Let’s talk cake pops, and how to make cake pops with the Babycakes Cake Pop maker!
When I make cakepops, more often than not I make them using the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker. I received this as a gift, and honestly my first thought was “gimmick”. Well it turns out, it’s a great little machine and extremely useful. I LOVE the taste of cake pops made this way, compared to the cake and frosting method, and you can add a filling if you like.
MY LATEST VIDEOSKohls often has it on sale and if you can catch it with a sale and a coupon, you can usually get a great price.
The question I get the most about the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker is how I get my cake pops round, with many people telling me that theirs come out flat or and odd shape. My immediate question is if they used a regular cake mix or a recipe from Babycakes. It’s almost always the regular mix.
Given that a regular mix still requires adding ingredients, measuring and mixing, it only takes a few more quick steps to make them from scratch using one of the Babycakes recipes. Making a recipe from scratch with the cake pop maker is still quicker than the original method of baking a cake, and then chopping it up and mixing it with frosting and shaping the balls by hand.
Babycakes has their instruction manual, with recipes, available on their website. I absolutely LOVE the vanilla recipe that is in the manual, and it’s my go to recipe for cake pops, it reminds me of pound cake. I’ve found each one that I’ve tried to be delicious and they work great with the machine. I am very excited that they have a brand new cookbook of cake pop recipes with 175 cake pop recipes. I can not wait to try them.
EDITED TO ADD: As of 2017, it looks like the recipes are no longer available on the website unfortunately. Never fear, I have a chocolate cake pop recipe at the end of this post.
My take is that if you are going to use the machine, use one of their recipes. 
They’ve been developed for and tested in the Babycakes machine. The included instruction manual includes some great recipes and they also offer recipes on their website. I’m not saying cake mixes won’t work, I just think that it makes sense that you will get the best results following a recipe that was made specifically for this purpose. The Babycakes recipes seem to produce a much thicker batter, which certainly makes it easier to fill the wells of the machine. I put my batter into a Ziploc freezer bag and “pipe” it into the wells. I tried this with a cake mix and it was not fun, the cake mix was just too runny. I also saw a suggestion in the Babycakes Tips section where a reader said she used a Pancake Pen for her batter – which sounds like an excellent idea that I might have to try.
If you want to stick to a mix, Babycakes does sell mixes specifically made for the Cake Pop Maker. I believe that these are available at Kohl’s in addition to the Babycakes online shop. If you want to use a store bought mix, I recommend cutting back on the amount of liquid in the recipe. This is something that is likely going to be different with each brand and flavor, meaning there is no blanket “cut back x amount”. I would also recommend adding a bit more baking powder to the mix, even if just half a teaspoon. The Babycakes Tips page really has some great advice from readers, and this thread has some great info on using a regular cake mix in your cake pop machine.
Another fun thing about making your cake pops with the Babycakes machine is that you can easily add/inject a filling into the cake pops! We’ve only used frosting (because we love frosting) but I’m sure you could put lots of other yummy fillings in.
Also, check out this fantastic video from Ahh’s Cakes where she uses the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and goes through every step – it’s about ten minutes long and very helpful. She appears to be using one of the Pancake Pens to dispense her batter. I also found a demo video on AllRecipes. It’s a bit fast (and dark) but might be helpful.
The Babycakes Cakepop Maker might take a bit of practice (though I have to say my very first batch turned out quite nicely), but I really think it’s worth figuring it out, especially if you need to make large batches of cake pops. It also makes some delicious donut holes. There are other cake pop makers and pans, such as the Bake Pop Pan. I haven’t tried it, so can’t speak for how it works.
Here are some links to other sites talking about the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker…
Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Review at The Party Animal
Babycakes Cake Pops on the Wilton Forums
Sweet Potato Pancake Balls & Babycakes Cake Pop Maker at Savoring The Thyme
I Will Never Buy A Cake Again – Babycakes Cakepop Maker at Moscato Mom
Make sure to check out this post for tips, advice, idea and resources for dipping and decorating your cake pops and thoughts on some common cake pop challenges such as getting the chocolate smooth, preventing the chocolate from cracking and getting the cake pops to stay on their sticks.
BABYCAKES CAKE POP MAKER
CHOCOLATE CAKE POPS
Babycakes Chocolate Cake Pops
Easy chocolate cake pop recipe for the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup freshly brewed hot coffee
- Glaze or coating of choice
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla. Using a mixer, blend until smooth.
- Add coffee and continue mixing until coffee is evenly incorporated into mixture.
- Fill each cooking reservoir with about 1 tablespoon of batter.
- Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cake pop comes out clean.
- Allow to cool and glaze or coat, as desired.
