Cake Pops (13 page)

Make these little piggies, as well as cow and chicken pops, for a barnyard birthday bash.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) pink candy coating

Deep microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

96 pink candy-coated sunflower seeds

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

48 light pink M&M’s

Red edible-ink pen

Black edible-ink pen

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the pink 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 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
.

While the coating is still wet, gently attach 2 candy-coated sunflower seeds in position for the ears.

Place in the Styrofoam block to dry. Repeat until all the cake pops are dipped and have ears.

When the pops are dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the nose, and attach 1 pink M&M, M-side down. Hold in place for a few seconds, until set.

Place in the Styrofoam block to dry completely. Repeat until all the cake pops have noses.

Draw details, using a red edible-ink pen for the snout and a black edible-ink pen for the eyes and mouth.

Let dry completely.

Chocolate chips are the perfect proportion for many animal ears. Here you can use one in white chocolate and one in milk chocolate for adorable little cows.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

48 light pink M&M’s

48 white chocolate chips

48 milk chocolate chips

Brown or black candy writers

96 white miniature confetti 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 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
. Place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

For the face, use a toothpick to apply a small amount of melted coating on the front of the pop, in position for the nose, and attach 1 pink M&M, M-side down. Hold it in place until set.

Use the same technique to attach a white and milk chocolate chip to each pop for the ears.

Place in the Styrofoam block to dry completely.

Use a candy writer to pipe a small circle of coating onto each pop for a cow spot. Use a toothpick to dot on some candy coating, and attach 1 miniature confetti sprinkle eye inside the spot and another sprinkle on the other side for the eyes.

Using a black edible-ink pen, draw pupils on the confetti sprinkles, snout details, and a mouth. Let dry completely.

Heart sprinkles come in different sizes. See how easily miniature and jumbo-size hearts turn plain white cake pops into super-cute chicks.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

144 red jumbo heart sprinkles

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

96 orange miniature 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 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
.

Immediately attach the pointed side of 3 red jumbo heart sprinkles in a line on the top of the cake pop. Place in the Styrofoam block to dry. Repeat with the remaining cake pops until all the chicken pops have red jumbo sprinkles on top.

When the pops are dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the beak, and attach 2 miniature orange heart sprinkles, pointed-side out. Separate them slightly so that the beak looks open. Hold them in place until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

Draw eyes with a black edible-ink pen. Let dry completely.

Mix and match peanut butter, chocolate, and vanilla candy coatings to create a litter of cute puppies.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

32 ounces (2 pounds) peanut butter candy coating

16 ounces white candy coating

2 deep, microwave-safe plastic bowls

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

16 ounces chocolate candy coating

1 to 3 squeeze bottles

Several large clear plastic spoons

Permanent marker

Wax paper

Baking sheet

M&M’s Minis

Small, sharp knife

Toothpicks

Black edible-ink pen

48 Life Savers candies

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the peanut butter and white candy coatings in separate plastic microwave-safe bowls, following the instructions on the packages and working with one flavor at a time. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping.

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 either 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 same melted coating, and tap off any excess coating, as described in
Dipping Methods
.

Let the pops dry in the Styrofoam block.

To make the puppy ears, melt the chocolate candy coating and pour in a squeeze bottle. If you want ears in the other colors, put some of the peanut butter and white candy coatings into separate squeeze bottles, reheating them if necessary.

Draw an elongated teardrop shape on the back of a large plastic spoon with a permanent marker. Using plastic spoons will help you form ears that are curved. Turn the spoon over. Using a squeeze bottle filled with melted coating, trace the ear shape on the inside bowl of the spoon, then fill the shape with more coating. Repeat until you have 48 pairs of puppy ears. Place in the freezer on a wax paper–covered baking sheet for a few minutes to set.

Remove the spoons from the freezer and simply pop the ears off them. Store in a safe place until you are ready to attach them to the cake pops. These can even be made the night before.

For the noses, cut M&M’s Minis in half, using a sharp knife. You can also use a squeeze bottle filled with melted candy coating to pipe noses onto wax paper. Let the noses dry completely. These can be made the night before too.

Use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the nose and attach a candy nose or a nose made of coating.

Let the pops dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

Draw eyes and a mouth on each puppy with an edible-ink pen, and let dry completely.

Attach the ears and Life Savers for the collars with more melted candy coating, sliding the Life Savers onto the lollipop sticks. Hold each in place for a few seconds until the candy coating sets like glue.

Let dry completely.

Note:
The ears will be fragile. Be extremely careful if transporting.