So I used to make great cake pops. Beautiful cake pops! Little balls of gorgeous, round, smooth, elegant deliciousness.
Then something in my brain exploded, and now all I can make is hidious blobs of dough. They are still yummy, but the chocolate either seizes or cracks, the balls are more square than round, and even the sticks won’t stay in…
Where did I go wrong!?
So I made more cake pops with my kids the other day (totally preparing for the worst) and my oldest son’s positive attitude changed mine. I was getting frustrated at the sticks that were falling out and the chocolate that was chunky and thick and I told him, “Give Mommy a minute. I need a minute to calm down.”
(If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a perfectionist and these lumps of ugly were just killing me.)
My adorable son says, “It’s okay. They will taste great. And I think most of them look fine.”
So, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and said, “You’re right. You know what? We can figure. This. Out.”
So we did. We got out new chocolate, reserved half of the dough balls to do a second batch, and tried a few different things. I remembered stuff from my days of beautiful cake pops, and we got through it.
So whether this every helps anyone or this is just here so I have documentation on how to correct my errors, here is my GOOD, EFFECTIVE process for cake pops.
1. Bake cake according to box instructions. Smash. Use a WHOLE can of frosting to one WHOLE cake mix.
2. Refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes.
3. Roll into balls. Take a small amount of melted chocolate (or Candy Melts), dip the stick into the chocolate, then stick it in the ball of dough. This will “glue” it in place.
4. Put cake pops in the freezer for 15 minutes if they are starting to get too warm. If they are still cool to the touch, continue. DO NOT FREEZE. The dough needs to be cool, and the chocolate “glue” set, but if they are too cold, the coating with crack and get chunky.
5. Melt your Candy Melts in a double boiler. This will keep it nice and smooth and prevent you having to re-microwave it over and over while you are dipping.
6. Add cooking oil to thin the chocolate. Thin it until it no longer holds peaks when you stir. If you pull the spatula through the chocolate to the bottom, it should fill the space back in immediately. Add oil until this happens and stir smooth.
7. Dip cake pops and stir in a LARGE circle in the double boiler, making sure to coat the whole cake pop. (Little holes where cake is showing make is eek out after it dries. It looks like a zit…it’s gross.)
8. Swirl the cake pop gently over the chocolate to remove excess. If it starts to crack or chunk on the pop, dip it back in and stir some more.
9. Place on parchment and add sprinkles while the chocolate is still hot so it sticks.
I will try to add pictures next time I make these little guys, provided they turn out and I don’t end up with a bald spot from ripping out my hair.