January 2nd – it’s totes the new January 1st, don’t you think?
Let’s be real: I was an alien yesterday. Today marks the official start of my 2012. In fact, it should be mandatory that everyone receive this day off in addition to the 1st. Doesn’t matter what day of the week the holiday falls on. Aliens need rest.
{Also: Copious amounts of water. Breakfast casseroles made of bacon, cheese, bread, and eggs. Grape soda. And, chili dog nachos. True story. Look away…I’m hideous}
My intention was to share these cake pops with you yesterday. You know, confetti on New Year’s Day – it made sense. But yesterday, nothing made sense. So today I bring you these ridiculously adorable confetti cake pops. My guess is that today, you’re probably feeling more human too, and let’s face it – yesterday you were not about to consider embarking upon a three-day project to make cake pops.
That’s right – these babies take time, but I can assure you, they’re worth it. You don’t of course, have to take three days to make them – I just feel that helps break up the process and make it more fun. Making cake pops sounds like it should be a fun project, doesn’t it?
I made these for the birthday of a certain BFF who adores “funfetti” cake – psssh. You know I’m not using cake mix – but guess what? I won’t judge you one bit if you do. In fact, I’ll praise you. You’re probably more sane than I.
Everyone went cray-cray for these cake pops. If you’re a lost soul who’s never heard of a cake pop, all you’re doing is baking a cake, destroying it, mixing in frosting, rolling that into balls, and then coating the balls in chocolate or candy melts. The end result is sort of like eating a cake truffle – it’s so, so rich and decadent. And it’s fun! On a stick, everything is more fun. And confetti makes it a real party.
So, here’s to 2012: May it be filled with love, happiness, fulfillment…and cake pops.
Homemade Confetti Cake Pops
I find it works best to make a 3-day project out of this. Day 1: Bake cake, allow to cool, make cake ball mixture. Day 2: Roll cake ball mixture into balls to make cake balls. Day 3: Turn cake balls into cake pops by adding sticks and dipping into chocolate and sprinkles. This will result in the highest level of happiness and mental stability throughout the process, but you can also combine two of those steps into one day if that works better. I wouldn’t dare trying all three at once. Also – we’re talking about a lot of cake pops. Probably around 50.
{first, let’s bake a confetti cake – from scratch}
Homemade Confetti Cake
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs whites plus 1 whole large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk {or full-fat vanilla yogurt or 1 cup whole milk}
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup colored sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch pan with baking spray. In a stand mixer, mix dry ingredients on low speed to blend. Add butter and mix until evenly crumbly. Add egg whites one at a time, then the whole egg, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
In a small bowl, mix buttermilk and vanilla. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 36 to 42 minutes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean when done. Remove from oven, and allow to cool to room temperature.
Note: Cake recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour. It will also make a round two-layer cake or 20 to 24 cupcakes. Check the King Arthur site for baking times. It’s a really moist, delicious cake that would be great on its own.
{now, onto the cake pops}
Confetti Cake Pops
- 1 baked, cooled Homemade Confetti Cake (recipe above, or use boxed mix)
- 8 ounces whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- Lollipop or cookie sticks (sold at craft store)
- 24 ounces white chocolate or white candy melts
- About 1 cup colored sprinkles (I used a mix of round nonpareil and regular)
- Styrofoam craft block (sold at craft store)
Note: You can also use a tub of cream cheese frosting in place of the cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar. I liked this method because it allowed me to decrease the sugar – and trust me, these babies are plenty sweet on their own. Your call.
{first, make cake balls}
Break the cake into a large bowl. Using your fingers, and maybe with a little help from a fork, crumble the entire cake until it’s a big bowl of crumbs. In another bowl, mix the cream cheese, butter, and sugar; add this mixture to the bowl of cake crumbs. Now, stir with a spoon and continue to mix it all together – I think using your fingers is the easiest way – until the mixture is totally combined. Check and see that the mixture will form into balls easily – it should be almost like a thick, cake-y play-dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Form cake ball mixture into balls with your hands, and place on prepared baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Alternatively, if you want to make the pops on the same day, freeze the balls for one hour – you don’t want to totally freeze them, however, or you may crack the chocolate when you coat them.)
