Once in a while I’ll test my skills and push my limits beyond something I know nothing about. This round was cake pops. Cake pops seem to be the new trend instead of cupcakes. The first one I had came from Starbucks. I had to investigate.
My hypothesis was that the cake pops were made from a mold in the shape of balls. My other guess was that the cake pops were deep fried balls like doughnut holes. As I dug deeper, turns out that the proper way to make cake pops are to make a regular cake, crumb the cake, and add icing. I’m pretty sure I did this is my crumbs from other cakes but never thought of putting it on a stick.
My research pointed me to Bakerella where she lists her recipes. One of the coolest things I’ve seen are Elmo Cake Pops by Bakerella. I decided to push myself in (a) making cake pops and (b) going difficult to make Elmo Cake Pops.
My Methods
Instead of following step by step directions, I went with the beat of my own drum and chose to do strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. If you’re not a risk taker, you might want to go red velvet cake. Another thing I did different was not to use the whole can of frosting. Instead I used about 85% of the can…the rest is still sitting in my refrigerator.
I could not find the candies that Bakerella used for the eyes so I used M&M’s. When I do eyes, I use Wilton’s black Sparkle Gel. I do this because I like how they sparkle in the light.
To make the cake balls, I measured 2 tablespoons of crumb/icing mix to stay consistent for the whole batch. The measuring spoon also serves as a tool to help make them round. If I were to do this again, I might buy a meat ball maker.
My last note, I put the pops in the freezer before putting on the candy shell. By putting them in the freezer it made the melts solidify faster and made a furry effect on its own. I didn’t have to drizzle melt on top. After doing this, do not put the pops back in the freezer because it will generate moisture when you take them out.
Here are some pictures.
References:
Bakerella.com
What I want to know is “Who ate all those Elmos?”
my son and his little monster friends