Ode To Cakepops!

Oh Bakerella!  How do I love thee!  In her blog on February 1st, Bakerella posted that she was making that day the Official Unofficial Cake Pop Day!  My new favorite holiday!    Here is a woman who has really revolutionized how cake is consumed.  I’m not entirely sure if cakepops were born in the Bakerella kitchen or if she just found a good idea and turned it into a phenomenon.  Every time I visit the Bakerella site, I’m awed by the sheer number of ideas that have stemmed from the simply idea of mixing cake crumbs with frosting and coating it in chocolate.   From Bakerella’s own brilliance to that of her many loyal PopStar followers, cake pops have exploded into a trend that has infiltrated even the mainstream coffeeshop Starbucks.    But can the average amateur baker make a cakepops?  I thought I’d find out.

 My first cake pops were a basic chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and covered in a dark chocolate coating.  I made them to bring to a graduation party.  Sadly the party was in July on one of the hottest days of the year.  I didn’t really know how to transport them so I left them in the Styrofoam square I had used to help make them.  Little did I realize that dry cakepops are just that …..dry.  Duh.  Anyway, I did a few white chocolate swirls on them with some blue sugar and called it a day.  My kitchen was a mess.  There was chocolate and blue sugar everywhere.  I managed to get the cakepops to the party and park them next to the real cake.  Everyone loved them but even in an air-conditioned house – the party got really hot and the cakepops started sliding down their sticks!  BAH! Cakepop fail! 

My next cakepop adventure was a little practice version – Just some spice cake covered in white chocolate with sprinkes.  Cute and I finally understood how to transport them.  This photo shows that cakepops are toddler-approved! 

Then I made some cakepops for a girls’ night with my pals from highschool and they loved them.  Three of us were in a wedding in Maine in August and I made some Bakerella-inspired cupcake bites as our snack for the 8 hour drive.  Same idea, less stick.  These were surprisingly easy.  Seriously – maybe I’m just stick challenged but these were super easy.   The drive ended up being fun and we rationed the cupcake bites  throughout the whole weekend.  I’m looking forward to doing lots more cake pops and cupcake bites in the future!