Cake Pops Are They Hard to Make?

I do them the original way, with cake and frosting. The website Bakerella.com has everything you want to know and then some.

Honestly? They're a pain to make. Making basic ones is easy enough, but decorating them to make them worthy of serving at a party or event is very time consuming. I am a very experienced baker and dessert decorator and to me, these are up there with iced sugar cookies in the pain in the butt department, but the kids do love the end result.

I would plan on 2 per person.

The cake pops I make are indeed so awesome they're worth the hassle. I've never made them with frosting, because that always seemed like it would be too sugary and sweet so I use a plain frozen Sara Lee cheesecake (minus the crust). Plus the ones I've tried with frosting have not been very impressive.

I let it defrost and then mix it with whatever flavor cake I'm using. It acts the same way as the frosting in holding the ball together but tastes much better in my opinion. I don't use a cake pop maker I just crumble the cake into the cheesecake, mix well, roll into balls, freeze them for about a half hour, then dip them in chocolate or vanilla candy melts, and sprinkle with sprinkles or whatever I'm using to decorate them.

I have alway gotten rave reviews. Even if someone doesn't like cheesecake, it's just a hint of flavor there and if you use chocolate or another strong flavor you cannot tell there is cheesecake. I have made lemon, red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate. They disappear every time!

Also you should definitely plan on 2 or even 3 per person if its going to be your only dessert.

I have the cake pop pan and everything and its still a pain! The baking of the cake pops is the easy part I suppose, but frosting and decorating is a royal pain in the rear. I doubt I will ever do it again ~ that's how well it went the first time. Granted, I had four 8 y/o's and a 4 y/o helping me...maybe THAT was the problem :)

My daughter (13) LOVES to bake so I got her a Bella cake pop maker from Macy's for Christmas. It only cost around $20 and it works great, and FAST. She just uses store bought cake mix and frosting, and toothpicks, no need to buy special cake pop sticks (unless you're having a fancy party I guess!)

My friend did "cheater" pops with her brownie troop.

They used donut holes and dipped them. I think in melted frosting, maybe?

They can be a royal pain in the a$$ to make! I make the cake, then put it in bowl and crumble it, then add some frosting. Once it's all mixed together, I use the ice cream scoop to make sure they're all the same size. I roll them all into balls and put the sticks in them. Then I melt the chocolate, dip them in chocolate and let them dry.

If I'm just going to roll them in sprinkles or something, I do that as soon as I get them out of the chocolate. If I'm decorating them, then I wait to start that after I dip them all in chocolate. Then I make the decorations for all of them. Then I finish assembling all of them.

The last ones I did were snowmen. I swore that night I would never make another cake pop! (I'm seriously considering doing them for my daughter's theater class...and now that I've written this out, not so much.)

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I make cake pops every year for Christmas, and then also for special occasions. They take some time but are totally worth it. The original cake pop wasn't just cake. You can now buy machines to make cake pops, but I don't use one. The cake pops I make are original recipe. You bake a cake, any cake you want, just as the recipe says. Once it has cooled, crumble it into a large bowl. Mix the cake with a tub of frosting, again, any kind you want. Place in fridge to chill. Once it's cool enough to roll into balls, you're ready. I use a small scooper that makes this step easier. Place on wax paper lined pan. Place in fridge. Once they are cool/hard, I roll them by hand (the scooper doesn't make smooth). Place in fridge again. Then it's time to dip. I don't normally put my cake pops on sticks, but you can if you want. I melt chocolate dicsc, whatever kind you want, dip cake rballs into chocolate and place back on wax paper - chill. They do take some time, but are worth it. And you can make whatever kind you want. Some types I've done - chocolate cherry - I used chocolate cake, baked with cherry soda vs water/oil/eggs (yes, 1 can soda can substitue all ingredients in cake mix, if you use diet, you are saving calories/etc.) , I then used chocolate frosting and added a little ibit of cherry flavoring. Dipped in chocolate - tahdah - chocolate cherry pops. I've also done german chocolate with choc cake, german/coconut frosting and dark chocolate to dip in. I've done strawberry cake with white frosting and dipped in chocolate - tahdah - chocolate covered strawberries. The options are endless. Lots of fun, and you can get the kids involved if you want. You 7 yo could help mix cake, scoop pops, hand roll. Enjoy!

Get a cake pop maker. I tried without one, the recipe said use crumbled cake and icing roll.into balls and harden, then put sticks in, it was a total disaster. I do cookie pops instead, cut out sugar cookies and put in the stick before you bake, they turn out great. If you are stuck on the cake pops, better get the maker or a special pan.

I made "cheater" cake pops like Julie W. wrote about, but I used Wilton's melting wafers which are white chocolate (processed without nuts) and it comes in many different colors. You can buy it at many craft stores and possibly big box stores as well. Put the donut holes on the sticks, dip in melted chocolate, throw on sprinkles before the chocolate cools, put on wax paper until totally cooled, then peel off the wax paper and wrap in plastic wrap or in a cute treat bag with a twist tie.

I made them once and they sucked, so I tried again at Christmas with these cake balls: http://bakelab.blogspot.com/2010/12/gingerbread-truffles-...

They turned out GREAT and my in-laws couldnt stop eating them. Here's her basics of cake balls: http://bakelab.blogspot.com/2010/01/cookie-buffet-spice-c...

The first time I did them, the instructions I used did not include refrigerating them after you ball them up, so they got gross. But these were good. They didn't look pretty, as they were my first real time, but the swirls on the top helped cover that up. It was weird, crumbling up the cake and mixing with the frosting, but they turned out yummy. My aunt has made different ones and they're always good.

i'm a fairly good baker, but these seem awfully hard to me. and the starbucks birthday cake pops are so dizzyingly delicious i can't imagine i could top them, so i just buy mine.
:) khairete
S.

I bought the cake pop pan this last September and used it for my daughter's birthday. I had no issues making the cake pops and while it was a bit time consuming for the size of party I had it was easy to do. I will say that in our case each of the kids only ate one they were 9 years old. I planned on 2 per person as well and at the end of the day realized I way overdid it but I will definitely be making cake pops again as they're a big hit and they freeze beautifully.