- Makes about 3½ dozen cake pops
Recipe Notes
Tip: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, pour ¾ teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar into a glass measuring cup. Add milk to equal ¼ cup. Allow to stand 5 to 10 minutes, then use in place of buttermilk in this recipe.
Want a vanilla cake pop recipe for the
Babycakes cake pop maker? I’ve got one here!
Lynsey @MoscatoMom says
Hey there! What a fantastic post!! I am totally in love with my Babycakes Maker and have made all KINDS of “pops” in mine – from Pancake Pops to CornDog Pops – I think they are a MUST for all moms as you can make TONS of things in them!
As for the “getting the pops round” – I have found that either the Babycakes Recipes – which are all fantastic – OR Pillsbury box cake mix works well. When I make “decorated” pops I use the Funfetti cake mix and just use a bit less water than it calls for, and they always turn out perfect 🙂
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
I have a babycakes maker, too! A couple of them 🙂 I haven’t played around with it as much as I thought I would (between Xmas baking season and Valentine’s Day and 2 bdays in our house…I’ve had a full calling card of other desserts…ha!)
I totally agree with your logic that if you’re going to buy it, use their recipes b/c they work specifically for the machine. The cake mix method works, but not as good as their recipes.
Love that you’re injecting them with frosting!
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more says
so cute, I sort of want one, I know a few people that think the cake balls I make are too sweet with all the frosting, so this is a great alternative.
Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray (soon to be Rachel Cooks) says
What a great guide! Thanks for the link 🙂
Jody says
Your website is such a wonderful inspiration. I’m just starting and no where near the quality of your info. So thanks, for the inspiration.
With that said, I love my Baby Cakes pop maker. I got it on sale at Kohls for $19.99 with a 30 % coupon! Woo hoo! You have to try Brownies ( I used the Duncan Hines box mix with miniature peanut butter cups) but they have others or you could make your own of course. But they are delicious even without icing. Super quick treat.
Do {Piggy Bank Parties} says
I use a regular cake mix every time and fill my wells using a small cookie scoop. It’s the perfect size and makes completely round balls every time.
katy says
What did you use to “fill” the cake pops with?
Christi says
Katy, I used buttercream frosting. 🙂
Christy says
I just wanted to leave a quick but great recipe for cake batter mix out the box:
Ingredients:
• 1 box cake mix (any flavor u desire)
• eggs according to the cake mix box
• milk substituted for the water
• 1 box instant pudding suitable to flavor of cake mix
•••• Mix all ingredients. Batter comes out thick & cake balls are perfect : )
Katt says
Do you add the oil as noted on the box?
Christi says
Yes. 🙂
annemette says
Do you know if you can make “Aebleskiver” in it? It’s a round little danish cake. It’s semilar to Pancake Puffs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86bleskiver)
Christi says
Annemette, I’m almost positive I recall someone saying that they did make them, and I believe they worked out well. Ah – here, on the Babycakes site! http://thebabycakesshop.com/tips-and-recipes/2011/03/ebelskivers-danish-pancake/
Kim says
If you use regular cake mix, and they come out lopsided, just put a little more batter in the well, and place the flat/non-round side into it and bake again for the 3 minutes. It will make it a perfect ball.
bonnie says
okay…i’m convinced….now i’m gonna buy one!!!..LOL!
Lauren A. says
Hey there! I love making cake pops, and I use a regular cake mix every time. The thing that I do to make sure the pops come out round every time is I fill the wells in the top half of the machine (this requires laying it with that side down) until they are heaping. Then I close the bottom half onto the top until it locks down and then I can easily rotate the machine back to bottom side down. I usually rotate side to side to give even coating of batter there as well. Since I started doing that, I have never had a problem with the pops not coming out round! I love your pops and I think they are gorgeous!
Jayma says
Heilo! Im all new to making baking treats and my oven is actually broke. Im so glad I came across your website on my search for a cake pop machine! I’m planning to make cake pops for dessert for my baby’s one year bday party. Your blog made me decide to go ahead n order the babycakes cake pop maker and im loving all the tips and tricks you are sharing! I can’t wait to try it out! your cake pops are beautiful!
MishyMunch says
Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has tried the crumble method to make cake pops instead of the babycakes maker. Which one tastes better?
