Cake Pops!

Okay, I officially have a new love...

CAKE POPS!

I got this cookbook last week,in hopes of making some for my mom's birthday (Feb. 5th). Angie Dudley is a self-proclaimed "non-baker," and--thinking of all of my kitchen disaster incidents--her book intrigued me. The ideas were so cute and basic enough to try it myself, so I did.

Here's how they turned out....

Cupcake Pops, purple and pink dipped in mint chocolate

Mom's nickname at work, "The Payroll Queen," made its royal debut in dessert form. Aren't they cute?

 They are such a blast to make! It's pretty simple...

1) Bake a cake (from a mix is fine, just follow the directions), any flavor, in a 8X12 (or so) baking pan.

2) After cake is cooled, cut into 8 squares. Over a large mixing bowl, pick up 2 squares and rub them together. You are "crumbling" the entire cake into the smallest pieces possible.

3) Once the crumbling is complete for the entire cake, add 12 oz. of frosting to the cake. Mix it in using the back of a metal or wooden spoon. (The book is right...do NOT use the entire 16 oz can of frosting...the mixture will be TOO moist!) Mix together until it all becomes a moist bowl of cake happiness. Taste this, but don't eat it all!

4) Now put the cake in the fridge for 2 hours or freezer for 20 minutes.

5) Roll chilled cake into balls, about 1--1 1/2 inches in size. If they are not sticking together, put the cake back into the fridge to cool some more. Place the balls onto a cookie sheet lines with wax paper.

6) You can make the oh-so-tasty cake balls at this step, heating candy melts (like Wilton) in a deep microwavable bowl. Stir in between 30 second increments. A 1/2 pound batch (1/2 bag) should take about 3 minutes in the microwave to completely melt. 

7) Using 2 small spoons, dip/immerse the cake ball into the melted candy (I used dark chocolate mint) and juggle the ball between the spoons to drip off the excess candy.

8) Cool on wax paper for a few minutes. Eat! There are a million ways to decorate them, and it gets a bit complicated from there. However, this is TOTALLY worth 2 hours of your life!! I loved it, and I think my mom enjoyed the package she received for her b-day. 

I have so many ideas for using these cake balls for Cake Pops!...but some of you might be receiving those as gifts, so I shan't post it here. 

Happy Baking!