Pop Pop!

The title of this post will no doubt amuse my husband who is a fan of the show Community.  The three other people that were watching that show might get a chuckle as well, Community RIP.  Anywho, I'm certainly not the first gal to try her hand at cake pops nor will I be the last.  I wanted to have something fun to bring to a party and give as some gifts so I figured cake pops would do the trick.  Also if I made cake pops I could eat them and that is really the motivation behind anything I make.  I started with two box cake mixes, red velvet because it is my very favorite and white because it is a general crowd pleaser.  Any brand will do I don't have a particular brand loyalty when it comes to box cake.  Many people use canned frosting but I thought I'd fancy it up a bit with homemade cream cheese frosting because cream cheese frosting is the very best frosting there is and that is all there is to it!  Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients
    •    4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
    •    4 ounces cream cheese, softened
    •    2 cups powdered sugar
    •    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract

I baked up the cakes as directed on the box.

Once they were baked I crumbled them up in a bowl and added half the frosting mixture to each cake and mixed them all up until it was gooey.  Then it was time to roll little balls.

Once the balls were rolled I stuck them in the fridge for about two hours to chill.  Then I melted some candy melts and dunked the end of lollipop sticks into the melted candy.

The candy helps act like glue so the sticks will stay in the balls.  Then I stuck the stick in a little less than half way.

Back in the fridge they went for another hour or two and then it was dunking time.  I got a variety of candy melts and sprinkles and just went to town.  It takes a little to get a technique going and tapping the stick on the edge of the bowl helps to shake off some excess candy melt and get a smoother finish.  Sprinkle on your decorations when the candy is still wet and then I found the handiest idea to use to let your cake pops dry.  I didn't have much foam to use to prop them upright so I flipped a colander upside down and it make a perfect drying rack.

I made a few different presentations.  I used a glass container that displayed flowers at my baby shower a few years ago.  I stuck a piece of foam in the container and wrapped some Christmas garland around the top.  Then I took some silver curling ribbon, curled up some long strands and twisted them around the top and ended up with this.

Then I individually wrapped a bunch so people could take them home if they'd like.  I used little candy bags from the craft store and more curling ribbon and twist ties to secure them.  I had a smaller glass container that matched the larger one.  I stuck some silver gift filler and foam in and just stuck the pops in and got this.

I took more individually wrapped pops and placed them in this cute little container from the Target dollar bin after I lined it in tissue paper and now I've got this nice little gift to bring my Aunt tomorrow.

My first cake pop adventure was a success.  They are super delicious and while not difficult they are time consuming and its best to spread the baking and decorating over two days if you can.  Pop Pop!  Happy weekend before Christmas!