While I love to bake, and think I can make some pretty tasty treats, a baked goods decorator I am not. I will never be able to turn cakepops into art like Bakerella, decorate cakes like Sprinkle Bakes or decorate a cookie like Sugarbelle or Sweetopia.
So what’s a non decorating baker to do? Basically, just fake it. Colorful sprinkles and candies can go a long way in making your treats look cute. Here are some cake pops that I made for my niece to take to a Halloween party.
I simply covered the cake pops in four different colors of sugar sprinkles and topped each with a sugar pumpkin. Extremely simple, but I don’t think they look half bad. And let’s be real, they will be devoured by preschool age kiddos who will probably be every bit as happy with pretty sprinkles as they would be with detailed decorations. Most of my baking is done during my toddler’s nap time, so I’m all about getting it done quickly. When it comes to cake pops, I’m a huge fan of Select Brand’s Babycakes Cake Pop Maker. I can have an entire batch of cake balls made up in less time than it would take me to bake a cake for the cake and frosting variety of cake pops. For a detailed tutorial on how I make my cake pops with the Babycakes machine, check out this post.
I am often asked how do I get the chocolate that I dip them to cooperate with me. This isn’t always easy. While I talk a lot about Wilton’s Melts, I really do not have a strong loyalty to a particular chocolate, and use a variety of melts as well as almond bark. One tip I have for dealing with the chocolate is a little extra ingredient called paramount crystals.
I buy my paramount crystals at my local baking supply, ABC Baking, but Amazon sells them as well. These crystals are made of oils and help to thin out your chocolate and keep it more fluid. I only use a small amount, but it really helps when the chocolate is too thick or just not being very cooperative. If you dip anything in chocolate, I highly recommend keeping a bag of these on hand. A small bag goes a long way and is inexpensive.
Another bit of advice when dipping your cake pops is that you have to be patient and timing is important. I am not a patient person by nature, but I find a bit of patience while making these pays off with less mess and a better result. If you cover your cake pop with sprinkles immediately, you are likely to have blobs of chocolate (and sprinkles) fall off. If you wait too long the chocolate sets and the sprinkles won’t adhere. I usually tap the stick of my cake pop over my melted chocolate and help the excess drip off, than slowly twirl my cake pop until the chocolate thickens a tiny bit, then cover with my sprinkles. Sometimes I have to still continue lightly twirling the cake pop with the sprinkles on it before sitting it down. I also find that sugar crystal type sprinkles are usually easier than the jimmies type, as they are lighter and less likely to jump off your cake pop before the chocolate sets.
These cake pops were very quick and easy to make, thanks to the combination of using the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and keeping the decorating very simple. I won’t lie, I wish I could pull off the amazing cake pops that many bakers make, but my friends and family have yet to complain about their cake pops not being fancy enough and they appear to be pretty darn content to enjoy them just as they are. In my next post I’ll talk a bit about how I package my treats and what items I think are important to keep on hand for simple decorating and packaging.
I’ve been wanting to try the cake pop maker, but wasn’t sure if it’d work! But yours look awesome, I might have to go buy myself one and try it out! Thanks for sharing and I’ll have to check out that post!
Love this post. You are the second cake pop maker that has mentioned the paramount crystals. I will be hunting for these.
I’m a certified chef and baking is not my thing……chefs don’t enjoy measuring! But cupcakes and cakepops are fun to decorate.
So I also love my Select Brands bakecakes cake pop and cupcake maker for pure ease and speed!
It is like the Easybake for adults.
My 13 yr old loves helping with cupcakes.
Well I think these are absolutely adorable, what a lucky little girl! I’m sure they were a hit in the class
What’s funny is that I have been stalking!! that old post of yours the past few days b/c just this week I bought that cakepop maker! And I also bought the donut maker
For $14.99 each with a BB & Beyond coupon, it was a no-brainer.
So is the recipe you used for those the vanilla cake pop recipe that’s in their booklet? I read that in your text on the other post but just want to make sure.
I tried using some boxed cake mix and mixing it with a little cream…vanilla coffeemate to be exact and a touch of baking powder and you know what, I had pretty good success! For a 3 second “batter”, it was easy.
Would love to hear any other recipes/recipe sources you use for your batter…
Sorry for the long comment…just excited about my cake pop maker (and donut maker)
Averie, the cake pop maker is great! Yes, I love the vanilla recipe that is in their booklet. It’s a bit more dense, like a pound cake. They have some donut recipes on their website that are great as well. They just posted a pumpkin one that I want to try tomorrow. I love your 3 second batter, I may just have to try it! Have fun and let me know what you whip up!
Kim, it’s so funny how we are bakers or cooks. I feel completely inadequate as a cook almost daily! Yes, try the crystals, they really do make the chocolate more workable. Sometimes that stuff is just too thick and difficult. No cake pop needs a 1″ thick coating!
Melinda, I really do love the cake pop maker, and it’s GREAT for making donut holes.
