Cake Pops and Cake Balls

Years ago when cake pops and balls just started to be a trend , i tried making cake pops . They sounded very easy to make , one problem i ran into , the candy melt cracked after it was chilled in room temperature . And i was not happy .. i forget about cake pops . I didn’t care at all whether i can make it or not since it was not my taste . It was too sweet and i just don’t care much about cake mix , and also the store bought frosting . So i am saving my body from adding his horrible unhealthy calories which i am quite sure with just a bite will make me sluggish the whole day .

So .. why is this entry ? Last month , my MIL sent my son cake pops , and many other goodies for his Valentine’s box . And my son LOVED the cake pops that nana made . Since then he’s been begging me to make cake pops .I tried to ignore it , i thought give it a month he’ll forget about it . But no .. he keeps asking , and i finally gave up . Let’s get this done and over with !!

Beside what’s so hard about making a cake from a box cake mix , my 9 years old already knew how to do it when he was only 7 years old . Bought the frosting , he chose vanilla frosting for his strawberry cake pops . So here we go ..

Ingredients : 

A box of cake mix from store , we picked strawberry cake mix

1 lb or regular size of any frosting of your choice ( you will only use 3/4 of this frosting or even less .. )

All different colors of candy melt , i used majority red and other colors to decorate

Lolipop sticks , you can get this from craft store

Bake the cake mix according to direction , let it cool on the counter for an hour or so , then i throw them in the freezer for extra 20 minutes . I took it out , and divide the cake into 6 big pieces . I removed the hard crust from the edges , you can remove the sticky part on top or bottom too , but just mainly remove the hard edges . Slice it thinly , eat them if you want or give it to the dogs like i did . 

Then get a large bowl , start crumbling the cake with your hands , until really really crumbly . This part was fun to do with your kids , crumbling the cake with both hands . Then add the frosting , i don’t think i used all 3/4 can of the frosting , i was close but not quite whole 3/4 , you just have to feel it . The mixture should be sticky , but not too wet , if it’s too wet too much frosting it won’t hold up its shape . Once you reach the right consistency by mixing the frosting with your spatula , i used my own hands .. guarantee sticky and gross LOL .. 

Now we can start rolling the ball , take the mixture , and start rolling it using your both hands , and then wash your hand and dry EACH TIME after rolling the ball . If you do not do this , guarantee , your next ball will be too sticky to shape and it won’t look as smooth . Take time and wash and dry your hands before shaping another ball . Place the balls into the parchment paper lined cookie sheet . Once you’re done , i have about 20 balls done . Cover it up with plastic wrap and freeze them for about 15 minutes or chill it overnight in the fridge . 

Get your candy melt ready , i used microwave to melt the candy melt , for every 30 seconds , stir it , and it will melt . It doesn’t take long to melt the whole bag , make sure your bowl is deep enough to dip in the balls . If the candy melt is too thick to dip the balls , ( i ran into this problem ) i added 1 tsp. of vegetable oil until the right consistency is reached . Which means , it should be thin enough to be able to cover up the balls . If it’s too thick your ball will be stuck in the candy melt . 

Now , it’s time to get the balls out from the freezer , dip the lollipop stick into the candy melt , and then poke the ball with the stick , just half way through , then dip into the candy melt . Took it out , and place it in a styrofoam , i used a shoe box .. my husband made holes so i can stick the lollipop sticks in there . It works just fine 

See  ? i just used the lid of the shoebox and had my husband poke holes all over for the sticks .

Once it’s all done , you can wrap them up individually with plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container , or displaying it if you’re doing it for a party or something . I also ended up making cake balls , just because i wanted to . I just dip the ball one by one in the candy melt , and scoop it carefully with spoon , then i would place it back on the parchment paper , and let it gets hard , and then feel free to decorate them with more candy melt , or anything else . 

This is how it looks like after i was done wrapping them all with plastic wraps and put little bow to keep the plastic together , and voila .. it’s done ! The whole process without baking the cake probably took about an hour . Not bad .. It’s just bad for your teeth ! LOL