Cake Pops (15 page)

These little bears are black and white and cute all over.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

96 black M&M’s

Small, sharp knife

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

48 miniature black heart sprinkles (from Poker Shapes)

Black candy writer

96 miniature white confetti sprinkles

Black edible-ink pen

Pink heart sprinkles, blue heart sprinkles, and blue confetti sprinkles (optional)

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Prepare the panda ears. Cut off a third of each M&M with a sharp knife and use the remaining two-thirds for the ears. Set aside.

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
.

While the coating is still wet, attach 2 of the M&M’s pieces in position for the ears. Hold in place for a few seconds until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

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 black miniature heart sprinkle.

Use a black candy writer to pipe coating on either side of the nose, in position for the eyes. Attach 2 miniature white confetti sprinkles before the coating sets. Let dry completely.

Use the black edible-ink pen to draw on the mouth and pupils for the eyes.

Place in the Styrofoam block to dry.

Optional:
To make girl pandas, use a pink heart sprinkle for the nose. You can also make a bow using 2 blue heart sprinkles, attached with the pointed ends facing each other, and 1 blue confetti sprinkle overlapping the center. Attach each piece by using a toothpick to apply melted candy coating as glue.

Use peanut butter morsels and candy coating wafers to decorate these monkey cake pops. Make them with chocolate cake and frosting and you won’t be sorry.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) chocolate candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

96 peanut butter morsels

96 peach jumbo confetti sprinkles

Styrofoam block

Toothpicks

96 black confetti sprinkles

48 peanut butter candy coating wafers

48 brown rainbow chip sprinkles

Black edible-ink pen

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the chocolate 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, attach the pointed side of 2 peanut butter morsels in position for the eyes, and insert 2 peach jumbo confetti sprinkles on each side of the cake pop for the ears. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.

When the pops are dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating on each peanut butter morsel, and attach 2 black confetti sprinkles to finish the eyes.

Apply melted candy coating to the back of a peanut butter candy coating wafer and place it on the pop, slightly overlapping the bottom of the peanut butter morsel eyes, to create the mouth area. Hold it in place until the coating sets like glue.

Place in the Styrofoam block to dry and repeat with the remaining pops.

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 brown rainbow chip sprinkle.

Draw a big smile with a black edible-ink pen across the width of the peanut butter coating wafer, and let 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 black may not match from one batch to another.
  

• To create ears that are more subtle in appearance, attach them to the cake pop before you dip. Just add a little coating to the bottom of each morsel and attach them in position for the ears. Let dry in the Styrofoam block, and then dip the entire cake pop, with ears attached. See the
  Owls
  for an example.
  

Use black candy coloring to make these cake pops “purr”-fect for Halloween.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

Black candy coloring (not food coloring)

48 paper lollipop sticks

Styrofoam block

96 chocolate chips

Kitchen knife

Toothpicks

48 red rainbow chip sprinkles

96 yellow or white oval 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.)

Tint the coating with black candy coloring. Keep adding color, stirring, until the coating is dark enough.

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.

Now work on the ears. Submerge the chocolate chips in the black candy coating, one at a time. Remove (you can use the end of a kitchen knife to lift them out) and attach 2 to the top of each pop for the ears. Hold them in place until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry. Repeat until all the cake pops have black 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 a red rainbow chip sprinkle. Use the same technique to attach 2 oval sprinkles for the eyes.

Using a black edible-ink pen, draw a straight line down the center of each oval sprinkle to finish the eyes. Let dry completely.

Note:
You can also use round confetti sprinkles for the eyes.

Trick or treat. Here’s something cute to eat.

48 uncoated
Basic Cake Balls

48 ounces (3 pounds) orange candy coating

Deep, microwave-safe plastic bowl

48 paper lollipop sticks

48 green Tic Tac mints or similarly shaped candy

Styrofoam block

Black edible-ink pen

Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.

Melt the orange 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 insert a Tic Tac on the very top of the pumpkin pop. Hold in place until set, and let dry completely in the Styrofoam block. Repeat with the remaining pumpkins until they all have stems.

Draw on jack-o’-lantern faces with a black edible-ink pen, and let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.