… into these sweet cake pops. I wanted to make cake balls this weekend, and I wanted them to be pink inside, so I tried making a white cake with raspberries. It made the cake pinkish, but it’s consistency just wouldn’t work, so I decided to stick with the red velvet cake ball recipe and went to the store and bought a chocolate cake mix to substitute. I also used some pink candy melts instead of the chocolate bark. And just to make them even a little cuter, stuck them on lollipop sticks…… Cakesicles anyone?
If you want to make these, too, just follow the instructions for the red velvet cake balls and use lollipop sticks to insert into the balls and then stick in the fridge or freezer for a little while before you dip in the coating. I also used a styrofoam block to stick the pops in to dry.
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These are so cute I can barely stand it. Great for Valentine’s Day!
im so happy i found your blog! you have the greatest ideas ever! thank you!
p.s. Love your blog! Keep up the good work!
Precious! I think this would be cute for a baby shower, you have the best ideas, your blog is my new favorite thing!
Those look so adorable and so delicious!!! I would love to give this one a try. Nice post!!
You are absolutely out of control and I love it! Great idea!
Those are adorable! What a great idea!
This is such an awesome idea, I definitely want to give it a try!
jennifer – that’s how I feel when I look at your delicious desserts.
Sharyl – thanks and I hope you’ll come back.
cakespy – if you try them, let me know what you think.
katie b. – I know. I’ve been dipping a lot lately. And there’s more to come.
evelin – you could even do the pink coating with the red velvet cake inside. That would be pretty for Vday.
brilynn – I hope you do try them, you’ll be very happy.
Robin, the inside is a combo of the two. The word luscious comes to mind.
wow, what a great idea! i’ll have to try making those too!
Super, super cute! Hey, I just discovered your blog & I’m hooked. Thanks for sharing all these yummy delights with us. Also, can I ask what lens do you use to take your pics?
this may be a dumb question, since i’m just learning how to bake but where do you get pink candy melts that are used for the coating?
i wanna give these away for Valentines, but want to make it ahead of time… what’s the shelf life? and do i store it in the fridge?
These looks AMAZING!!! I just love your site and I have also been following you on your flickr site. Very creative and inspiring!
cakebrain – hope you make them.
rpstegman – I have a Canon rebel XTi camera and I use a Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 lens and I love it.
kayla – i was pleasantly surprised to find the pink candy melts at a craft store (hobby lobby) in their cake and candy section.
christy – I think a bunch of men eating rainbow cake lollipops is awesome. Take pics for sure.
sharyl – these keep better than you’d think. You can make them a day or two ahead of time and keep in or out of the fridge. No problem.
Thanks future envy of the pta – and flickr rocks.
alicia – I’m glad you found me and cute crafty blog.
What a great idea! I was going to make some red velvet cake this week from scratch…I want to make them into balls now!
i saw a link to this on yumsugar and i must say i am madly in love with your ideas!!! now i REALLY wanna do some major baking!
Thanks, Sarah, Sachi and bacon heather!
Oh wow. My sister found a link to your blog, and she sent it on to me. I really must thank her. I’m in the kinda middle planning stages of my wedding, right around where I need to start worrying about the food! I’ve found some great ideas on here that I can’t wait to try. Do the cake balls freeze well? being able to get a good majority of the baking done ahead of time would be great.
Hi krissy – I haven’t tried freezing them yet, because they’re good for several days. If you have time before your wedding, make some to leave out and eat and save some to freeze for a test run. Happy Planning!
That’s the way… aha… I like it. Can’t wait to make these for the kidlets. Great site, thanks a bunch.
THANKS so much for the lens info. I ordered the same lens & got it in the mail today. YAY — I’m glad I got the right lens! Love your food & your photos. Thanks again for sharing.
rpstegman – you’ll love the lens.
I already love, love, love the lens, Bakerella. Hey, by any chance, are you able to share your photo properties via Flickr? (Is it just a click of a button or is it more complicated than that? If so, then nevermind.) I’m learning to take photos myself so knowing the ISO, aperture, etc. would be helpful!
Hi rpstegman – sure, my properties are pretty simple. I keep it on auto and no flash. And I try to have natural light around when I take the pics. I haven’t taken the time to learn about all the manual settings.
auto eh? gosh, you have really good light in your place. hmmm…do you use the macro fxn at all? THANK YOU so much!!!
I know, it’s kind of a pain. I only have a small window of opportunity to take pics by because of the way the light comes in.
