Cake Pops With Dry Cake

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.

Recipes Using Leftover Cake, Overbaked Cake, Or Stale Cake

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:

Make This Easy 4th Of July Cake Pops Recipe

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.)

Gwen's Kitchen Creations: Cake Pops Tips And Tricks

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.

Leftover Cake Cake Balls

Another trick: To ensure the cake ball stays secure on the lollipop stick, dip about the top 1/2 inch of the stick into the coating first. Then stick into 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.

Fun & Festive Cake Pops Recipe: How To Make It

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 onMore beautiful than brownies, cuter than cupcakes, more petite than pie, cake pops are one of the most adorable treats you’ll ever hold. And one of the most delicious desserts you’ll ever eat!

I can’t imagine any other dessert that makes me smile and giggle with an unnecessary amount of happiness more than cake pops.

Easy Cake Pop Recipe

They are the perfect sweet ending for so many occasions, especially for any event that has a theme, since they can be easily customized with bright colors and decorations.

If you want to make these little delights for an upcoming party, but need a little guidance, learn how to make them right here!

This article goes over all the basics you’ll ever need to know to make the most gorgeous handheld treats, without splattering your kitchen in an explosion of confetti jimmies and melted chocolate smears.

Chocolate Cake Pops

From getting neat and organized in the beginning, to applying the very last sprinkle on top, I share all the advice you need to make the perfect pops – so keep reading!

Want to serve perfect cake pops for a party? Need some help with the process? Learn all the basics on how to make them with ’s step-by-step guide.

For the cake base, you can use your favorite recipe, in whatever flavor you prefer. Vanilla and chocolate are my go-to flavors for crowd-pleasing pops.

How To Make Cake Pops: A Step By Step Tutorial

For fun variations, you can try using recipes like carrot or banana. For more inspiration, take a look at all of our recipes to find one that you like.

Whatever you use, whether you’re working from scratch or taking a few shortcuts, make sure it’s a simple recipe. Small ingredients like nuts and dried fruit will be fine once they’re tightly rolled together to form balls. However, I would not use any recipes for upside-down cakes – it would end up as a sticky mess in ball form!

Don’t be fooled by how cute and small they are – a lot of maintenance and care is required to make them look so perfect! But when you prep your work station, tools, and ingredients, you’ll work more quickly and efficiently.

Cake Pop Tips & Tricks

Try any of my recipes for icing: classic fluffy frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream, or cocoa fudge frosting will all be divine choices.

Enough to moisten the cake to mold and form it into balls. The base itself already has a high fat content, so you don’t need to add too much extra icing.

They won’t hold their shape properly, they’ll fall off the sticks when you dip them, they’ll cause the chocolate to crack once it sets…

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As someone who was silly enough to dump in a HUGE bowl of icing on my very first time making these, take my advice: Work with small scoopfuls of icing, pretty please!

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, crumble your cake. If using a stand mixer, you can use the paddle attachment to break it up on low speed.

By hand or with the paddle attachment, mix in the icing a little at a time, starting off with just a couple tablespoons. Mix until a dense but crumbly dough forms that you can mold into balls with your hands.

Simple Cake Pops Recipe

With your hands, roll into a tight, uniform ball, applying gentle pressure to press the mixture together with no cracks or openings.

I would definitely use parchment paper for this, rather than a silicone baking mat. The nonstick coating collects all the oil from each pop at the bottom, which you’ll need to wipe off before coating in chocolate.

One of the biggest concerns with decorating these fun desserts is trying to avoid any severe temperature changes, to ensure the melted chocolate coats smoothly and sets without any issues.

No Bake Oreo Cake Pops

You don’t want the cake balls to be too cold or too warm before you dip them,