I have been using the babycake make (with boxed mix) and I find them not as moist and they get a little overpowered by my candy melts
Jennifer B says
I use Wilton’s cream cheese filling recipe (on their website) to fill my cake pops. I’ve used it with red velvet, devil’s food and vanilla with great results!
janine says
hi there i am starting to do pop cake and i am just wonering can u use normul cake. I am looking at getting one of these cake pop makers if anyone can help thanks in advance
Tiffani says
I got mine back in March for my bday and just now pulled it out, the batch was very easy it was the icing part that was hard. But me and my kids had a great time. It was easy to clean as well. 🙂
Mandy says
Was just wondering if I could make profiteroles in one. Got a Croquembouche to make and it would make it a lot easier – do you think it would work? Btw I don’t have a cake pop maker yet, I make them in the old-fashioned way with my hands. I’m just weighing up the pros and cons of getting one ………. comments would be appreciated, thanks!
Christi says
Mandy, I can’t say for sure as I have never tried, but I have heard of people having success. I really don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Good luck!
Maria Castano says
Hello everyone!!! I need helpp !!!!! The machine works great but I’m having trouble having the lollipop sticks, stick to the balls. Obviosly, I dip the sticks into the candy melts, but when I dip the balls they tend to gel loose!!!!
What can I do??????
Any advice…..?????
Thanks
Teresa says
Freeze the cake balls for 30-45 minutes first. Dip the sticks into a bit of melted candy before inserting into the cake ball.
fms says
Firstly, I love my cake pop machine, quick and works like a charm. Get used to working fast and piping your batter is a plus. To get the pops to stay on stick and to really hold icing quickly, I make my cake balls ahead, freeze them for a while. Dip the sticks into the frosting first and then instert them into the frozen cake pop. I then let them set standing upright for at least 5 or 10 mins, then I dip frost them. Also, be careful with the cooking of your pops, sometimes the culprit is that the cake is too light to hold and or there is an air pocket in the center. If these occur it is more likely that your pop wont stay on the stick no matter what icing you use to glue it on. I also tend to slightly undercook my pops so that the center is still moist(always a plus) and dense enough to withstand the weight and grip the stick. Its never an exact science but with practice, it comes and it is always fun.
Hannah says
I just bought a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker yesterday after my kids kept begging for one. I was searching for how to do it correctly and found this blog post. Thank you!
Amber says
I thinking of purchasing a Babycakes Cake Pop maker in the next day or so. I’ve heard many great things about the original CP-12 model, but there is also one that allows you flip the maker with a twist (see link): http://thebabycakesshop.com/cp-34r . Do any of you have this model, think it is worth the extra $10-15, or is the original the way to go?
I’d love to buy this to avoid spending $60+ to have a bakery make cake pops for a baby shower I’m helping host next week.
Christi says
Amber, I just received the new flip over style. I will be trying it out this weekend and sharing my review next week. 🙂
adckam says
I made the cake balls, and they turned out great, but I had a problem with the frosting. I melted the Wilton Candy Melts, but when I dipped the balls into the melted chips the frosting was too thick, and the frosting didn’t go on with a nice film over the cake ball, it was too thick. Any suggestions?
lyam says
Use vegetable oil as shortening…be generous. itll come out less thick.
Amaria says
Hi – has anyone tried Christy’s recipe (posted on February 20, 2012 at 9:20 pm)? When the cake box recipe calls for oil, should I use oil in the recipe, or leave it out?
Thanks for the help!!
kim ayars says
hi i have bought the donut one as a present but i want a cake pop one..
would baked cheesecake work as cake pops preferabley gluten free. Could you please let me know if anyone has made these in this. thank you
k
Karen says
Hi There…I just bought my BAbycakes Cake Pop and am wondering if anyone has a recipe to make cheesecake pops in it???
Karen:)
Natalie says
Read all your posts and then tackled my new cake pop maker. I’d bought a pre-packaged (Duncan HInes) cupcake mix to give it a go and the results were great! I made it exactly as the box said to, without substituting anything. I put too much in the maker to start with, and I was a bit slow with a spoon so I’ll be trying the piping bag idea next time, but it was really easy. Kids loved them….in fact I think I have about a dozen left out of the four dozen the mix made…yesterday! Can’t wait to buy a book for lots more ideas and recipes.
Christi says
Natalie, glad that they turned out! Once you get it figured out, it’s really not that bad, but certainly can be challenging at first. 🙂
Arielle says
Thank you so much for this post! I’ve been wanting to try the cake pop maker by Babycakes. I’ve tried making them by scratch with frosting and cake but they didn’t turn out that well and were not easy to make. I’m going out and buying a Babycakes maker today. I can’t wait to use the tips on this post to make cake pops!!!
Barbra says
Thank you sooo much for this. I purchased a cake pop maker last week and my daughter and I played with it that night, it was a nightmare. No where on the box did it say anything about not using cake mixes, so I did, and it was bad. The edges burned, and the middle wasn’t cooked. The instruction book said it was best to use pound cake of muffin mixes…..but there were also recipes in there too……so when I was done and everything was terrible, it went into the closet. Now, after reading your information, I will pull it out again tonight when I get home and try again!!!!! Thank you!!
