Happy Monday everyone! Mondays are not usually my favorite days…but this particular Monday happens to be my big sister's birthday! I wish I could be there to make her a birthday cake, but Texas to Ohio is a bit of a journey for a cake… So instead, I'm making some cake pops, complete with metallic glitter, in honor of her birthday. I guess I'll just have to eat one for her too!
combination of cake flavor, frosting, and candy coating. For this demonstration I am using a chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, and peanut butter candy melts. You will also need lollipop sticks and mini candy cups. If you want to add the glitter designs like I did, you will need a paintbrush, luster dust, and a few drops of alcohol. I usually use vodka, but you could use vanilla or almond extract if you prefer.
Once you've gathered all of your supplies, the first step is to mix up your cake with the frosting you've chosen. I like to use my stand mixer with the paddle attachment for this, to ensure it's mixed thoroughly. You want the mixture to be pliable, soft, and stick together. Depending on how dry or moist your cake is, the proportion of cake to frosting may vary.
Next, we are going to scoop the cake mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you have a small triggered ice cream scoop, that is the best tool for the job…but if you don't have one, a tablespoon will work just fine (it's just a bit messier).
After all of your cake mixture has been scooped, its time to roll them into cake balls! This process will dirty up your hands fast, so you may want to use gloves. The best way to form the balls is to just roll them in your hands and place them back onto the lined baking sheet. If the cake mixture seems too soft, you can pop it in the freezer for a few minutes. Once all of the cake balls are shaped, place the baking sheet in the freezer while we continue on to the next step in the process.
While your cake balls are firming back up in your freezer, its time to melt the chocolate candy melts. You can either melt them over a double boiler, or in the microwave. If you choose to use the microwave, be sure to only heat the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time.
has been melted, it's time to take the cake balls out of the freezer. You will need your lollipop sticks for this step. To ensure that the lollipop sticks are secure in our cake balls, dip the end of the lollipop stick in the melted candy coating and then stick it into the middle of the cake ball. Repeat this for each cake ball and allow a few minutes for the candy melt coated lollipop sticks to harden in the cake balls before moving on to the next step.
At this point you may want to heat up your melted candy melts a little more, as it will have cooled slightly by now. Either pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds, or leave it over your double boiler for a few minutes. Take the first cake pop, holding it by the lollipop stick, and dip it into the melted candy coating. Allow the excess to drip off the bottom for a few seconds and then place the coated cake pop back on the lined baking sheet. If the coating looks thin and you can still see the cake, dip the cake pops back in the chocolate a second time after the first coat has hardened.
Now for the fun part! It's time to decorate your cake pops. There are so many different ways to decorate your cake pops. You could half dip them in a different color candy melt, use a piping bag to add stripes or other designs in another color of chocolate, or you could use my favorite method… luster dust! Luster dust is basically edible glitter/shimmer. For these pops, I am using a metallic copper luster dust. You could brush the dust on with a dry brush for a more subtle shimmer, but I am choosing to use it as a wet paint to create designs on my cake pops. For this method, you will want to put some of your luster dust into a very small bowl and add your alcohol one drop at a time. You are looking for a thin paint consistency.
Armed with your paint brush and edible shimmer paint, you are ready to decorate your cake balls. Get creative and paint on any design you like!
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