Cake Pops
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These cake pops are a fun Easter dessert. With a pastel coating and sprinkles, they’ll be an adorable addition to your table!
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Cake pops are the perfect size. Smaller than a cupcake, they offer just a bite or two of cake and frosting mixed together, with a sweet candy coating. It’s a great “oh I shouldn’t but maybe I will” treat for any afternoon.
Making these cakes pops with this homemade cake recipe is better than using a box cake mix. They’re easy and fun to make and kids love to help decorate them.
For a darling Easter centerpiece – buy some floral foam or a styrofoam base at a craft store. Place the base in a small Easter basket or low vase. Cover the base with Easter grass and stand the cake pops up in the base.
For other fun Easter recipes, try my Chocolate Easter cake, Easter Macarons, or my favorite Moist Carrot Cake.
If you like other simple desserts for gift giving, try these oreo balls.
Plan ahead and buy Bakery Emulsion at a craft store or on Amazon. It’s not totally necessary but it will give the cakes a little something extra that makes them taste like they’ve been made at a bakery.
The coating on cake pops is made from melted candy melts. They are available in a variety of colors online or in craft stores.
Chocolate, white chocolate, or almond bark can be great alternatives to candy melts. Just follow the directions on the package for melting them.
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- Butter: Unsalted butter that is softened to room temperature will cream perfectly with the sugar.
- Sugar: You’ll need granulated white sugar for the cake, and confectioner’s sugar for the frosting.
- Eggs: I use 2 eggs at room temperature in this recipe.
- Vanilla: Look for high-quality vanilla to use. I prefer Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla or you can make your own vanilla.
- Flour: All Purpose flour is perfectly fine in this recipe.
- Leavening: Baking powder is used to give the cake rise.
- Salt: Salt helps to balance the sweetness.
- Milk: Whole milk works best but you can also use buttermilk.
- Bakery Emulsion: This ingredient is optional, but it adds a little extra that will make them them taste professionally made. I use this Princess Cake and Cookie Bakery Emulsion from Amazon.
- Cream Cheese: Adds a rich tangy flavor to the frosting. Be sure to use full fat.
- Candy Melts: You can find these at a craft store in the baking aisle or on Amazon. Pick a variety of fun pastel Easter colors.
- Sprinkles: Optional, but extra adorable!
Recommended tools
This recipe isn’t difficult, but it does have a number of steps. You’ll need the following tools to make these cake pops as easily as possible.
- Mixer: Either a stand mixer or electric mixer will do
- Baking Pan: These aluminum baking pans are my favorite.
- Small ice cream scoop: I use this 1.5 tablespoon scoop for everything – cake pops, cookies, filling muffin pans, and meatballs.
- Candy melting pot or double boiler: When melting chocolate, be very careful not to burn it. I use this candy melting pot, but you can also use a double boiler.
How to Make Cake Pops
It’s not difficult to make homemade cake pops. There are four separate tasks involved. Follow the directions step by step – make the cake, make the frosting, form the balls and dip them in the candy coating. It sounds like a lot, but its so much fun.
- Make the cake. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients followed by the milk.
- Bake the cake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 20-30 minutes. It’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting. Mix the softened butter and cream cheese until it is creamy. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar.
This is an easy frosting that really serves as the glue for the crumbled cake – so we aren’t terribly fussy about it.
- Combine the cake and frosting. Crumble the cooled cake into small bits and add to the frosting. Mix on low speed until frosting and cake are fully combined.
- Shape the cake balls. Use the small ice cream scoop to portion the mixture into balls. Place cake balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Coat the cake balls. Dip a lollipop stick about ½ into melted candy melts, then then insert half way into the cake ball. Dip the cake ball into the melted candy until it is fully coated. Tap off the excess coating.
- Decorate the cake balls. Place cake pop upright in a styrofoam block or a cake pop stand and decorate with sprinkles before the candy coating hardens.
Tips For Success
- Don’t take more than 5 cake pops from the fridge at a time before you coat them. They will soften up and loose their shape.
- Once the coating has set, put the cake pops back in the refrigerator of the coating will crack.
- The chocolate or candy will become too thick and unusable if it gets too hot when melted.
- If you want other flavors, use a half recipe of my chocolate cake or red velvet cake!
Storage & Freezing
- The cake pops will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator if you don’t eat them first.
- If making ahead, bake the cake a day in advance and keep it at room temperature. Undipped cake balls will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for 6 weeks.
Cake Pops
Ingredients
For the cake
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Princess Cake and Cookie Bakery Emulsion, optional
- 1 ⅓ cups (173 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk, at room temperature
For the frosting
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, cold
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) confectioner's sugar
For the coating
- 20 ounces vanilla candy melts, Easter colors
- Sprinkles, Easter colors
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the sides and bottom of one 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper cut to fit and generously grease the parchment paper as well. Dust the pan lightly with flour then tap out any excess; set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine and add it to the butter mixture followed by the milk. Beat on medium-low speed just until combined. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly into to pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Take care not to overbake.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes then invert on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment of a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy.
- Add the confectioners' sugar and beat on the low speed until the sugar has fully moistened, then turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until well incorporated, about 3 minutes.
- Crumble the cake into small bits and add it to the bowl with the frosting. Mix on low speed until the frosting and cake are fully combined.
- Use a 1.5-tablespoon scoop to portion the mixture into balls. (The ball will be too soft to shape perfectly at this point.) Place the cake balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Reroll to get uniform balls with smooth surfaces then return to the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Coat the cake balls
- Melt the candy melts in separate bowls according to the package directions.
- Remove 5 cake balls from the refrigerator at a time. Dip the lollipop stick into about ½ inch into the coating and insert it about halfway into the center of the cake ball.
- dip the cake ball into the coating until it's fully coated to the base of the lollipop stick. Gently tap off the excess coating. Place it upright into a styrofoam block or cake pop stand and decorate with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining cake balls.
- The coating will be set within 1 hour. Once the coating has set, place the cake balls in the refrigerator or the coating may crack.
Notes
- Bakery emulsion: While this ingredient is optional, it is highly recommended. It adds a little something extra that makes the cake pops taste as if they were made in a bakery. You can purchase it on amazon.
- Candy melts: Switch up the colors to match the occasion! Candy melts come in a variety of colors so you can make cake pops for any event.
- Candy melt alternatives: Chocolate, white chocolate, and almond bark make great alternatives to candy melts. Follow the package directions on melting and use them the same way as instructed in the recipe.
- I prefer to use a candy melting pot for melting candy melts. You can use a double boiler but it’s very important to keep the heat as low as possible and melt slowly or the candy melts will become thick and unusable.
- The cake pops will keep for up to 1 week stored in the refrigerator.
- The cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.
- You can keep undipped cake balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze them for up to 6 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator and continue with coating the cake balls.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Can we make cake pops from the leftover cake ?
I haven’t tried but I imagine it would be okay to do. You’d need to get the frosting to cake ratio just right so the pops aren’t too dry or soggy.