On the macro, I am borrowing some macro rings that fit on the camera from a friend of mine. I’ll eventually want to get my own.
i made these for my work friends. they came out really well, except the vanilla mixture was so wet, that i had to essentially turn them into cake balls with sticks in them (had to dry them on a surface as opposed to in styrofoam. the chocolate ones, in contrast were AMAZING. they have a better taste as well. the vanilla is just too sweet. i’m thinking using less icing next time, any tips?
wow!!! thanks for sharing this fabulous idea!
monicafreisem – I like the chocolate, too. What kind of white chocolate did you use?
Eva – I just checked it out. I can’t believe it. Thanks a lot. What a compliment. And I love your writing, too.
maltese parakeet – you’re welcome.
Sure, first roll the balls compactly by hand, insert the lollipop stick and then, make sure you freeze them for a little while or either put them in the fridge for a few hours. Work with a few out of the fridge at a time. That way the others will stay cold. If you melt some chocolate bark a little at a time in a small bowl, (more tall than shallow), you can place the ball in and then spoon some of the chocolate over the top of it to cover. Then remove it from the chocolate and make sure the chocolate coats and surrounds the stick at the base. I think I had to hold and rotate it upside down for a few seconds until it started to set so when I turned it right side up, it wouldn’t drip.
Also, poke the styrofoam before you start, so the holes are already made. Hope that makes some kind of sense. I think next time I make these, I’ll support with more pics.
thanks so much, i can’t wait to make them again! you’re an inspiration!
You mentioned using “pink candy melts” to get the pink frosting. If I were looking for them in the store, what would I look for? Also, any ideas for light blue (for a baby shower)?
I just found your blog–I love it. Thanks for sharing your ideas and beautiful photos!
I used regular white candy melts when I did this and put pink food coloring in mine and they turned out beautifully. I actually was testing the recipe for a baby shower that I am having for a friend and her little boy. I have pics of it on my page so you can see the food coloring turned out fine.
So fantastic!!! I love them!
Would royal icing work instead of the candy melts?
I have just gained 20 lbs reading your site. Thanks to Not Martha, I am hooked. I’m going to make the red velvet balls for a party on Saturday. I can’t wait to see what people think.
mel – The pink candy melts I found are a brand called candymaker that I found in the cake/candy decorating section of Hobby Lobby (a craft store). And, they have light blue too.
Sara – Yay! A success story. Can you add your site, I’d love to see.
plummie – I really don’t know. But I would probably stick with the bark.
suzigiff – Hey, it’s just virtual weight. Not Martha’s site is great, I’m glad you like mine, too.
Hey, Bakerella! I wanted to give you & your readers a couple of tips.
First, my stepmother used to be very big into candymaking and still does it from time to time for holidays. When painting her candy molds, she’d have several soup-size mugs full of the colored candy chips warmed up at the same time. She did this by using an electric skillet about a third full of water. I think the setting would be on low or medium. This keeps the chocolate warmed up and ready to use, plus you can have several colors at your fingertips.
Do NOT get any water in the chocolate.
Rinse the the bowl/mug out while the chocolate is warm when you’re done (it’s a pain otherwise). This means that you start with a small amount of choc to begin with – you can always add more!
Craft stores like Hobby Lobby & Michael’s are good for finding the colored chocolate. I know my stepmom gets her supplies at a local store that specializes in cake decorating supplies.
Great blog & thanks for the fun ideas!
Your site is unbelievable. I found it from the evite link and am so happy I did! I have a quick question about the chocolate “bars” you suggest using. We don’t have a Kroger’s in town, but I did find a “Decorating Gourmet Baking Bar.” Think this will work the same? Also, how long do you think they stay in an airtight container? Two, three days? Thanks so much!!
moorefaith – I haven’t worked with molds yet. And thanks for the tips and skillet idea. Sounds like a good method.
Future envy – I think they look great!
anonymous – If it sounds like it’s used for candy coating, I think it will work fine. If it’s more for baking, it may not harden the same way. Check your grocery store for chocolate bark/candy coating or a craft store if you have one nearby. I did make some truffles once, with Baker’s semi-sweet baking bars and it worked, but it just melted a little where my fingers were holding the truffle… but still tasted good. Baker’s brand also sells a dipping chocolate, but I haven’t tried that yet.
these look fabulous (as do all the other treats you make!), and i’m just sad i didn’t read about them earlier so i could’ve made some for valentine’s day. guess my officemates will just have to suffer through more goodies next weeek!
