Cake Pops (7 page)

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls
, formed into rounded triangular shapes

48 ounces (3 pounds) pink or white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Round cookie cutter

96 pieces pastel candy corn

Toothpicks

48 pink jumbo heart sprinkles

96 white confetti sprinkles

Blue edible-ink pen

Black edible-ink pen

Pink edible-ink pen

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)

When you are ready to dip, remove a few of the cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

One at a time, dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into the larger, bottom side of a shaped cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating, as described in
Dipping Methods
. Place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

For the ears, use a cookie cutter with a curved edge to cut off the tips of the candy corn. Dip the cut end of each candy corn piece in a little bit of the melted candy coating and attach it to the top of a bunny head. Hold the ears in place for a few seconds until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry completely.

Use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the nose, and attach 1 pink jumbo heart sprinkle. Hold it in place until set. Use the same technique to apply white confetti sprinkles for the eyes, and let dry.

Draw eye details on the confetti sprinkles with blue and black edible-ink pens. Draw the mouths with a pink edible-ink pen. Let the pops dry completely.

• When sprinkling the sugar pearls, work over a large bowl, because these tiny balls will bounce everywhere. You can also reuse the ones that fall into the bowl.
  

• You can also use soft edible pearls found in cake supply stores for an easier bite.
  

Sugar pearls for wool make these sheep look so sweet. Be careful before you bite too hard, though. Sugar pearls are crunchy.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls
, formed into oval shapes

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Licorice bridge mix (48 licorice buttons for heads and 96 licorice pastels cut in half for legs)

Sugar pearls

Toothpicks

48 tiny pink heart sprinkles

96 brown rainbow chip sprinkles

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the white candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)

When you are ready to dip, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

One at a time, dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into the side of an oval cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating, as described in
Dipping Methods
.

Immediately attach 1 licorice button in position for the head and 4 pastel leg pieces by pushing them into the bottom, and sprinkle sugar pearls on the coating before it sets. If the coating is too hot, the attachments will slide off. If it has cooled for too long, the coating will set before you can finish attaching everything. But don’t worry: if that happens, reheat the coating and use it as a glue to attach any remaining pieces. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

For the face, use a toothpick to place tiny dots of melted white coating on the licorice-button heads for eyes. Using a toothpick, apply a dot of melted coating in position for the nose, and attach a tiny pink heart sprinkle. Use the same technique to apply brown rainbow chip sprinkles for ears.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

Dipping Easter eggs has never been so sweet. Coat egg-shaped cake balls in pastel-colored candy coating, and use corn syrup to attach colorful decorations.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls
, formed into egg shapes

48 ounces (3 pounds) pink, white, or yellow candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Small paintbrush

Light corn syrup

Sanding sugar in various colors

Large bowl

Toothpicks

Pastel confetti sprinkles

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)

When you are ready to dip, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

One at a time, dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into the bottom of a shaped cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating, as described in
Dipping Methods
.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

When the pops are dry, use a small paintbrush to paint a thin layer of corn syrup in a line around an egg. Do one line at a time. Right after you paint on the syrup, sprinkle it with one of the sanding sugar colors until all the corn syrup is covered. Work over a large bowl, so you can catch and reuse the sugar.

Repeat, varying the designs and sanding sugar colors.

Use a toothpick to apply small dots of melted coating to the egg, and attach confetti sprinkles in random or uniform designs.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

Use jelly beans, coconut, and ice cream cones to decorate these Easter basket cake bites.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

14-ounce package sweetened flaked coconut

2 large resealable plastic bags

Pink and green pastel food coloring

48 sugar cones

Serrated knife

16 ounces peanut butter candy coating

2 deep, microwave-safe plastic bowls

Squeeze bottle

Disc-shaped plastic candy mold (with cavity openings 13/8 inches wide)

Baking sheet

48 ounces (3 pounds) chocolate or vanilla candy coating

Spoon

48 green Sour Punch Straws

15-ounce bag jelly beans in assorted colors

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Prepare the coconut the night before. Divide the coconut between the resealable plastic bags. Place a couple of drops of pink food coloring in one bag and add a little green coloring to the other. Close each bag and shake until the food coloring has been absorbed into the coconut. If you want the color to be darker, add another drop or two of food coloring to each bag. Let dry in the bag overnight.

For the baskets, cut off the bottoms of the sugar cones, using a serrated knife, so you are left with tops that are 1½ to 2 inches tall.

To complement the color of the sugar cones, melt the peanut butter candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl, following the instructions on the package, and pour it into a squeeze bottle.

Pipe the peanut butter candy coating into one cavity of the disc-shaped candy mold. Press a sugar cone into the cavity. The open bottom of the cone should fit snugly inside the disc to create the bottom of the basket. Repeat with the remaining cavities. Place the filled candy mold on a baking sheet for stability and put it in the freezer for a few minutes to let the coating set.

Remove from the freezer and lift the baskets from the mold by pulling gently on each sugar cone. Repeat to make the remaining sugar cone baskets.

Melt the chocolate or vanilla candy coating in a deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier coating. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)

When you are ready to coat, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

One at a time, cover a cake ball with the melted chocolate or vanilla coating as described in
Dipping Methods
, and drop it into a basket with the spoon. You don’t have to be concerned about a smooth finish, because these will be hidden from view by the coconut and cones.

For the handles, immediately insert each end of a Sour Punch Straw into the basket, on either side of the cake ball, before the coating sets. Once dry, the coating will help secure the basket handles in place.

Place some of the prepared colored coconut on top of each cake ball while the coating is still wet. Press slightly so the coconut is glued to the coating.

Use some of the coating to attach several jelly beans on top of the coconut for the eggs. Let dry completely.

• To speed things up, use more than one plastic disc mold.
  

• You can also use a squeeze bottle to add more coating before you sprinkle on the coconut. Make sure you pipe some where the straws are inserted, to help secure them.
  

• Decorate these the same day you want to serve them. The straws may break if they stay bent for too long.
  

• Save the sugar cone bottoms for the
  Ice Cream Cone Sundaes
  cake pops or the
  Clowning Around
  cake pops.