Winter Themed Cake Pops

Cookie baking is a holiday tradition which I look forward to every year. I literally bake hundreds of cookies to share with family and friends. Co-workers eagerly await my annual platter of sweet confections. I jokingly call it “extreme baking”! A few weeks ago we headed over to my sister-in-law’s for supper. It was a fun filled evening with great food and better company. Her house was beautifully decorated for the holidays. From the outdoor trees adorned with bright lights to the beautiful luminous ten foot tree gracing the front entrance of her home. In anticipation of our family get together , I decided to bake something she had never tasted before…cakepops!

Made popular by the queen of cake pops, “Bakerella”. Crumbled cake and frosting is mixed together to form a sweet confection in whichever shape desired and then dipped in melted chocolate. It does require a bit of time but so worth the effort, especially after seeing my niece and nephew’s eyes light up at the sight of them and my sister-in-law called them the perfect bite size cake.

What you’ll need

• 1 box cake mix  432g
• 1 container ready made frosting 450g
• Blue candy melts 500g
• 45 lollipop sticks
• styrofoam block
• 9×13 in. Cake pan – greased and lightly floured
• Jumbo snowflake sprinkles
• White nonpareils
• Vegetable oil

Bake the cake following the instructions on the box using the prepared cake pan. Let cake cool completely. (Can be prepared a day ahead, cooled then covered). Next step is to crumble the cake into a large bowl. I prefer to use a food processor  for this job. It renders a perfect granular consistency. If you don’t have a food processor,  you can crumble the cake using your hands. Mix in up to 3/4 of the frosting using a large spoon. Mix thoroughly. To form the cake balls, use a cookie scooper of 1 1/4 in in diameter or a large spoon and form into balls with your hands. Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Let rest for 20 mins. They will naturally expand while resting so don’t skip this step. Cover with saran wrap and chill 4hrs or more, allowing them to firm up. When ready to be dipped, prepare your counter with lollipop sticks and sprinkles. Work with half the cake pops at a time keeping the rest refrigerated. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the candy coating as directed on package. Use a cup large enough and deep enough for dunking. Working with one cake ball at a time, dip the lollipop stick about a half inch into the melted chocolate and insert into cake pop not more than half way through. Prop on Styrofoam block and repeat with remaining cake pops. This step allows the stick to adhere to the cake pops.

Now you are ready to dip. At this point you may need to thin the candy coating with some vegetable oil. Use one teaspoon at a time to make the coating more fluid, stirring very well. While holding the lollipop stick, dip the cake pop into the melted candy coating in one fluid motion till completely covered and quickly remove it. Keeping it over the bowl hold it with one hand while gently tapping it on the other hand to allow excess coating to drip off. Gently turn the cake pop till even all over.

When all excess coating has dripped off, sprinkle with nonpareils. Apply a snowflake on top and place on Styrofoam block to dry. Repeat with remaining cake balls in the fridge.

In between the dunking of your cake pops, if your candy coating is starting to harden simply return it to the microwave in 15 second intervals. As your running low on candy coating, add more to your bowl and melt in microwave in 15 second intervals.

Thin with vegetable oil as needed, stir till completely incorporated. Depending on how big you roll them, you should get about 45 cake pops. They keep very well in the fridge for up to 5 days, stored in a Tupperware.

Have fun and enjoy!