By the way, you can buy white chocolate dipping chocolate and use food coloring to get pretty much any color you could want.
Also, you can use semisweet chocolate chips, if you cannot find coating chocolate, and add just a little bit of shortenin to get the right dipping consistency.
And last, but not least, you could easily coat these with fondant (not so much royal icing). Fondant is the icing you use for petit fours, or black and white cookies…it won’t give you as hard or thick a coating, but it would work. If you don’t want to make fondant, you could easily just melt some canned vanilla icing and use that. You might need to dip them several times to get the opaqueness you wish.
amy – These are cute anytime.
tina – thanks for the tips.
projectfelt – thanks for the award. I’ll check it out.
sandra – Yay! Glad you liked!
Quick question – how would you serve these? Do you tie up a few cake pops with a ribbon and put them in a platter?
Sure, you can cover them in plastic and tie a ribbon around them.
You could stand them up in a dish filled with sugar or sprinkles – just something to keep the sticks standing. You could poke some holes in a styrofoam block that’s covered with decorative paper and have them standing up. Or if you’re serving right away, don’t even cover them. Just start eating.
I just made these today–they are awesome! They were my first “advanced” baking endeavor (besides buying a box of cake mix and baking per package directions) and although dipping took a bit of practice, I found them really easy. Hot dipping chocolate and cold cake balls are key… I did my best plucking them from the fridge one at a time. I also had worlds more ease after I switched from dipping into a bowl to dipping into a coffee mug, and holding the lollipops horizontal for a minute before standing them up in the styrofoam kept them from sliding down the sticks. Maybe that’ll be helpful to other first-timers! Thanks for the recipe, I’m giving these out for holidays from now on!
I just found your blog and LOVE LOVE IT! I’m going to try the oreo kisses this week! Your photography is amazing too. I saw your response below on your camera, do you do any photoshop focus work, or is the camera/lens/photographer(you) just that good? Talent I tell ya, either way it is beautiful! I’ve been seeing all these blogs, yours included, with amazing photography and am now considering breaking the bank myself any thoughts?
Jenn r – Yay! I’m so glad you had success. The chocolate can be tricky, but sounds like you’ve got it down.
adrienne – the out of focus looks comes from the lens I use. It’s a 50mm fixed lens. And that’s exactly why I bought it. I love it. I didn’t want to spend the money at first, but I am so glad I did.
Excellent post!!Those r simply fabulous….woow gr8 idea buddy.Thanks a lot for sharing with us.
I made these last night with white cake and cherry icing. Tastes like a chocolate covered cherry!
While they were fabulous – I do have one question. The inside was a little mushy – does that mean I need to cook a little longer? Any suggestions?! Thanks!
k – the inside should be very moist. But if it was mushy before you added the frosting, like when you started crumbling the cake apart, your cake may have needed to bake a little longer. Oh and I like the sound of your cherry flavor. YUM!
Ummmm… WOW! These are amazing. My sister sent me the link to your blog just 2 days before a “sweet exchange” party that I had planned. I immediately rushed out to get the ingredients because I HAD to have these made for the party.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find red velvet cake mix so I just used devil’s food cake mix with the cream cheese frosting.
These were actually pretty easy to make, but very time consuming. Everyone LOVED them. I now want to make them for an upcoming bridal shower I’m attending.
Do not poke the sticks all the way through the balls.
Freezing the balls made them much easier to dip in chocolate. The ones from the fridge would shift around after I dipped them in the chocolate and then tapped them to remove the excess.
As another person stated, using the electric skillet and water bath to heat the chocolate worked really well.
Micheal’s has a lot of different colored melting chocolates in their baking section.
These really were amazing and worth the work. I will always make these for special occasions now.
Oh, and I also chilled the dough a bit before shaping. Plus I used the larger side of a melon baller instead of an ice cream scoop.
Sorry for the previous long post!
amnah – I’m glad you liked them. Thanks for letting me know.
Thank YOu so much for sharing…you are very creative.
Preheat oven to 350 with rack in center. Butter two 9-inch layer pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment, then dust with flour and tap out excess (I just did a 9×13 pan since the cake would be crumbled after baking anyway).
Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together. Mix buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar in glass bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with hand held mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time. On low speed, add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl often with a rubber spatula. Spread evenly in pan(s).
Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto racks and remove parchment. Cool completely.
