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Rolling Cake Pop Tips

Posted by: Karyn Granrud / Cake Pops

Hi all… I can’t believe this week has flown by and now it’s almost 5pm on Thursday night and I have not put together a post for tonight. YIKES!!
I’ve been busy most of my days and my evenings have been completely taken over by the Online BlogCon Group on FB. The ladies participating are wonderful. Everyone has been so helpful and I’ve learned some new things. There have been a lot of fun giveaways and sure do hope I win something πŸ™‚
On Saturday, I’m teaching my first Cake Pop Class here is Charles Town, WV and I am a bit nervous.
I am bringing these fun Halloween and Fall Inspired Cake Pops to use as my example.

Today, I’m going to share some of my Cake Pop tips with you (because, I know ya’ll don’t live near me and you’re totally jealous that you can’t participate in the class with me).
TIP 1. Have ALL your decorations ready to go. Get the sprinkles and candy ready to go. Make sure you have enough of everything and get them set up and ready to attach.
TIP 2. Have the right TOOLS. One of my favorite tools is an offset tweezers. These are great for picking up small pieces of candy and adding them to the cake pop without getting your fingers into it. 

TIP 3. I like to use a COLD cake and COLD frosting to make my cake balls. One of the questions I get asked the most is “How do you get your cake pops so round?” I think that using cold cake and frosting and mixing it in my Kitchen Aid with a paddle attachment is the key to making good cake pop batter. Using cake and frosting that is already cold allows me to not have to refrigerate them very long. 
I DO NOT mix by hand. It stays lumpy and does not get smooth. The frosting never gets fully incorporated into the cake.

Tip 4. Proper amount of Frosting to Cake Ratio. I’m sorry, but there is NO secret measurement. I hate telling people to use X amount of frosting. The frosting is a binder and the binder is dependant on how moist your cake is. Most box cake mixes are very, very moist – especially chocolate. If you use less oil or substitute it with applesauce, your cakes moisture will be different. I know Cake Poppers who roll ONLY warm cake because of the moisture in the cakes. 
The best advice I can give you is to mix with a mixer and judge the moisture by the residue on your hands when you roll the pops. I rolled 3 dozen cake pops in the picture below and my hands were clean! 
Yes, I’ll have some red residue after rolling Red Velvet cake pops and some brown after rolling chocolate cake pops, but my hands are not sticky and coated with frosting. If yours are, you’ve used too much frosting. Go back and add more cake.
Tip 5. Start of small! If this is your first time making cake pops, start with 1/4 of your cake and a tablespoon of frosting. You should get 12 cake pops. If you need to adjust your cake to frosting ratio, you have leftover cake and extra frosting so if you play around, you can. 

TIP 6. Use a Cookie Scoop to measure cake pops equally each time. I Love my Norpro Cookie Scoop. It is all metal and easy to clean. I’ve had no problems with it. I find that if I use my Norpro Cookie scoop my cake pops are are the same size and they are already 75% rolled.
The Wilton Cookie scoop is a bit larger, but for $3 you can’t go wrong.

Tip 7. Don’t use Green Florist Foam. I used to. It works. It’s inexpensive at the craft store. 
However, it leaves an ugly green film on your cake pop sticks. YUCK! 
You’re better off using real Styrofoam if you are going to just make pops once or twice. I’ve even just used a juice cup to hold my cake pops. If you don’t have either, make “candy apple style” cake pops.
My suggestion is to invest in cake pop stand. You can make your own a few different ways, but if you or your husband isn’t good with tools, order a nice Cake Pop Stand by KC Bakes or find a seller on Etsy.com 

Now, I know you are going to ask about melting Candy Melts… and dipping them. 
That’s a post for another day. 
For now, lets just work on getting our cake pop batter rolled smoothly.
I hope I have answers some of your questions. Please let me know if you have any trouble making your cake pop batter and rolling your cake balls. 

I link up at THESE GREAT parties!
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  2. Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says

    October 19, 2012 at 3:20 am

    These are great tips, Karyn! I'm usually not a fan of cake pops since mine inevitably turn out lumpy and weird looking–hence why I liked my zombie ones so much since I could work with the lumpy imperfections πŸ™‚ however these tips are ones I hadn't heard before and are useful!! Thank you!

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  4. KAMiNi GOPAL says

    October 19, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    I don't get candy melts here in India. One of the reasons I never attempted cake pops – though I'm dying to try it. Can you please tell me a substitute (baking chocolate?) and how I'd go about using it?

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  22. Michelle's Tasty Creations says

    October 30, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    These are wonderful tips Karyn. I only tried making cake pops once and it was a disaster! I will now try them again πŸ™‚ Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share this week! Have a wonderful week.
    Michelle

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