Cake Pops (11 page)

Dark green and pink candy coating make these mini-Martians out-of-this-world cute! Add black sunflower-seed eyes to create spooky space invaders.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls
, formed into balloon shapes

24 ounces (1½ pounds) dark green candy coating

2 deep, microwave-safe plastic bowls

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

24 ounces (1½ pounds) dark pink candy coating

Toothpicks

96 black candy-coated sunflower seeds

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the dark green 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 pointed end 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
. Do this with half of the cake balls, and place them in the Styrofoam block to dry.

Melt the dark pink candy coating in the second bowl, and dip the remaining Martians, adding them to the Styrofoam block.

When the pops dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of candy coating (matching the color of the pop) in position for the eyes. Attach 2 coated sunflower seeds, pointed sides facing in and down. Hold them in place until the candy coating sets like glue.

Place the pops back in the Styrofoam block to dry completely.

• If you don’t have a microwave-safe bowl large enough for 3 pounds of candy coating, you can work in batches, melting more coating as you need it. Keep in mind that the shade of gray may not match from one batch to another.
  

Candy necklace pieces make great eyes, especially for these colorful robots. Place them close together or far apart, and have fun with their faces.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls
, formed into squares and/or rectangles

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

Black candy coloring (not food coloring)

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

96 candy buttons

Candy necklace pieces in assorted colors (you’ll need at least 144)

Red Rips Licorice Belts

Life Savers Candies

Japanese somen noodles

Have the cake shapes 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. Stir a few drops of black candy color into the melted white coating until you achieve the desired shade of gray.

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 a 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 in the Styrofoam block.

To attach the robot details, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted gray candy coating in position for the ears and attach 2 candy buttons that match in color. Place 2 dots of coating in position for the eyes and attach matching candy necklace pieces. Cut mouths out of the Red Rips Licorice Belts, and attach them in position using the same technique. The coating will dry and work like glue.

Using a toothpick again, apply coating at the base of the robot head where it meets the stick, and attach a Life Saver by sliding it up the lollipop stick. Hold it in place until the candy coating sets like glue. Add more coating to the bottom of the Life Saver and attach a candy necklace piece in the same way.

Break the somen noodles into ½-inch pieces, and carefully insert them into the tops of the cake pops for antennae. Some robots can have one antenna and some can have two. For robots with one antenna, you can attach another candy necklace piece around the antenna, using the same gluing technique.

Have fun and create an assortment of expressions by varying the placement of the candy pieces.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

Kids will get a kick out of these cake pops. Let them help and make messy monsters.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

64 ounces (4 pounds) purple candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Large squeeze bottle

White candy writer

Chocolate jimmies

Blue edible-ink pen

Black edible-ink pen

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the purple 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 in the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into a 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 in the Styrofoam block.

Pour the remaining purple coating into a large squeeze bottle, and pipe random, drizzled lines all around the monster head. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

On some of the pops, pipe two small white circles with a candy writer for the eyes, and insert 2 chocolate jimmies before the coating sets.

On the remaining pops, pipe a single large, white circle. Let dry completely and draw a large blue circle inside the white circle, using a blue edible-ink pen. With a black edible-ink pen, outline the circle and draw a pupil to finish the eye.

Let dry completely.

Note:
You can also use melted white candy coating for the eyes.

Watch out! These double-dipped pirate pops will steal your heart with their friendly faces.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

2 deep, microwave-safe plastic bowls

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

24 ounces red candy coating

About 15 white confetti sprinkles per cake pop

Toothpicks

48 red M&M’s Minis

48 red jumbo heart sprinkles

Black edible-ink pen

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 white candy coating, and insert the stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the white coating, and tap off any excess coating, as described in
Dipping Methods
.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

For the bandanas, melt the red candy coating in the second microwave-safe plastic bowl and dip the top half of each cake pop in it, holding the pop at a diagonal. Before the red candy coating sets, place miniature white confetti sprinkles randomly on top. (You can also attach the sprinkles after the coating dries by using a toothpick to dot on coating and then attaching the sprinkles.)

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

To finish the bandanas, use a toothpick to dab a little red candy coating onto one side of the pop, and attach a red M&M’s Mini. Hold it in place until the candy coating sets like glue. Use the same technique to attach a jumbo heart sprinkle, with the pointed end toward the cake pop, for the final touch, and let dry.

For the faces, use a black edible-ink pen to draw on eyes, patches, and mouths.

Let dry completely.