Cake pops that are fore fun!

I mentioned in my last blog that both of my boys wanted cake pops at their birthday. My youngest had his party at a glow in the dark, indoor mini golf course. I did some serious web surfing and was inspired by 1finecookie. She made the cake pops for Father's Day and they had bacon filling. 

1. Cake
This was a party for 6 year olds so I made Barefoot Contessa's birthday sheet cake as the innards instead: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/birthday-sheet-cake-recipe/index.html

2. Decoration
I didn't have the time to use golf molds, so I used an idea from another blog Candy's Cake Pops and used white sprinkles. Then I melted Air Head candies and molded the golf tees. I made green colored rice krispie treats as the "grass" and put a cake pop in their with his candles so we had something to hold his number 6 birthday cake candle.

The kids LOVED them! So did the party organizers at the indoor mini golf place and I gave each of our party helpers one to take with them. What surprised me was how much the kids loved the rice krispie treats. I say if you can't buy or make your own cake, this would be an great alternative!

Now Bake That!
 

Cake Pop Challenge

I rarely bake cupcakes. Not that I don't like them, I do. I go to Jilly's Cupcake Bar during my birthday every year to get a gigantic gourmet cupcake. http://jillyscupcakebar.com/ 

I also read a friend's blog on cupcakes and get all inspired. http://www.cupcakeproject.com/

Then I had a cake pop and I was intrigued. Maybe it's because I'm from Minnesota where their State Fair is known for having everything on a stick. I mean EVERYTHING. So someone puts a ball of cake on a stick? Sign me up.

For some reason I hadn't gotten around to making them. When I went to a friend's baby shower and received two cake pops to bring home as a party favor, my kids had them. They begged me for cake pops on their birthday. I felt motivated.

Now I just had to figure out how to make them. I felt a test run was necessary.

After some research, I tried two methods/recipes.

1. Mashed up cake balls

To do the the mash-up method I used a recipe was from my local grocery store magazine, Everybody Cooks. Go to page 23. http://www.dierbergs.com/flipbooks/EBC/Spring2012/index.html. 

How it works is you bake a cake. Then break up the cake into chunks or crumbs. Then mix in a can of frosting and roll into balls. Then it goes in the freezer before you poke it with sticks and dip with melted almond bark. 

This method is MESSY. If I didn't squish the balls enough, they sometimes fell apart when I dipped them. However, the benefit is you can really shape them any way you want.

2. Cake Pop Pan

The pan looks like taking two candy molds and then placing them on top of each other and secure them with a pin.

The cake pop pan is by Nordic Ware, which you can get from their website. Personally I found mine at Target, but are at a variety of other stores that have them.

http://www.nordicware.com/store/products/detail/nordic-ware-cake-pop-kit/700EFD84-2673-11E1-B8E4-005056A42C5A

It takes a little practice in figuring out just how much cake batter you can put in there without having it overflow too much through the air vents in the pan. I did giggle though since the cake cooked outside of the pan looked like *something else*. 

This method was less messy, but not really a time saver. After you take the cakes out they have seams that make it look like I was trying to make tiny planet Saturns. I used a paring knife to trim them and they were fine.

Cake pop tips in general:

• Freeze the cake pops before dipping.
• Melt a small amount of almond bark and dip your sticks in them before poking them in the cake pops. This keeps the cake pops from falling of the sticks while dipping.
• Freeze the cake pops again before dipping. Freeze for at least 20 minutes otherwise it takes forever for the coating to harden up.
• I had problems using household items to place the cake pops in to dry. My cake pops would fall over when I walked by. My plan is to buy a cake pop stand or make one for my next round.

Taste test results:

After making the cake pops, I sent some to my husband's work for a taste test and tested them at home. The consensus was that the mash up method was too sweet and the cake pop pan were better. They were fluffy on the inside and crunchy sweetness on the outside.

Now Bake That!