Tips/tricks for cake pops?

[slug*bug]

Hi All!

I'm venturing into cake pop territory for the first time and am coming over from MM to ask for any advice from any of you who've been there and done that.

My daughter is being baptized at an early morning service in a couple of weeks: we want to keep things simple, but also (a little) festive, so I'm tossing around the idea of doing a lemon cake and presenting them simply (no elaborate towers, etc., since we'll be transporting things to the church.)

I've got a Wilton guide and the internet, so have picked up a few tricks...but I'm still feeling intimidated. I'm a little nervous about getting them to stand up on the plate after icing and haven't quite figured out how to do this, yet. Any tips for me before I do a test run?

TIA!

[cmeon]

I've used books to raise a cooling rack off of another (the type with little wire grids) and just stuck the sticks through the holes. Worked great for the making part- just wouldn't be a very pretty presentation.

For presentation, they're very pretty in little bags tied with ribbon, or just plopped in small vases, glasses, or whathaveyou. You could also decorate a styrofoam block and shove the sticks into it.

[smiley]

My cousin did candy pops for her centerpieces at her wedding (flower shaped white chocolate pops) and put them into little pots with Styrofoam in the bottom and fake grass on top.

Here is something similar done with cake pops.



You could probably find the pots on oriental trader or amazon for a good price. I am not sure how many people you have attending so it is hard to guess how many you would need.

[cgpm]

I have made these. I find that if you roll the balls, put the sticks in and then let them sit in the freezer for a bit so the stick will stay in when you dip them, it helps. As far as getting them to stand, I flipped them over once they were dipped and they cooled that way (upside down from the way you want to serve them) but its a lot easier to just put them on the plate that way. Sort of like this:

Don't be intimidated - I didn't find them all that hard to make.

[justkeepswimming]

For me, the key to cake pops is keeping things cold! Form the cake balls, refrigerate them. Then melt a small amount of chocolate and dip one end of your sticks in. Put the "chocolated" end of the sticks into the cake balls. Refrigerate again. You will then be able to easily dip the cake balls into the melted chocolate without them falling off the sticks. The little bit of chocolate acts like glue for the sticks once it has cooled and hardened. The dipped chocolate will also harden faster if the cake pops are cold.

For presentation, I use floral foam in some kind of a decorative container OR I wrap a sturdy cardboard box or box top with wrapping paper, then cut tiny x's into the box and carefully push the sticks through the holes.

Cake pops sound more complicated than they are. Have fun!

[franklintngirl]

That is a great tip about the fridge-(justkeepswimming). I am going to make some (well a lot) for Peyton's birthday in September and will def. use this tip.

[StefB28]

Have some crisco on hand! If the candy melts get too warm, the consistency will be too thick to dip the cakepops in and get a smooth coating. I almost always overheat my candy melts (I don't have a double boiler so I do them in the microwave) and crisco is the only thing that you can use to thin it out. (Directions on the bag!)

[dirtyred]

Go to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, or where ever you get your craft stuff and buy some floral styrofoam (I use the 4 x 12 rectangles, which will hold 12 cake pops) and stick them in the styrofoam after you've dipped and sprinkled. When you're done, just save the styrofoam for the next time you make cake pops.