So glad to have found that you use the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker… I’m pretty sure my boys bought me (themselves) one for Christmas this year… so I am beginning to gather information (and ingredients) so I’ll be able to whip up some Cake Pops on Christmas Day.
Gorgeous and simple as always- this is why you are a super-hero to me and I heart you!
They look amazing! Did you fill them with buttercream?
Love these! I have the cake pop maker and love it – have used box pound cake mix 3 times and people love them – will be trying the recipe in the booklet next. I have had a lot of trouble with the dipping though; ended up sort of “icing” the pops! Have tried Wilton and another brand of melts. The other brand seized up, and I have melted a lot of these things and never had that problem, thinking they were old? The Wiltons melted better, but never obtained a thin enough consistency…will try the crystals and see if that makes a difference. Thanks!
can you fill them…oh baby if you can…i’m in trouble, in a good way
i’m looking for my BBand Beyond coupons so i can go grab me one…saves the shipping. I was looking at the one you put in the oven till a friend told me to look up the complaints…and boy do they have them…which totally messes me up but if the cakepop maker is in my area and i can take back if it didn’t work, thats the deal for me…
I love making cake pops, but I have never seen a cake pop maker!!! That thing is awesome! I need one! Your cake pops look great!
I just bought the Babycakes Cake Pop maker today at Kohls but have yet to try it (still doing research). I have used a couple of different brands of candy melts, Wilton and the brand they sell at Hobby Lobby, with great success. I don’t have the crystals you have but I add about 1/2 tsp. of solid coconut oil to my melts to get a thinner consistency and that works well for me. I could use Crisco if I were making them for anyone with a coconut allergy. I bought the Babycakes Chocolatier last week, which is a little crock pot for keeping your melts melted but before that I used to melt my chocolate in one bowl and pour boiling water into another and nest them (there was about a 1″ space between them). This kept my chocolate thin and warm for quite awhile. After reading your posts on the cake pop maker, I am excited to get in the kitchen and whip up a batch! Thanks!
I scored at Kohls this week- somehow I ended up with 2 ten dollars coupons to spend (my birthday is one of them i think)–anyway- it allowed to to grab a babycakes pop maker for $6.00! and yours is the fist wonderful page I have found to help me have success! Being we are empty nesters who try NOT to eat a lot of treats– I wanted this to be able to give my sweet hubby his love of donut holes, and perhaps “hushpuppies” with out them being fried! and of course pops for gifts to friends! thanks for such a great tutorial on these! odd the booklet offers no info on use of “jelly” to make my hubby’s favorite donuts!- or using them as cross purposes either!
sally
I’m really curious about the cake pop maker… I’d love to know how do you find the consistency of the cake ball compared to one made from cake crumbs and icing please? Does the pops maker result in cake balls that are less moist? I’ve always used the Bakerella method – although I use a very moist cake mix to avoid needing to add much (if any) frosting for binding the dough. Thanks for your post though – some very helpful tips!
I like your blog very much, it´s amazing !!!!
regards from Spain !!!!
I think I’m in love with your blog! I’m going to have to explore a bit more
But I love the ideas you have for decorating the cake pops!
I have the Babycakes Cake Pop maker, too, and I’m always looking for clever ways to use it. I love it! Each time, I’ve used store bought cake mixes. I was unhappy with the chocolate melts and the thickness of the coating. I’m going to try and use the crystals you mention and see if that helps for what I’ve been making.
Since I wasn’t thrilled with the chocolate coating, I actually used frosting, heated it to a thinner consistency and then dipped my cake pops in the frosting. It drips a bit more than the chocolate, but tasted yummy.
For our Halloween party, I used cake pops with chocolate frosting to make spider cupcake pops. They were super cute!
I would like to try using a brownie mix for the cake pops and see how those go. I think I could recreate the Starbucks peppermint brownie cake pops…. yum!
I just got one of these as well.
I’ve had great success using this boxed cake to pound cake for doing the cakepops/donut holes
http://www.ehow.com/how_4563013_moist-pound-cake-mixes.html
It’s just a modification to make regular boxed cake mixes denser like pound cake. My family and coworkers agreed the consistency is “just like a donut hole”. I fill the reservoirs of the machine all the way up, not the one tablespoon called for in the recipe. I think the pound cake (being denser) doesn’t rise as much as their included recipe. Their recipe is great but this is a nice substitute for when you just want to get it done fast.
Now if only I could decorate my pops this fantastic @__@
I am a “newbie” at making cakepops. Your website with pictures and instructions has made the process so much easier for me. I was having difficulties keeping the cakepops on the sticks at first, but for me it was trial and error before I got the hang of it. I found that leaving the cakepops in the fridge and taking them one at a time, helped tremendously. The cakepops have to be very cold in order to coat them successfully.
Thanks again for all your hints on making the cakepop making experience something I want to do over and over.
Charlotte from Maple, Ontario, Canada
could i use pound cake mixed with frosting to make cakeb pops?
If you don’t want to buy crystals, you can use Crisco. That’s what I use to thin out the chocolate and works like magic!