Cake Pops-Made from Scratch

I made these cake pops for a friend who needed them for a music themed party. There are many cake pop recipes out there that use store bought cake mix and icing, but if you want a really great tasting cake pop, try making them right from scratch with quality ingredients. You will find the extra bit of time is well worth the extra time it takes. The recipe for my chocolate cake is from Hershey's. The coating on the cake pops is white chocolate.

 Cake Pops-Made from Scratch
by Laureen King from Artandthekitchen

Chocolate Cake recipe courtesey hersheys.com

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Hershey Cocoa
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch cake pan
2. Mix cocoa with boiling water in small bowl, stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Gradually add cocoa mixture, beating well.
7. In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
8. Add flour mixture, alternately with milk and sour cream, into butter mix, until well blended.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan.
10. Bake 30-40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
11. Cool. This recipe will make approximately 50 Cake Pops.

Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients

• 1 cup of salted butter
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4 cups of icing sugar
• 5-6 tablespoons of cream (18% and up)

Instructions

1. Using paddle beater, whip butter until fluffy
2. Add in the icing sugar 
3. Add in the cream, for cake pops I keep the icing fairly firm.
4. Continue to mix until fluffy and thoroughly combined

STEPS FOR CONSTRUCTING THE CAKE POPS

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Add frosting a couple of heaping tablespoons at a time, mix thoroughly. You may not need all the icing, consistency should be that of play dough.
3. Use a small cookie scoop (this ensures all balls are same size) to make round balls of the cake mix. You'll need to roll the mix between the palm of your hands to make a nice round shape. Place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
4. Melt about 2 cups White chocolate in double boiler.
5. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick in a little of the melted chocolate and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
6. Refrigerator for 30-60 minutes so the pops can firm up and the chocolate on the stick hardens.
7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the chocolate by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
8. Before chocolate hardens you can add sprinkles to add some colour.
9. Place in a styrofoam block to dry or on wax paper if putting into mini cupcake papers.