Last month I attended a friend’s baby shower and wanted to bring something cute and tasty. I decided on vanilla cream cheese cake pops because of how pretty and portable they were. It was fun to see all the guest’s faces light up, especially the little girls! It was a good thing that I let my kiddos have one before the event because there were none left! I certainly recommend these cake pops if you have a little time on your hands and want to make something special for Valentine’s Day, a baby shower, or birthday party.
First, bake a regular yellow cake mix according to package instructions. Begin to crumble it up into a separate bowl using your hands. If there are any hardened pieces of cake from around the edges, discard those.
Now add 2 tablespoons of cream cheese frosting.
Use your hands to mix the frosting with the cake so that they are evenly mixed. The cake should easily mold in your hands, kind of like playdough.
Grab a cake ball former. These are sold at local grocery stores in the baking section or you can buy one here.
Mash the cake mixture into the ball former. Don’t worry if there is too much. You can opt not to use a cake ball former and use your hands instead, but I find that it is harder to maintain consistent form.
Pull away all the extra cake and line the cake balls up on parchment paper. You should have enough to make 24.
Look at how pretty!
There are lots of choices when it comes to melting chocolate. Since I couldn’t find pink melting chocolate in my grocery store, I decided to get plain white and add food coloring. This package was just the right amount for 24 cake pops. Now is a good time to set out your cake pop sticks as well.
I started with a test bowl to make sure I got the right consistency and color.
I melted the chocolate in 40 second increments because I didn’t want to risk boiling it and ruining the batch. It is helpful to keep in mind that you can always melt it more but burning it will force you to start over. It is also helpful to add a small amount of shortening because it will thin out the chocolate and keep it from clumping.
When the chocolate is the right texture, dip in the tip of each stick.
Now put it into the cake ball. This step allows the chocolate to harden among the batter, creating a sort of anchor effect.
Repeat this step for all 24 cake pops. Freeze the cake pops for about 15 minutes before you decide to dip them in chocolate but don’t leave them in the freezer any longer than that.
Now for the color test! I added a few drops of pink food coloring and then softened the color by adding more white chocolate.
When you have the color just right, pour it into a tall glass cup. This will make dipping easier and you will be able to monitor how much chocolate you have. I started with half a glass of chocolate and then made more partway through.
Dunk each cake pop into the chocolate and then let the excess drip off. Slowly turn the cake pop in a circle so that the chocolate doesn’t clump or drip down the stick.
If you want to add sprinkles, add them while the chocolate is still wet. It will harden quickly so keep the sprinkles nearby.
A styrofoam block would be handy for drying the cake pops. I didn’t have one so I turned an old shoebox upside down and poked holes into the box. I pushed the cake sticks about 3/4 of the way down and then let them dry. No harm is done if you let them dry on parchment or wax paper; they will still taste wonderfully! Let the cake pops dry for atleast 15 minutes. No need to freeze them again, just refrigerate until you are ready to transport or serve.
Repeat these last 5 steps for the second half of the cake pops and then you’re done! The process is a bit time consuming, but it is well worth it for the special finished product! My daughter had a fun time helping me so we plan on making these again, maybe for Valentine’s Day. It will take some patience and supervision, but I think this would be a really fun activity for kids.
Do you bake with your children? Do you have any special events coming up where you might take these? Let me know if you try these and how they turn out. Happy cooking y’all!
Vanilla Cream Cheese Cake Pops
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 2 Tbsp cream cheese frosting
- 1 cake ball former
- 24 cake pop sticks
- 16 oz 1 lb melting chocolate
- 1 Tbsp shortening divided
- Optional: food coloring sprinkles, styrofoam box
Instructions
- Bake yellow cake mix according to package instructions.
- Let cake cool and then break apart by hand until crumbly.
- Add frosting to cake crumbs and mix until it is moldable, like playdough.
- Use cake ball former or hands to form 24 balls.
- Melt a small portion of chocolate.
- Dip the tips of each cake stick into the chocolate and then insert into each cake ball.
- Freeze for 15 minutes before coating balls with melted chocolate.
- Melt 8 oz of chocolate in 40 second increments until smooth, being careful not to boil or burn.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon of shortening to thin out chocolate if necessary.
- Add food coloring if desired.
- Fill frosting into tall glass. Dip each cake ball into frosting.
- Let excess frosting drip off, turning the cake ball in a circle as it drips off.
- Quickly add sprinkles.
- Let the cake ball dry on parchment paper or insert stick into styrofoam block.
- Repeat the last 7 steps for the remaining chocolate and cake pops.
- Refrigerate until ready to transport or serve.
This recipe is adapted from Simply Home Cooked. Check out the rest of her blog for fun, tasty ideas.
RHP Santiago Casilla (pitch GIFs): Veteran with a聽guaranteed contract and plus slider, but he was quite mediocre last year.