LO says
Christie! Did you buy and try the Babycakes Flip model? Is it worth the extra money?
———————
Amber says:
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012 AT 8:48 PM
I thinking of purchasing a Babycakes Cake Pop maker in the next day or so. I’ve heard many great things about the original CP-12 model, but there is also one that allows you flip the maker with a twist (see link): http://thebabycakesshop.com/cp-34r . Do any of you have this model, think it is worth the extra $10-15, or is the original the way to go?
I’d love to buy this to avoid spending $60+ to have a bakery make cake pops for a baby shower I’m helping host next week.
Christi says:
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 AT 6:13 AM
Amber, I just received the new flip over style. I will be trying it out this weekend and sharing my review next week.
melisss says
I was wondering… I used boxed Devil’s food cake mix. It was awesome and thick and made perfect rounds balls. But I do agree that the old way of adding frosting and molding the balls was more moist. So I have 2 questions. .. one; what if I add frosting to the uncooked mix and then bake in my cakepop machine. Would that cook and make balls more moist? And what about regular boxed cake mixes? I used a white cake mix and added maraschino cherry chucks. But the batter was to thin and didnt form nice big balls. Any advice on thicken box cake mixes?
Christi says
Melisss, I have pretty much stuck with the recipes from Babycakes. I believe somewhere on their site or cookbook (their Cakepop cookbook is incredible) they talk about modifying mixes a bit. I’m not sure about adding frosting in when baking. You could inject some into the baked cake ball prior to covering in chocolate. A frosting filled cake pop! 🙂
Marie says
Hi Christie,
Great post! Quick question, when you use the cake mix recipe posted above (with pudding mix), do you still also add the oil as per the box instructions, or is the only liquid the milk?
Thank you! I bought a smaller version cake pop machine (Nostalgia electrics) and can’t wait to try it!
Best,
Marie
Christi says
Hi Marie, thanks so much – glad it’s helpful. I pretty much always make my cake pops using the recipes from Babycakes. The vanilla one in their owner manual (link in the post) is so delish and so easy (truly only a minute or two more time than a box mix), and I like how predictable the results are. If I use the Babycakes Cake Pop Mix, I just follow the directions as written on the box. 🙂 Hope that helps.
Jennifer says
I was wondering if anyone has made a savoy cake pop with the maker? I think it would be great to make a breakfast one with sausage, ham or bacon or an appetizer version. I am gonna experiment…
Mayan Rowling says
Hiya,
I was wondering if any of you have a recipe for white choc mud cake that is suitable for the cake ball maker? If so can you please share it?
Thanks
Mayan
Christi says
Mayan, I’m sorry I don’t – I’ve never even tried one. Sounds yummy!
Lily says
i just got this cakepop machine! 😉 i want to know if banana bread would work with it?
janine says
Hi there! I live in SA but we don’t have the cake pops machine, only the pans. I used regular cake mix, but I agree it doesn’t work that well. I would like to know how do you ice your cake pops. They are so soft and moist, it totally breaks when I tried to ice mine.
Hope says
I bought mine less than a month ago and have made close to 150 pops so far. I love this little machine!!! It has made my life SO much easier!
Leeann says
Just a lil info i used a regular cake mix but used milk in place of the water left out the oil and added an egg to what the mix called for and it worked perfectly for my first time using my cakepop maker…
Leanne says
I used a 3egg box cake mix
Leanne says
I used a 3 egg Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe box mix and divided approximately into THIRDS. I used my kitchen scale for accuracy and then only used 1/2 of the oil and 1/2 of the milk…
1/3 cake mix
65ml milk
20 ml oil
1 egg
Turned out great. Frosted devils chocolate balls with premium Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle mixed with white chocolate chips and nuked in 15sec intervals so as to only warm and NOT boil.
Fantastic 1st effort!!
Leanne says
Ps….made 40 cakepops
order cake online at hyderabad says
It’s useful, Thanks for sharing it.
Erin says
Thank you for the great advice on using the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker. I used it two years ago and the cake pops were not round at all. I tried your advice and made the vanilla cake mix from the Babycakes manual. I had better luck this time. By the 3rd batch they were round. The first two dozen cake pops look a little like cone heads, still an improvement though! I am doing this for an assignment on “personal learning networks.” I have to accomplish something I always wanted to learn using the internet as my teacher; then document the whole experience through my blog. I linked back to this post to give you credit as my teacher! Thank you again.
