PittsburghFoodLibrary: Cake Pops

I'm jumping on the cake pop train a little late, but it's a delicious train to be on and I'm never looking back.

A few notes: All but four of my cake pops had chocolate icing. I melted white chocolate chips as well, but they hardened very quickly after they melted, making it time consuming and difficult. The original recipe suggests using white chocolate bark, but I haven't tried this yet. Also - it is best to let the cake cool overnight before making the actual cake pops. You can also refrigerate/freeze the cake mix for up to three days before making the pops.

Cake Pops
(makes about 60 pops)

From: The Kitchn

Dark Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, then add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. (I just mixed this with a spoon and it was fine). Stir in the boiling water. The mixture will be very thin.

3. Pour batter equally into the two cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool completely before decorating.

Making the Cake Pops
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk
60+ lollipop sticks
12 ounces chocolate chips
12 ounces white chocolate bark
Sprinkles, sugars and other decorative candies

1. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, butter and milk.

2. Crumble the two cakes into crumbs and add into the cream cheese mixture. Use a spoon and your hands to fully incorporate the crumbs into the cream cheese mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

3. Once the cake mixture is firm, roll the cake mix into balls and set on a baking sheet covered with wax or parchment paper. (Important: keep the cake balls in the freezer so that they stay very firm while you make the icing. You also will want to keep the majority of the cake balls in the freezer while you decorate a few at a time. Otherwise they start to soften and will fall apart/fall off the lollipop stick while you ice/decorate them).

4. Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate chips on the stove. Dip each cake pop, one at a time, in the melted chocolate until covered. You can use a rubber spatula to take off any excess chocolate. Roll the top of the lollipop stick in the melted chocolate (this helps "glue" the stick to the cake pop). Press the lollipop stick into each cake ball. Add any kind of sprinkle or topping to the icing and place back on wax/parchment paper with the lollipop stick standing straight up. Let cool so that the icing hardens.

Dark chocolate cake. This was also a really great cake recipe in general.