Mix ingredients well until combined.
kim – big thanks for the recipe. I’ll have to try it.
love your recipes and pictures. could you please pass along your source for the cupcake papers you use?
Your cake balls are fantastic. We liked them so much that we are going to use them at our daughter’s wedding. A quick dipping question. We are planning to make them without the sticks, do you have any suggestions for dipping them so they come out evenly coated and pretty? So far mine are yummy but not so attractive.
Hi wanda – which post are you referring to for the cupcake papers? I’ve bought different ones at different places.
deeann – I melt the chocolate in a cereal-size bowl (not too shallow). I kind of swirl a hole in the chocolate I drop the ball in the bowl, use a small spoon to cover top with chocolate. Then I scoop up the ball with the spoon and tap off the extra on the side of my bowl. (I tap it a few times, and let the excess fall off the sides of the spoon while it’s still over the bowl.) Then I move it over to the wax paper and let it slide off the tip of the spoon onto the paper. If I get pooling at the bottom, then I just break that part off.
Also make sure your balls are rolled compact and kind of smooth. Also chilling them helps to keep their shape before dipping.
You can also pour the leftover melted chocolate in a ziploc bac, snip a tiny bit off one corner and use to add drizzle marks across the top.
Hope they’re a hit at the wedding.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I made pink and brown cupcake bites for a pink and brown polka dot themed baby shower and they were a hit!
So a couple of months ago my daughter, who is turning four, said she wanted to have a lollipop birthday party. I said great! Now how am I going to make the cake for THAT one. And then OH MY GOD! I found your blog! I can’t believe it! This just gave me the ideas I needed to make her special lollipop cake. Thank you!
How long do you think these would last? So cute, I love them!
I made them and had a problem with the stick not staying when I dipped them. So I dipped them in some of the candy first, stuck them in the freezer and seemed to work really well.
ilovelollys – That’s good to know. I’m glad you made them work!
How cute are these? I have a recipe for rum balls that is very similar that I have been making for years, crumbled chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting and dark rum, I roll them in balls and dip into chocolate…they are a huge hit everywhere I take them. I never thought of doing anything else with the mixture!
I tried these this weekend and they were a huge hit. Thanks for the idea. I love the spirit of you site – very welcoming and informative.
DoughGirl – sounds like I need to go to the liquor store for a new twist.
Lady Diane & Yvette – thank you so much for saying so. That’s truly a big compliment!!!
Ana – thanks. I’m glad you like it.
These are FABULOUS and they look so SCRUMPTIOUS! I cannot wait to try them for me and my loving hubs! I shared these at The Chocolistas!
brines – cool, thanks for letting me know.
but, were can I buy lollipopsticks in holland, do you know that? I’m dutch, you know… because I really want to make your cute lollipops, but I can’t find sticks anywhere. maybe an online shop which send to holland?
if they ship to you.
Wafa – Here’s how you can fix if it’s not too late. Go buy a small cake at the store and just crumble some extra to fix the proportions.
Did you make the cake too from the Martha Stewart site that went with the cream cheese recipe. It was meant for those proportions because that cake bakes up big.
Next time, add the frosting slowly until you get the consistency you like.
It's me again, I was wondering if you use the electric pro chocolate melter by Wilton. I tried to do the cake bites but it was abit messy. I read that you cover the ball with chocolate and tab it with the spoon and all. But do you thing this would make the process easier and get a smoother coat?
wafa – I’m glad you had better luck the second time.
I haven’t used that product, but it looks cool. But, a lot of times I have more than one color going, so I don’t know if would be practical for me. I like that it keeps it melted though. If you get one, let me know how you like it.
I might get one to make the cake balls/ truffles. They actually had one with 2 pots as well but a different brand on amazon.
The cake pops turned out marvelous this time. If you like I could take some pics and send it to you by email.
Yay! I’m so glad you had better luck. I have an email link in my profile.
I noticed that you said you wanted a pink cake. Have you ever tried a strawberry cake mix? I’ll have to try it and then I’ll let you know.
Susan and Shawn – I just recently did a strawberry cake and it was surprisingly good. I’m not a big strawberry fan, but I would def make it again.
hi! i was wondering if you can make the cake balls way ahead (a week or so) keep in freezer until you need them? what do you think?
puppy dogs and ice cream – I’ve recently frozen some and they were fine. You can also make them a few days in advance and just keep them in an airtight container on the counter.