Why Did My Cake Pops Fall Apart

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Cake pops can be frustrating, I know. But, with some simple tips and tricks they can become easy. Let’s review some solutions to common cake pop problems and before you know it, they will be your favorite sweet treat too!Today’s cake pop challenge… taming those unruly cake balls that fall off the stick.

Some cake pop recipes call for you to create the cake ball “dough” by adding an entire can of frosting to your cake pop crumbs. Woah! There’s no need to be so frosting happy! Going overboard can cause your cake balls to fall of the sticks. The best rule of thumb is to start out with a small amount of icing and slowly add more until your mix reaches the consistency of clay. In my basic cake pop recipes, I use 1/3 to 1/2 cup of frosting.

How To Make Cake Balls Without Frosting

The bigger your roll your cake balls the more they weigh. If you roll them too big, they may be too heavy to stay on the sticks. To get consistently sized cake pops, I use a stainless steel coffee scoop to measure out my cake “dough” before rolling. The resulting cake pops are 1.25 inches wide, definitely not too big and not to small either.

Sometimes when you dip your cake pops into the candy coating, the cake ball doesn’t get completely covered. To fix this, gently tilt your cake pop in one direction and then in the opposite direction. Do not stir, swirl, or bounce around your cake pop unless you want to risk it falling off the stick into a candy coating abyss. Once the cake pop is sealed in the candy coating, pull your cake pop straight up and out of the coating.

After you dip each cake pop, you will need to remove the excess coating. The key to keeping your cake pop on the stick is keeping this process short and gentle. Do not vigorously bang or shake your cake pop. I like to “tap and turn”. Gently tap your cake pop on the side of your bowl and turn it a quarter of a turn to keep the coating smooth. Repeat this until most of the excess coating has dripped off.

No Bake Cake Pops

Hardened candy coating acts as glue so it can be very helpful in preventing your cake pops from falling off the sticks. Before inserting your sticks into your chilled cake balls, dip the end of each stick into candy coating. I suggest inserting the stick about half way into the cake ball. Then, set them back in the fridge to chill for dipping.

I was making at least three of these five common cake pop mistakes at one point in time. Now that I’ve learned these simple tricks, I almost never have a cake pop fall off of the stick. Are you making any of these common cake pop mistakes?Seriously. We’ve all burned the heck out of our chocolate, lost a cake ball off the stick, had our beautiful cake pops crack 5 minutes later,  or had them leak weird stuff everywhere! It’s sooo frustrating!

I look back on my first cake pops (if I’m even allowed to call them that) and they are sad. See the picture at the end of this as proof. Let’s just say, practice makes perfect and now I’m obsessed with cake pops. I think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Dang Bakerella, look what she started. Just kidding, I love her.

Cake Pop 911: Help! My Cake Pops Are Falling Apart. What's Happening?!?

This can happen for a couple different reasons. I think the most common is thick coating and it is dragging your cake pop down. Smooth coating is one of the most (if not

Additionally, huge cake balls = heavy cake balls. So try to make them moderate size (1″) and use a spoon (small cookie dough scoop, coffee scoop, melon baller) or something to measure an even amount for each ball. I bought an awesome coffee scoop at Target for $5 and it gives me perfectly sized and consistent cake balls every time.

When I first started making cake balls I would use the whole container (16 oz) of frosting. Now, I start with adding 1/3 of the can and typically use up to 1/2 cup (8 oz) of frosting. You could probably get away with even less than that, but I found this amount is good for me and rolls out smooth. Cake balls that are too gooey won’t stay put!

How To Make Cake Pops Without Candy Melts: Easy Alternatives (2023)

Also, when dipping your cake pops, dip the stick in the coating first and insert into the cake ball. Then,  when dipping the cake pop make sure that you don’t bump the bottom of the cake ball on the bowl/cup. Finally, don’t swirl the cake pop around in the coating, just dip and get out!

This is probably the easiest problem to fix and it begins with baking your cake. Do not overbake. Simple enough! Second, trim off the edges and (if you’re obsessed like I am) leave out the bottom of the cake,  too. Mix

With frosting. Thoroughly, as in: dig in using your clean hands to mush the cake and frosting together. Finally, roll, roll, roll. The smoother they look as uncoated cake balls, the better they will look when dipped. Voila.

Cake Ball Recipe (step By Step Tutorial)

They look perfectly fine, then magically they look like they experienced an earthquake. Super frustrating! Typically, this is caused by the difference in temperature of the coating and the cake ball itself – the coating is hot and the cake balls are too

The cake ball expands, and now you have cracks. While I do like to chill my cake pops in the fridge (sometimes freezer for a few minutes, but be careful – there is a fine line between keeping them firm enough to stay on the stick and too cold where they crack), make sure you pull them out before dipping and that your candy coating isn’t TOO hot (let it sit for a couple of minutes after heating).

Cracks are the biggest challenge I have found with other cake poppers, too, and sometimes – even with the perfect conditions – cracks happen.

What To Do When You Break A Cake

Some call it cake pop *poop*, which I think is a good word for it. After all, this was my initial reaction for it when I began making cake pops a couple years ago. This happens when the cake is pushing it’s way out of the coating through a weak spot, a tiny hole, or a bubble that resulted in a hole. Make sure you coat the entire cake ball in coating. This issue can also be caused by the cake ball and coating temperature difference – see the “cracks” problem. But in my opinion, leakage is better than cracks, so if you have a leak – pull the excess cake off and cover the hole with a little bit of additional coating.

The cake can also be very oily, causing oil to seep out the coating and even down the lollipop stick. If this happens, remember, you can always substitute apple sauce or greek yogurt for oil in your cake recipe!

Using less frosting = less oil. Again, you can seal any holes up with a little candy coating, but despite all of that, I still have some cake pops that are oily and the stick literally absorbs the oil and I’m fine with that,  as long as they don’t crack and leak! Colored lollipop sticks would help hide any oil absorbed (these can be purchased online or at specialty cake supply stores).

Winnie The Pooh Honeypot Cake Pops — Poetry & Pies

Air bubbles happen, but you can prevent them. These are usually caused by stirring your chocolate too vigorously. To prevent air bubbles, create a smooth “spot” with the back of your spoon before dipping your cake pop. It helps drastically! Just run your spoon (in a back and forth motion) over the coating between dipping each cake pop. If you notice the air bubble upon pulling your cake pop out of the coating, just give it a second dip immediately.

You may have scorched your coating. This is a very common issue and happens when the sugar particles become too hot, causing them to caramelize or scorch. When using the microwave, be sure to follow the instructions on the package and heat the entire block of CandiQuik for an initial 60 seconds, then stir very well and heat in 15-second intervals. If using less, adjust the microwave times accordingly. Remember, you can’t go back in time if you scorch your coating, so it’s better to start off slow. Of course, microwaves can heat unevenly and cause hot spots, so using short intervals and stirring between each one will help this. If your microwave has a turntable, try placing the CandiQuik tray away from the center, this way all parts of the tray are moving at all times and help even out any uneven heating. If melting on the stove top, make sure you have the burner on low heat and stir constantly.

And of course, I suggest using CandiQuik Candy Coatings. I don’t have to add anything to thin it out and I get a nice, smooth, palatable,  thin shell of coating (versus a thick, gloppy mouth full of thick sugar particles).

Common Cake Pop Issues & Tutorial

If you notice the coating is thicker than normal (commonly caused by