Halloween Cake Pops

Halloween is so much fun when you have a kid at home. Anushka is a lady bug this year and her costume comes with wings and she has been wearing it and 'flying' around the house ever since I bought it a couple of weeks ago. We already had a party last weekend in our apartment complex and another one in school today. I'm so looking forward to trick or treating with her in the evening and another party tomorrow! There is too much candy in the house!!

We had a halloween potluck at Anushka's school today and I finally got a chance to make cake pops! It was the cutest treat for their tiny hands and mouth. I had so much fun making these and they were really easy too. Will definitely be making them more often.

Every recipe I checked called for boxed cake mixes and frosting and I just can't imagine using them. So I just made one of my favorite chocolate cakes and chocolate buttercream frosting and bought candy coating from Micheals and it turned out just fine! I used two 9" round chocolate cakes and got about 42 cake pops. For the pumpkin stems I initially used tictacs, but hard mints and cake don't really go together, so I just pulled them off and piped some chocolate in their place.

Cake Pops

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake (Recipe here), I increased the recipe by half and baked them in two 9" pans

Chocolate Buttercream (Recipe here), I halved the recipe, but you won't need all of it

Candy Coating, about

oil based candy colors

Lollipop Sticks

Method:

Bake the cake and cool it completely. Crumble it well, making sure there are no big pieces of cake left.

Add frosting a little at a time, and mix well until you have a mixture that is the consistency of play dough. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the cake mixture into smooth small balls and place on the parchment. I used a small icecream scoop to get uniform balls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm or you can freeze them for 15-30 minutes. The cake balls must be firm but not frozen.

Melt the candy coating according to package instructions and color it as needed. If the melted candy is too thick you can thin with shortening or plain vegetable oil. Take it in a deep container so its easy to dip, I used a plastic glass.
Work with a few cake balls at a time, keep the rest in the fridge. Dip about 1/2 inch of the end of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and stick it into a cake ball, not more that halfway through. Then hold the stick and dip the entire cake ball into the melted candy until it is completely covered and remove it one fluid motion. Gently shake off any excess coating gently and stick it into a styrofoam block until it dries and hardens completely.

To decorate:

To make the jack-o'-lanterns or the ghost faces, melt some black colored candy coating and pipe the eyes, nose and mouth using a No. 3 tip.

I used green candy coating and a No. 5 tip to pipe the pumpkin stems.

For the purple pops. I just drizzled some melted orange candy coating.

If using sprinkles, before the candy coating hardens, dip the cake pops into the sprinkles, so they stick.

Store the cake pops in an airtight container for upto one week.