Cake Pops (10 page)

Throwing a baby shower? Share these baby-face cake pops with guests and they’ll go gaga.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

4 to 8 ounces of pink candy coating

2 deep microwave-safe plastic bowls

2 small squeeze bottles

Wax paper

Baking sheet

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

48 pastel candy necklace pieces

Black, pink, peach, and brown edible-ink pens

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

You can make the bows the night before. Melt the pink candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. Pour into a small squeeze bottle. Pipe two small disks of the melted coating side by side on a wax paper–covered baking sheet. Then pipe one smaller disk in between, and overlapping, the other two for the bow. Decide how many girl babies you want to make, and repeat until you have that many bows. Let dry completely.

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

For boy babies, place the pops in the Styrofoam block to dry.

For girl babies, attach 1 premade pink bow to the top of each head while the coating is still wet. Hold in place for a few seconds until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

For the noses, pour the remaining white coating into the second squeeze bottle. Pipe small oval shapes onto wax paper and let dry. You can place them in the freezer on a baking sheet for a few minutes to speed this up.

When the pops are dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the nose, and attach a piped oval nose shape. Use the same technique to attach a candy necklace piece in position for the pacifier.

Use the edible-ink pens to draw on facial features, and let dry. Eyelashes, eyebrows, smiles, and blushing cheeks will give the pops personality.

Let dry completely.

In addition to making cupcake bites, you can use a candy cup mold to make other designs, such as these graduation caps. Try using candy coating in school colors and give your graduate even more to smile about.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

64 to 80 ounces (4 to 5 pounds) candy coating in the color of your choice

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

Large squeeze bottle

Medium-sized plastic candy cup mold (with cavity openings 1½ inches wide)

48 paper lollipop sticks

Baking sheet

Styrofoam block

Shallow square plastic candy mold (with cavity openings 17/8 inches wide)

Toothpicks

Rainbow Airheads Xtremes Sour Belts, separated into colors and cut into 2-inch pieces

M&M’s Minis or similarly shaped candy for the cupcake tops

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator. Refer to the
Basic Cupcake Bites
method when making these graduation caps.

Melt the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl, following the package directions, and pour into a large squeeze bottle.

Fill a cavity of the candy cup mold with melted coating, and place a cake ball into the opening. Press it in slowly, allowing the candy coating to force its way up the sides of the candy mold. The top of the ball should be flush with the top surface of the plastic mold. In other words, it should not stick up past the top of the candy mold cavity. If the balls are too large, simply pinch off a little bit and roll them smaller. You can also shape them similar to the shape of the mold cavity to maximize space.

Use the squeeze bottle to pour more candy coating over the top of the cake ball. The coating should be level with the surface of the plastic mold. Immediately insert a lollipop stick into the cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Repeat with the remaining cavities and let dry. You can place the filled candy mold on a baking sheet in the freezer to speed up the drying time. Remove after 5 to 10 minutes, and pop them out by pressing on the mold underneath. Using chilled cake balls here helps the sticks stand up straight when you insert them, but to be safe, don’t try to pull them out by the sticks when they are dry.

Repeat, using the same candy mold, or use several molds at once. Stand the pops in the Styrofoam block.

Make the tops for the hats, using a shallow square candy mold. Fill each square with melted candy coating. Hold the tray above the counter surface and gently drop it a couple of times to flatten the coating. Place the tray on a baking sheet in the freezer to speed up the drying time. Remove after about 5 minutes, pop the squares out of the mold, and set aside.

When all the hat pieces are completed and dry, you can do the final assembly. Using a toothpick, place some candy coating on the bottom of each square hat piece and attach the pieces to the cake pop to complete the shape. Using the same gluing technique, apply a small amount of coating to the top of the hat and attach a Sour Belt candy tassel and 1 M&M’s Mini in the center.

Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

• Pull-apart licorice pieces are another option for the tassel if you can’t find Rainbow Sour Belts.
  

These fun cupcake pops are perfect for a pool party or beach theme.

48 uncoated
Basic Cupcake Pops

Pink candy writer

Yellow candy writer

48 Teddy Grahams cookies

Black edible-ink pen

48 Life Savers Gummies candies

48 ounces (3 pounds) light blue candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

Wax paper

Baking sheet

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

Blue sanding sugar

Have the molded cupcake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Prepare the bathing suits on the bears first. Use candy writers to pipe pink bikinis onto Teddy Grahams for girl bears and yellow candy swim trunks for boy bears. Let dry. Use a black edible-ink pen to detail the faces.

Stretch Life Savers Gummies, place them around the legs of the teddy bears, and set aside.

Melt the blue 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 cupcake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

One at a time, take a cupcake shape and, holding it by its mounded top, dip the bottom into the melted candy coating. Remove it from the candy coating, turn it upside down, and swirl your hand in a circular motion. This will cause any excess coating to slide down slightly. When the coating reaches the bottom of the mounded shape, you can stop.

Place the half-coated cupcake shape on a wax paper–covered baking sheet, with the candy-coated side up. Immediately dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into the flat, candy-coated bottom of the cupcake while the coating is still wet. Push it no more than halfway through.

Continue with the rest of the cupcake balls and let dry completely.

Now you’ll decorate the tops, resulting in a finished cupcake pop.

One at a time, hold the lollipop stick and dip the top of the cupcake into the melted blue candy coating. It should completely cover the rest of the exposed cake ball and meet the edge of the first coating.

Remove the cupcake pop from the coating, and turn it right-side up. If the coating is too hot, it will start to drip down the sides. If this happens, just let the coating sit for a few minutes to thicken. Then when you dip the tops, the coating will stay in place.

Use a toothpick to touch up any areas the melted candy coating didn’t cover and to create wavy lines in the coating.

While the coating is still wet, sprinkle the top of the cupcake pop with blue sanding sugar and attach one of the teddy bears. The Life Saver inner tube should rest on top. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

• You can also dip the shaped cupcakes entirely in blue candy coating instead of using the two-step method; however, the cupcake tops will not be as well defined.