Josephine says
I freeze the cake pop overnight, then take out 10 at a time, dip the stick in the chocolate melt then the cake pop in the chocolate, then back in the fridge until they harden.
Rishona says
I used my machine today for the first time and am actually quite unsatisfied with the results. They are just little cakes.. they don’t have that dense moist texture that cake pops are supposed to have. Is there a specific recipe that I can use to achieve the normal cake pop consistency like starbucks? If I wanted to make a normal cake.. I would just use a square pan or make cupcakes…. I don’t want to inject with frosting either.. I just want a delicious dense ball that I can decorate for bday parties etc. HELP 🙂
Christi says
Rishona, no, no baked machine is going to give you that consistency. For what you are wanting, you are going to have to bake a cake, tear it up, and mix it with frosting, then roll the pops by hand. Basically make a traditional cake pop, versus the short cut version that a cake pop maker makes. And yes, they are little cakes, that’s what you get when you bake a cake recipe 😉
YK says
I bought the Babycakes cake pop machine after reading this post. I also didn’t like the idea of mashing the cake and putting lots of frosting, and also the taste of traditional cake pops no matter how cute they looked. I’m so glad i found this post…I love the bake pops, they are super cute AND taste so good!!! Thank you! 🙂 (Not to mention super easy to bake!)
Christi says
Glad it’s working well for you! I really do prefer it!
Belinda says
I lost my cake pop recipe book! Can anyone help me out and link me to or tell me the babycakes vanilla recipe. I love the recipe!
Dan says
The manual with 8 recipes is still available on the Babycakes site here:
http://www.selectbrands.com/media/wysiwyg/selectbrands/manuals/CP-12_IM.pdf
Mary says
LOVE this blog and your tips are great! Question, though: The chocolate mix is so much thinner than the vanilla–I added an extra T of flour and it was still like liquid. Anyone else have this problem? i added a minute to the baking, and they came out fine, but curious.
Chris Fruits says
I need to make many baby cake balls for a baby shower. Has anyone successfully frozen the decorated balls ahead of time? Advice please!
It would be helpful for the baby cake balls to be done days in advance
Deanna Nosek says
Can you freeze baby cakes & decorant them at a later time ….if so how long can you freeze them for ?
Christi says
I haven’t really tried with these. My concern would be the moisture from thawing them would possibly not play well with the chocolate (chocolate + water = not so friendly together). Honestly if you use the Babycakes machine to make them it’s fast, SO much faster than the “traditional” way of making them, that I’m not sure I’d go with freezing them. But I haven’t tried any of that. 🙂
Viv says
I like to put just a dab of batter in the wells, place (eg.) a half maraschino cherry there and fill to 1 Tbsp. worth in a funfetti batter then bake, or a quarter of a peppermint patty with a chocolate batter or a small piece of stick pepperoni with a corndog or hushpuppy batter. A squeeze bottle really helps with this but the results are great. A little finicky but worth it. I’m just beginning to explore this neat little machine…found at a local thrift store for $2! Only thing missing was the wee fork but a thin bamboo skewer works just as well.
Angel says
I just bought this machine and had a major fail, the cake pops weren’t rising enough, they were flat they were overdone on one side and on the other they were much lighter. So I came online searching for an answer. Found it here! I used a cake mix from a box. It makes sense it wouldn’t work with store box mix because those aren’t made for cake pop making. I will try one of the recipes from the manual and give it another shot! Also how do you put the batter in so neatly? Mine was running everywhere!! Maybe another problem using the box mix.
Pam says
I bought a Babycakes Model cp-12 at a garage sale; plugged it in to make sure it works; it heated up quickly but started. Smoking; burning smell; what do you think?
Christi says
Hi Pam, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s that initial burning off? Do you think they had used it?
The Radiant Gorgeous And Beautiful Miss Isabella says
I want to make this isn’t recipe but is the coffe optional? I don’t have any with me currently.
Judy says
Why are my cake pops sticking?
Christi says
Hi Judy, can you elaborate a bit so I can help you figure it out?
Joann says
Can u use regular flour
Lindsey says
What is everyone’s go to frosting or glaze to coat the outside of cake pop? Recipe if needed please and thank you.
Jacqueline Garrett says
Can i use oil instead of shortening to thin the candy melts ?
Christi says
I haven’t tried it so I can’t speak to the results, but if you’ve had success doing so in the past then it would probably work fine.
Theresa L Pollard says
Excellent amount of detail regarding the pitfalls and successes of making cake pops! I have to make a bunch of these for my daughter’s upcoming bridal shower, and was looking for just this type of information.
Christi says
So glad it was helpful, Theresa!