I'm on Cake pop duty for the big 'Breakfast Birthday Party' tomorrow
morning.
Making cake pops sounds quite easy, but really, it can be rather tricky. Allot
of practice and learning through trial in error is the best way to learn.
Basically all it is, bake a cake - you can do this from a packet of from
scratch, let it cool completely then break it up {best done with clean hands
and a fork} into fine crumbs, make a frosting of your choice and then add it to
the cake crumbs. You want enough frosting for it to stick together kind of like
play dough, but be careful not to add too much, if you do you can simply add
more cake to the mixture. Using a spoon to scoop the mixture out, roll it into
small balls and place on a baking tray with non-stick baking paper on it.
Refrigerate overnight or freeze for 15 minutes then put them in the fridge, you
want the balls firm but not frozen. Melt your coating in the microwave in a
narrow plastic bowl 30seconds at a time and mixing in between making sure the
coating doesn't get too hot and cease or burn. Taking only a few cake balls out
at a time, dip the lollypop stick into the coating about 1-2cm then into the
cake ball but be careful not to go more than half way in. Then dip the cake
ball in in one movement, down straight in, then one movement to pull it out. If
you move it too much the ball will likely fall off. Tap any excess coating off.
The coating will set very quickly so {about 30-60sec} so if you add adding
sprinkles or anything like that you need to do it fast. Then stick it in a Styrofoam
block.
Too easy right!?
Well, there are more tips/tricks I need to add...
I have made them with a packet cake, but mostly from scratch. I have made
THIS Red Velvet Cake which is a great size and taste or for
plain and chocolate cakes I have found the best ones for me to use are from
Bakerella's book 'Cake
Pops' {let me know if you want me to post these} they are a great size and
taste too.
For frosting I prefer to use cream cheese frosting, I have used and vanilla
butter icing {recipe from Bakerells book} but found that it just added too much
too the sweetness it's all pretty much more butter and sugar, so i find that
the cream cheese adds a different taste to break up the sweetness/sugar. And
you can add a flavour to the cream cheese frosting if you wish.
When you roll the cake crumbs into balls, the best technique I've found for
this to get evenly sized cake balls, is to weigh it. I grab a spoon full and
weigh 30grams then roll it.
You want to roll the cake balls as smooth as possible. The smoother the cake
ball the smoother the coating will go on.
To coat the cake balls you will need Candy melts also knows as Confectionary
coating. There are two brands that I know about, Wilton and CK/Merkens. Wilton
is crap, it is too thick and you usually need to thin it out before you start
dipping. Chocolate is not strong enough to hold the cake ball on the stick, so
I only use chocolate sometimes only if they are going to be upside down or if
I'm not using a stick at all and just want Cake balls.
Working with Candy Melts is the trickiest thing to learn because it can be
so temperamental. You need to take extreme care when melting it, I find halving
the power of the microwave and checking the temperature {with my hand on the
bowl or dipping a finger in} to make sure it is not getting to hot. If you find
it has melted too thick, you can add a shortening to it such as coafa {not sure
how to spell it} which you can get in the supermarket, or I've found vegetable
oil is pretty much the same thing. Just don't add too much, this breaks down
the coating and thins it out so if you add too much it won't be strong enough
to coat the cake balls. Also, when you add shortening it takes may take a
little longer to set/dry. Don't get any moister in the melts, this will make it
cease and you can no longer use it once this happens.
When you are ready to dip the cake balls, make sure you have everything set
up around you {the sticks. sprinkles, plenty of bowls, styrofoam block} Take
the cake balls out of the fridge about 5-6 at a time, they need to be firm BUT
because of the contrast in temperature between the cold cake balls and the
hot/warm melts, this can cause the coating to crack once after it is set, So,
leave the cake balls out about 5-10 mins to come up to room temp a little, then
start dipping them.
It is a good idea to poke the holes in the styrofoam block before you start.
Ok, I can't think of anything else right now, but I'm sure I've probably
forgotten something.
There are a lot of thing to remember when making Cake pops as you can see,
{which is why I hadn't written this post earlier} but, they are great fun, and
look and taste fantastic.
For tomorrows party the colours are Navy blue, Peach & Teal. I have made
vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting to coat with peach melts, and a
chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting to coat with dark blue
melts. {Will post photos later}
