Easy Cake Pops

Cake pops are the most delightful little treats, and are so so delicious! They’re basically cake mixed with frosting, which is then rolled into little balls and coated with chocolate - YUM!

Cake pops can seem intimidating at first, but I promise you they are one of the easiest things to make once you get a hang of it! In this recipe I’ll be sharing all my tips and tricks to get perfect cake pops.

My top tips for making cake pops

When it comes to making cake pops, there are a few important things to keep in mind to make the process much easier and ensure your cake pops taste delicious (which is the main thing of course!).

Cake recipe: For simple vanilla cake pops you want to use your favourite vanilla or white cake recipe. To make the process even simpler, you can even use a boxed cake mix (which is what I did for this recipe). Because cake pops are essentially cake mixed with frosting, I feel the homemade frosting I use in this recipe dampens the artificial flavour of boxed cake mixes so you can totally get away with it!

Frosting: If you’re using a boxed cake mix, then I would recommend NOT using the frosting that comes with it. It just doesn’t taste as good as homemade frosting, which is important for this recipe.

Don’t add too much frosting to the cake: I always recommend starting off by placing 3/4s of the frosting into your cake crumbs first and then mixing to see what the consistency is like. If you feel the cake is moist enough to roll into balls then don’t add anymore frosting in. Otherwise, add in the remaining frosting and mix. I usually add all of my frosting in but each cake recipe/box cake mix is slightly different. You don’t want to add too much frosting in if you don’t need too as you don’t want the cake pops to be mushy.

Cake Balls: To make your cake balls super round, I would recommend rolling them once, placing them onto a lined tray and then popping them into the freezer for 10 minutes (or fridge for 30 minutes), before rolling a second time. This helps to make the cake balls really round. Once done pop the cake balls back into the freezer for another 30 minutes (or the fridge for 1.5 hours) as they need to be very cold so that they hold their shape when we come to attaching the cake pop sticks, as well as help the chocolate set quicker once we coat the cake balls.

Chocolate: The type of chocolate you use to coat the cake balls is very important. I would highly recommend using chocolate or candy melts. When chocolate melts are melted, they’re much thinner in consistency compared to regular eating chocolate, which is going to help when we dip the cake balls in. Chocolate melts also set much quicker so you won’t have excess chocolate dripping down your cake pop stick. Lastly, chocolate melts also set nice and firmly so you’re going to have a nice crack when you bite through your cake pops. If you do want to use regular eating chocolate, then I would recommend thinning it out with vegetable oil, and also tempering it so you get that nice crack when biting the cake pop!

Keep an eye on the chocolate and cake balls: While assembling the cake pops, keep an eye on the chocolate (it should still be thin). If you feel it’s thickening up, simply reheat it. Also keep an eye on the temperature of the cake balls. If they’re getting too soft, pop them back into the freezer for an additional 10 minutes or so (or into the fridge for another 30 minutes). If the cake balls are too soft they’ll fall off the cake pop sticks when dipping them into the chocolate.

Keep the cake pops upright while setting: To get that nice round shape on your cake pops, let them sit upright while setting. This can be a little challenging it you don’t have a cake pop stand, but there’s definitely a few ways to do this without it! My best tip is to fill a glass or jug with rice (or anything grainy) and then poke the cake pops into the rice and they should stay upright. You can also use some styrofoam, or poke little holes into a sturdy box and place the cake pops into the holes.

How to make cake pops

Begin by either baking your cake based on your favourite vanilla or white cake recipe (it needs to make one 8 inch/20cm cake) OR make the boxed cake mix as directed on the back of the packet. Before mixing all the ingredients together for the box cake mix, also add in additional vegetable oil.

Once baked, allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before running a thin knife around the edge of your tin to release the cake from the cake tin, and turn it out into a big bowl.

Once it’s cooled enough to be able to touch it, break the cake apart with your hands and crumble it up until is resembles fine crumbs. Allow to cool completely.

In the meantime make the frosting. In a medium sized bowl add in butter, icing sugar (also known as confectioners/powdered sugar), vanilla and milk. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix on a medium speed for 4 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. If using a stand mixer then do this with the paddle attachment.

Once the cake is cooled, add 3/4s of the frosting into the crumbled cake, and using a hand or stand mixer, mix until just combined.

At this stage, if you feel the cake is moist enough to roll into balls then don’t add anymore frosting in. Otherwise, add in the remaining frosting and mix. I usually add all of my frosting in but each cake recipe/box cake mix is slightly different. You don’t want to add too much frosting in if you don’t need too as you don’t want the cake pops to be mushy.