Cake Pops Tutorial

How was your weekend? We spent most of it celebrating my friend’s birthday. I made a whole mess of treats including chocolate zucchini cake (as cupcakes), these salted caramel dark chocolate cookies, and these peanut butter M&M cookies too—it’s been way too long since I made a batch of those in particular! The birthday girl loves chocolate and peanut butter and caramel so these 3 were a no brainer.

There’s no batter time (get it? batter?) than a happy occasion to indulge in your favorite treats whether that’s a birthday, shower, wedding, you name it. My mom and sisters threw my baby shower last month and one of the treats they surprised me with was a HUGE display of cake pops. I love cake pops, but hardly ever take the time to make them. Though I did whip up a batch for both of my sisters’ bridal showers in the past few years.

The difference between these cake pops and others you may have tried is that these are 100% homemade. There’s no box cake mix or canned frosting, which results in a totally unique cake pop experience. You can actually TASTE the homemade. The love, the passion, and the care that goes into creating each adorable pop.

How To Make Cake Pops, Step By Step, Tutorial Stock Photo

So anyway! I first began making homemade cake pops when I wroteSally’s Candy Addiction. In fact, this recipe is published in the book! I want to share it on the blog as well because I’ve gotten lots of questions about making from-scratch cake pops.

Today we’ll go over all my tips, tricks, and secrets to crafting the peeeeerfect pop as well as the homemade vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream used inside. There’s lots of ground to cover so let’s pop right to it. (Can’t stop with my nerdiness right now.)

Since we’re leaving the box cake mix and canned frosting on the store shelves, we’ll need to take a little extra time to prep both from scratch. I always make the cake the night before, then finish the cake pops the next day. Here’s the general process:

Easy Cake Pops · How To Bake Cake Pops · Baking On Cut Out + Keep

Super basic recipes for both the vanilla cake and frosting, but I do encourage you to use the correct size pan for the cake. This cake is too large for a typical 9-inch cake pan. You’ll need to use a 9-inch springform pan since it rises quite high. Or you can use an 11×7-inch pan instead. A 10-inch springform pan would work as well.

Cake ingredients are straightforward. The basic crew like flour, butter, sugar, vanilla, milk. Same goes with the vanilla frosting: butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, milk (or cream). The difference between this and what you get out of a box is the taste. You can totally tell these cake pops are special and it’s because you started with from-scratch components. WORTH IT!

(Crumbling the cake into the frosting sounds super weird when you think about it and that’s exactly what cake pops are—super weird when you think about it. It’s cake and frosting mixed together to form a truffle-like ball. Pop a stick in it and dunk into coating. Yep, it’s weirdly delicious and awesome and you need to embrace it.)

Cake Pop Blooms

It’s easier to roll the cake + frosting mixture into perfectly round balls if it’s cold. And what I do is roll the balls up right after the two are mixed together. They’re pretty misshapen because the cake + frosting mixture is super moist—and at room temperature. So then I chill the balls in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After that, I give them another little roll to smooth out the sides. When they’re cold, they’re easier to smooth out and form perfectly round shapes.

Just like when we make Oreo balls, the cake balls need to be super chilled before dipping, so this trick gets both steps done!

Now let’s dunk. You can dip the cake balls into pure white chocolate, which is what I prefer for best taste, but that stuff is pretty expensive. And you need a good amount for all 40 cake pops! You can use candy melts/candy coating instead. I give both options in the recipe below along with notes for each choice.

Easy Cake Pop Recipe

Another trick: to ensure the cake ball stays secure on the lollipop stick, dip it slightly into the coating first. Then stick in the center of the cake ball. See photo above!

And another trick: the best way to allow the coating to dry and set—without ruining the perfectly round cake pop—is to place them right side up in a large styrofoam block or even a box. I used a box, as pictured below, for this batch. I just poked super tiny holes into it. Easy and cheap.

Cake pops are a genius celebration-worthy treat to make ahead of time because they freeze beautifully. I simply freeze them in a large zipped-top freezer bag after they’ve fully dried. They’re great for up to 6 weeks, then just let them thaw overnight in the fridge.

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I have a few more tips for ya! I went over these in Sally’s Candy Addiction because they’re pretty important to review before you get started.

Sally McKenney is a professional food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Her kitchen-tested recipes and thorough step-by-step tutorials give readers the knowledge and confidence to bake from scratch. Sally has been featured onHi everyone! Tonight Jo from Cake Poppin’ is stopping by to show us this stunning Ruffle Cake Pop Tutorial. I have NOT attempted to make these, but she makes it look so easy that I think I need to! Thanks for the tutorial, Jo!

Hello! My name is Jo and I am the baker behind the scenes at Cake Poppin! I started my business about 3 years ago after leaving my corporate job to stay home with my babies. What began as a little hobby has now grown into a full-fledged business and I could not be happier. I specialize in beautiful desserts including cake pops, cakes, chocolate covered treats and French macarons. You can find me on Facebook at Jo from Cake Poppin’ or on Jo from Cake Poppin’.

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I created the ruffle cake pop in 2011 and they have been a HIT with my fans and customers! They are a beautiful addition to any dessert table and easier than they look (I promise). Once you get the first one down, you’ll be ruffling all over the place! So here’s the secret to THE RUFFLE…

Start with plain dry cake pops, stick side up as pictured. I like to dip and then place wet cake pop on a melt to ensure a solid, level bottomed cake pop. (For dipping tips, please see my videos on Instagram)

Color your fondant according to your preferred color scheme. You can use any kind of food coloring but start with a little drop and add until you reach your desired color. Keep in mind that if you are doing an ombré effect, you will need 5-6 different shades of your color starting with the darkest color and ending with the lightest. For tutorial purposes, I used my fave color…PINK! Using a fondant roller or rolling pin, roll out your fondant onto a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle a little cornstarch on your rolling pin and the fondant if it sticks a little. Cut your rolled out fondant into approximately 5 inch strips. You will need about 6 strips per cake pop. Each strip should be about a quarter of an inch wide.

Ruffle Cake Pop Tutorial • Pint Sized Baker

Using a ball tool, take each layer and gently ‘ruffle’ one side of the strip using a slow, rolling motion. You can also use a ruffling tool if want a more organic look. I like mine to look more shabby chic so the more imperfect the better.

Using your circle cutter, cut out several circles and use the same ruffling technique on the edges and set circles aside for later.

You are now ready to start placing your ruffles on the cake pop. Starting at the bottom (flat part) of the cake pop, use your small brush to dab a very small amount of clear vanilla extract around the cake pop where you are placing your first ruffle. Take one strip of ruffled fondant and wrap it around the very bottom of the cake pop covering the melt or flat part of the cake pop. The vanilla extract will adhere it to the cake pop. If you have excess fondant once the two ends meet, you can easily pinch it off and remove. Gradually place each of the following layers using the same method of lightly brushing extract and wrapping the fondant strip around the cake pop until you reach your last layer…

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*NOTE* Make sure you start each ruffle layer at the same place each time so that your “seam” can be placed in the back of the cake pop for display.

Using the circles that you previously cut and ruffled, place your final layer by poking a small hole in the center of the circle and sliding it down the stick. This should cover the seams of the previous layer and the point where the cake pop