Ghost Cake Pops

I found this cute Halloween themed cake pop mold at Michaels. I had to play with it and decided to make the ghost shapes.

The shapes came out just fine. They were actually quite easy to use. However, dipping them in chocolate was a different story. I had to double dip them, and even then I wasn't entirely happy - but I moved on.

I made a couple of different shapes. These ones are not dipped yet.

To make these cake pops...you will need to bake a cake.

Then crumble up the cake using your hands, or a food processor.

Then add your favorite frosting.

Just enough frosting to form a ball when rolled.

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Then fill the mold.

Insert stick or remove.

If you need more help on making cake pops, I have an older post about cake pops here.

Or if you need cake pops tips and tricks, click here.

I will be playing with the other shapes this week. I'm happy the pumpkin will be easy to dip. =]

If you don't have or can't find this mold, even simple round balls can be made for Halloween or Fall. Like these cake pops I made with the leftover cake dough.

Cake Pops Tips and Tricks

My fiance invited me to his co-workers house the other night to play tons of boardgames. I volunteered to make cake pops for everyone. I learned a few tricks and tips to making cake pops more easy, since I made tons.

1. Use a styrofoam block to hold the pops after dipping. Attempting to hold it in a cup will make it dry and tilt sideways. Not very pretty.

2. Unless your making cake pops in the hundreds, I recommend melting the chocolate in a cup. A cup wide enough to fit the cake balls easily, and deep enough to cover the entire ball. A double boiler could be used, but I would probably be making hundreds for that method.

3. Dip the stick in some chocolate before pushing it into the ball. Allow it to cool in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes. This will make dipping so much more easy!

4. While the cake pop is still wet after dipping, sprinkle on some confetti or sprinkles. If you're slow, the chocolate will dry and the sprinkles won't stick.

5. Leave some dipped cake pops blank. You can change chocolate colors afterwards and drizzle pretty lines all around.

6. Put melted chocolate in a piping bag or parchment paper bag and pipe beautiful designs. This gives you more control on how your cake pops will look if you hate drizzles.

7. I like using high cocoa chocolate. It melts better and dips wayyyy better. White chocolate is hard to work with, in my opinion. I would recommend using candy melts for colors pops not in brown and white.

8. Always shake off excess chocolate after dipping. It will dry better. Otherwise the extra chocolate will drip down the stick while drying.

9. If you have a helper, use her/him. After you dip the pop, hand the stick immediately to them. They can do sprinkles or poke it in the styrofoam for you, allowing you more time to dip more pops before the chocolate dries out.

10. If you don't have a cake pop holder to present your cake pops. Consider using the styrofoam block to carry your pops around. You can wrap the block in gift wrapping paper first. OR use mini cupcake liners and put each pop on a liner in a tray.

I hope these tips and tricks help you make beautiful cake pops!

If you don't know how to make cake pops, here is my previous blog on how to:

 CLICK FOR RECIPE

Cake Pops

My boyfriend's company has a monthly BBQ party on Fridays. I decided to make cake pops, since nobody really likes dealing with cake cutting and plating. Most of the people at the party are guys. =]

So I decided to make bite size cake pops. Easy to eat, and you don't have to deal with cutting cake!

This is an extremely easy recipe. A tad time consuming, but is very worth it!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix (bake as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
• 1 16 oz can of readymade frosting
• Wax paper
• Baking sheets
• Paper lollipop sticks
• Styrofoam block
• Candy melts, or chocolate
• Assorted color sprinkles

Directions:

1. Bake the cake as directed. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.

2. With a large spoon, mix thoroughly with about 3/4 of the can of frosting. You won't need the rest.

3. Roll mixture into quarter-size cake balls and place on a wax paper-covered baking sheet. (I used a cookie scoop to get uniform ball sizes.)

4. Place cake balls in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up. Transfer them to the refrigerator to keep chilled and to avoid freezing.

5. Melt candy/chocolate over a double boiler, or microwave if desired. Using enough candy melts to fill a deep bowl.

6. Remove a couple of cake balls from the refrigerator at a time to work with.

7. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted coating and insert into the bottom of cake ball.

8. Then dip in the bowl of candy/chocolate coating and remove in one motion without stirring. Make sure the entire cake ball is covered. Using a deep bowl is helpful here. If your coating is too thick, you can add a few drops of vegetable oil or shortening to help thin it and make it easier to work with.

9. Remove and allow any excess coating to fall off the pop and back into the bowl.

10. Work quickly with one cake pop at a time and before the coating sets, sprinkle color sprinkles on cake pop.

11. Place in a styrofoam block to dry. Enjoy.