Cake Pops

I don't need much of an excuse to bake.

If it was up to me I would bake every day of the week.

But then I would probably eat everything I bake...

A good friend's son turned four and we were invited to the party.

I offered to bake some cake pops and they turned out pretty good.

Cake Pops Success!

Been there, done that ;-)

As you saw on Tuesday, it was not exactly easy but in the end I'm pretty happy with how my cake pops turned out.

I actually made 2 different types, you know, just to experiment.

• Cake pops - the very quick and easy way

• Cake pops - the old fashioned, baked in an oven with a cake pop baking tray, way

Both ways work just fine but my favourite is the cake pops that I baked myself. It is lighter and not quite as sweet.

You should watch this video by Bakerella, the inventor of cake pops. It is very helpful and will show you how to make cake pops by crumbling up a cake and mixing it with butter cream icing. This is the very quick and easy way.

In the end it is all about finding a rhythm and being very patient (easier said than done!).

Cake Pop Nightmare

Well, probably not exactly a nightmare... more like a challenge.
But don't fear, it all worked out in the end.
First I'm going to tell you what not to do.

1. Forget to grease the baking tin

No you didn't! Yes, I did.
The 'cake pop mix' from Jumbo was completely wasted. Not even one little cake pop came out of my fancy cake pop tin from the Hema. None. They all were ripped apart when I opened up the tin. Lesson learnt - grease the tin!

2. Overheat the candy melts

You didn't know it was possible, did you? Well apparently even one minute too long in the microwave can make the candy melts become rock solid instead of perfectly smooth.
Luckily I bought more than one bag of candy melts, I suggest you do too.

3. Use a shallow bowl for dipping

If you cannot submerge the whole cake pop in one go then your bowl is not deep enough.
Want to know what happens when it is not deep enough?
You end up moving the cake pop around, of course, trying to cover it.
It shouldn't be a surprise when the cake pop dislodges from the stick and stays behind in the candy melts. It should't be, yet I was pretty surprised.
Use a deep bowl, just do it.

4. Drip, drip, drip

Make sure you get rid of the excess covering (candy melts or melted chocolate) from your dipped cake pop. This means holding it over the bowl and slowly let it drip down while slightly tapping it. It will take some time but don't worry, somehow the melted chocolate will stay melted. Initially I was so worried that the chocolate in the bowl was going to harden within minutes that I did not take enough time to get rid of the excess chocolate from the cake pops. Besides it dripping all over the styrofoam, it will also form icicle looking spears which might be exactly what you want (not me though).
Be patient.

Like just about everything in life, practise makes perfect and in the end I was pretty happy with the results.

Stay tuned for the successful cake pops post on Thursday!