{now, make cake pops}
If you’re using white chocolate, you can temper it in the microwave by placing it into a bowl (deep is better than shallow), and microwaving at 30 second intervals, mixing in between each time, until it is fully melted. If you’re using candy melts, I find they seize up easily in the microwave, so you’ll want to use a double boiler over the stove. Meaning: Small pot of water, gently simmering over medium-low heat, glass or metal on top, candy melts in the bowl, stirring until melted.
Remove the cake balls from the refrigerator or freezer. Working one at a time, place a stick into the flat bottom of a cake ball – until it’s inserted about halfway through. Holding the stick, dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate or candy, rotating to coat evenly. (This is why I think it works best if you have a smaller, deeper bowl for the chocolate. That way, you can just sort of dip it into the chocolate, whole.) Quickly, before the chocolate sets, add the sprinkles (over a plate, so you can collect the remnants). Stick finished cake pop into foam block. Repeat until all cake pops are complete.
Now, reward yourself with a well-deserved cocktail. I think a glass of champagne would be a perfect match, don’t you?
Those are so cute! I still haven’t gotten around to trying cake pops yet, partially because I’m not a huge fan of boxed cake mix, so using a homemade cake instead sounds much better!
Annie @ Annie’s Cooking Lab recently posted..Top 5 of 2011
these look amazing! i wish someones birthday was coming up so i had an excuse to make them
visiting with a smile
spiky recently posted..Mango-Coconut Crepe a.k.a. Darar in 2012
It is SOOOOOOOO nice to see someone make a cake pop. HOME MADE! xo
these are so adorable… and I love that they’re homemade, not from a box like most other cake pop recipes!
niki recently posted..sunday times
i’ve made cake pops,homemade, twice now ! – everyone seems to really enjoy them ! – i’m making them for two upcoming weddings, too! – mj
I notice many cake pop recipes call for a cream cheese frosting. I was wondering if you have to use a cream cheese frosting with this cake pop recipe? Can I use a homemade butter cream instead? My family really does not like cream cheese frosting
Thanks!!
Hi! You can definitely use regular buttercream if you prefer. Just be easy on the sugar – with everything else going on, these things can get overly sweet in a hurry!
I have tried just about every cake pop recipe I can get my hands on, but always fail hardcore when it comes to keeping the stick in the pop (the melted chocolate always makes a mess, and the cake won’t stay on the stick – sooo frustrating). Do you use a specific type of chocolate? I’ve used Baker’s chocolate and the Wilton candy melts (both to no avail). I’d like to try the Ghiradelli baking chocolate this time.
Keeping my fingers crossed! Gonna do the 3-day remedy! I absolutely adore this blog!
Did you try dotting the stick into the chocolate first? It might also help that the cake balls are cold, and you want to make sure you are pushing the stick far enough inside the cake ball. I used both the melts and Ghirardelli and couldn’t really tell a difference other than color – the melts produce a truer white. Good luck, and I adore you right back!
Let me know how it works out! xxSAS
These are adorable! Definitely the perfect cure for any day of the year =)
Peggy recently posted..Braised Rabbit w/ Orzo
I plan to try to make these this weekend for a friend. Question, you left out when to add the sprinkles into the batter when making the cake. do i just mix them in right before baking the cake? Just want to make sure im doing everything correctly!
Question.
You say to refrigerate the cake and cream cheese mixture overnight then in the next step you say to form balls and refrigerate again over night or to freeze them for an hour. Do you still have to do the first overnight trip in the fridge if you’re freezing the balls?
Hi Rachel, the mixture works best when it’s refrigerated overnight first – it helps the balls to form to make sure that they cake has cooled completely. You can probably get away with freezing the first time for a shorter period of time as well. Hope that helps!