Monday, March 28, 2011

Getting showered pt. 2: How not to make cake pops

While I don't consider myself a cook in the slightest way, I am a teensy bit handier when it comes to baking.  Of course, I'm not talking pies from scratch or anything like that, but even I can't mess up cake-in-a-box.


For the Dallas shower, I wanted to try my hand at cake pops and give them out as favors to our guests.  As usual, I turned to the internet for a good and easy recipe.  Incidentally, I love the internet.  I can find almost anything I need and I don't know how I survived before Google.  If it's not online, it doesn't exist.  But back to the cake pops.


Cake pops and cake balls are apparently the new 'it' dessert so there are tutorials all over the internet, just a tiny Google search away.  I found one pretty quickly and it seemed easy enough so I went for it.  Now, I know my limits and had zero intentions of trying to decorate them or put little designs on them.  I was going to do well just to get them made and it turns out, I couldn't even do that.


This is my PSA and this is the recipe that I followed.  You can either tell me what I did wrong or you can read what I did so the same thing doesn't happen to you when you make cake pops, which I totally recommend because they're not that hard.  And you know if *I'm* telling you it's not that hard, it's for real not.
First, make a cake.  I wanted the cake to be pink, because
although I didn't want it in the nursery, I'm not opposed to it in cake.
Once the cake is done and cooled, crumble it up and mix it
with a 16 oz can of cream cheese frosting.

Then you roll them into balls and put them in the freezer for 'several' hours.  I hate when recipes are vague like that.  I need precision!  I put them in the freezer from 10am until 2pm, thinking that would be enough and I would be able to assemble them before our party at 3:30.  I was wrong - apparently, 'several' means more than four.  I took them out but they warmed up pretty quickly and started falling apart when I tried to coat them with the candy melts.
My plan was to have the white exterior, pink interior and
covered in pink glitter.  They were going to be so cute!
I even got some cute ribbon on sale at Michaels!

Alas, the cake pops were a bust and I had no favors to hand out at the shower.  I felt bad but Brittani and Kesha reassured me that it was okay and nobody would be mad at me.  However, I had all these cake pops in the freezer and I certainly wasn't going to eat them all!  So, Sunday night Drew helped me and we finished them so I could take them to work Monday morning.
Even though they were firmer than they were on Saturday,
they were still pretty soft.  Was it the can of frosting?
Did I mess up somewhere else?  I don't know.

So, you dip the lollipop stick in the melted candy and stick them in the cake and then cover the cake ball.  Once the candy is hardened you dip the cake pop in the glitter.  I had it in a bowl but found that putting it in a baggie was much easier to control and you get better coverage, hence the uneven-ness - I was learning as I went!  Once you've done that, you put the pops in a sheet of styrofoam to store them.  Then you put the wrapper over it, tie the ribbon and you're done!  It went much faster with two people and you don't even need to refrigerate them when you're finished.
I got everything at Michaels - 
anything crafty you can think of, that store has it!
My glitter application wasn't precise and I ran out of
the baby carriage ribbon but it's not bad for my first try.
Man, I wish I'd finished these before the party!
This is definitely not a one-day thing!
Trying them before I take them to work.
Holy crap they're sweet!
Like omg, sugar shock sweet!
I like cake, but holy hell!
No, they're good, I swear!

I don't know what I did wrong because I followed the recipe to the letter.  The candy coating didn't have much of a taste to me, although Drew said it was pretty sweet.  The cake was strawberry, which wasn't too bad and the frosting was cream cheese so that shouldn't have been that sweet, right?   But there was something about all of them together that would send you straight into a diabetic coma!  I really want to try them again, maybe with a less sweet cake like carrot cake or banana bread-like cake.  They were also super moist, almost mushy so I wonder if I shouldn't have used the entire can of frosting.  Maybe they would have stayed together if I'd used only half the can?  Maybe if I used a moist cake mix I wouldn't have to use frosting at all?  I'm just not sure.  I'm brainstorming what to bring the nurses when we go to the hospital but since these should really firm up overnight, that's a tiny bit of a challenge since of course I don't know when I'm going into labor and I'm totally cool with that.  Or maybe they don't have to firm up overnight if I use less frosting - I really don't know where I went wrong but these were way too sweet for my taste.  They were also too big - they almost didn't fit inside the wrapper but I didn't want dinky cake pops!

Anyway, I took them to work the next day and they were all gone by lunch.  There's something about the break room and free food - even if it tastes like crap, they'll take it.  At least no one came back to me and complained.

Now this is what cake balls are supposed to look like!

I'll tell you where they came from in a minute!

16 comments:

  1. Now I want cake. LOL Google is my life too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. D - first of all I am SO impressed with your baking skills! Even though they sounded like a biotch to make, they sure ended up looking adorable & so professional!

    I have actually made something similiar to these before & this is what I have learned:
    - mix the cake with only 1/2 the tub of frosting (8oz). The balls hold together better!
    - make 1" balls. I promise they will look bigger once you dip them in the coating.
    - refrigerate balls overnight
    - use vanilla/choc almond bark rather than the candy melts. Melt in 1 tablespoon of solid Crisco. It makes the bark a little thinner, easier to dip in & adds a nice gloss to the candy coating :)
    - dip a bit of the stick in the candy coating first then stick in cold cake (helps the stick stay in place)

    I actually had to make these a couple of times to per-fect them but the end result was awesome! I would definitely try it again! What a super cute favor idea! Hmmmmm...will have to file this cute idea away!

