a little coating chocolate to secure the lollipop stick into the bottom of the cake pop helps, but it’s not super glue – and a cake pop can be pretty heavy (about 1 ounce) for the relatively small lollipop stick.  The only downside to rolling them in the chocolate is that the bottoms of the pops are exposed.  It is possible to dip the entire cake pop so you can’t see the bottom, but it is highly recommended you thin out the coating chocolate or tempered chocolate with a little bit of vegetable oil or melted cocoa butter.

Once the cake pop has been dipped, use styrofoam covered in plastic wrap to hold them up so that a foot doesn’t form and so you can decorate them with both hands.  If you’re making a ton of cake pops it may be easier to dip them all then use melted coating chocolate as glue to adhere the decorations so that you’re not just doing one cake pop at a time.

Some basic decorating tips for dipped cake pops include using dragees (those silver balls), sprinkles, chocolate chips, candies, chocolate drizzle, toasted nuts, and piped chocolate/seized chocolate.  In the video I demonstrate how to make tuxedo style cake balls, though it’s not as easy to do as strawberries because of the lollipop stick.  If you have the patience and can get the bowl at the right angle its still possible.  You can also paint on the chocolate too.

Cake pops are great for parties as each person can easily get one or two cake pops and eat them immediately – no need for a plate or cutlery.  For a festive New Year theme I decided to dress them up as if they were at a New Year’s party.

I hope everyone has had a great year this past 2011 and I’m wishing you and your families a prosperous 2012!  Happy New Year everyone!

Here’s the recipe for the cake pops and below is the video.  Thank you for watching!