    Hugs - HT

    ReplyDelete
  3. Isn't the internet grand! Like I tell people all the time, you can find out how to do anything you want to do, all you gotta do is Google.

    Your cake pops looked delicious! Before today I had never heard of them, but I will be Google-ing them tonight. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good to know...I plan on making some for my sons 1st Birthday in June and I would've done the same google search...so thanks for the honest review and thanks to the comment from Heather! Looking forward to seeing pics of your baby, it's so soooooon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not bad at all for a first time! You should be proud :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This post made me laugh! I tried my hand at cake balls too for my neighbor after she watched my child for the whole month of December. I had "Googled" them to death and I'm also a huge fan of Bakerella.com who has turned making cake balls into a form of art. Because of my, ummm, research (insert Google), I thought this a cake "ball" walk. What I learned is that "candy melts" aren't always your cake balls best friend and using too much frosting is your worst enemy. Somewhere in there is a balance that I've yet to find.

    Keep trying though; the end product looked MUCH better than mine! Oh, I used strawberry too and it was definitely way too sweet!

    Blessings,
    Virna Lisa

    P.S. Had to use an Anonymous post because it wouldn't let me use my Google Profile

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had the SAME issues as you! I followed the instructions and they were TOOO SWEET, like you said diabetic coma type thing. I think next time i'll use half a can of frosting, and yes the almond bark helped hold them together but it wasn't too good in the taste factor.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think they looked great and the fact that you put them back in the freezer and finished them later (because I would've thrown the things in the garbage) deserves a round of applause! lol

    I've never made them before but I'm wondering if using less cream cheese frosting would've helped???

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have also made cake balls and agree with the person who said not to use the whole can of icing. It makes them TOO rich! I recently tried strawberry cake for the first time, and having tried several different cakes, I arrived at the conclusion that its the cake. For some reason, that pink cake just has a weird consistensy that makes it harder to work with. I haven't had an issue with the wilton melts at all, but since I now even make the cakeballs to sell (I used to do it for 'free, just buy me the ingredients' till my husband threatened to shut down my kitchen...bc as you know, it takes FOREVER, and time is $$$)...anyway since I make them to sell, I bought a little melting pot for like $15 and it makes my life SO much easier when dipping them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Omg, that's so funny. Yes, ppl love free food. Still rofl over here.

    As far as your cake pops, they are so cute! I just had one for the 1st time from Starbucks. It was pretty sweet, actually, but I like it. Get the hype.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I just had to post a reply! Check out my most recent blog post about making cake pops at http://adriftonthelake.blogspot.com/

    I also used strawberry cake mix. And the directions I have (from Bakerella's book and website) say to use 3/4 can of frosting. I went with slightly less than that and the balls were perfect. It was the dang candy melts I had trouble with!

    Your cake pops look GREAT!

    I called mine cake blobs. Check 'em out. I made them for my daughter at college. She said they disappeared in minutes on her dorm floor.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing your funny cake pop adventure! I have made them a few times now and I find that they are less sweet if you use homemade buttercream frosting - and use just enough to make them hold together. Also, adding a little crisco to your candy melts makes it easier to dip and let the candy flow off the pop without the weight of the candy making the whole thing go ker-plop into the bowl. When that happens, I fish them out with a fork and make "cake balls" (which my kids are more than happy to eat - in fact they hover around when I'm making them, hoping I will mess up!) Another trick I use is to only take a few out of the fridge at a time - so they stay cold & the candy coating hardens quicker. I am about to make a new batch right now and I'm using a "butter recipe" cake mix in hopes that it will further cut the overly-sweet problem. Also the crumbs in the butter recipe mix seem finer and firmer. I'll let you know how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just had to post a reply! Check out my most recent blog post about making cake pops at http://adriftonthelake.blogspot.com/

    I also used strawberry cake mix. And the directions I have (from Bakerella's book and website) say to use 3/4 can of frosting. I went with slightly less than that and the balls were perfect. It was the dang candy melts I had trouble with!

    Your cake pops look GREAT!

    I called mine cake blobs. Check 'em out. I made them for my daughter at college. She said they disappeared in minutes on her dorm floor.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good to know...I plan on making some for my sons 1st Birthday in June and I would've done the same google search...so thanks for the honest review and thanks to the comment from Heather! Looking forward to seeing pics of your baby, it's so soooooon!

    ReplyDelete
  15. D - first of all I am SO impressed with your baking skills! Even though they sounded like a biotch to make, they sure ended up looking adorable & so professional!

    I have actually made something similiar to these before & this is what I have learned:
    - mix the cake with only 1/2 the tub of frosting (8oz). The balls hold together better!
    - make 1" balls. I promise they will look bigger once you dip them in the coating.
    - refrigerate balls overnight
    - use vanilla/choc almond bark rather than the candy melts. Melt in 1 tablespoon of solid Crisco. It makes the bark a little thinner, easier to dip in & adds a nice gloss to the candy coating :)
    - dip a bit of the stick in the candy coating first then stick in cold cake (helps the stick stay in place)

    I actually had to make these a couple of times to per-fect them but the end result was awesome! I would definitely try it again! What a super cute favor idea! Hmmmmm...will have to file this cute idea away!

    Hugs - HT

    ReplyDelete
  16. Big Fat Ditto.....way to sweet =-/
    I use heavy cream [a few tablespoons at a time] to the crumbled cake instead of frosting. Great Job!

    ReplyDelete

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