"fake" pops

You're probably raising an eyebrow at the title of this post...
... I didn't want to call them "cake pops" because I didn't actually use ANY cake to make these treats. For my nieice's 1st birthday I volunteered to make cake pops! Soon after, I knew that it was going to be A LOT of work (especially considering that there were 70 people going). My cousin gave me the idea of using donut holes to simplify the process and they were a hit!

The day before the party, I picked up 3 dozen donut holes from our local donut shop. I got plain cake donut holes (no icing). My sister-in-law also picked up a bunch of other goodies: marshmallows, brownies, rice krispy treats, etc. They were all store bought and ready to go. This REALLY cut down on prep time.

Here are some tips I learned about making cake pops (or "fake" pops, if you will). These same tips will apply to regular cake pops if you're daring enough to take on the challenge.

Tip #1:

Melt your chocolate with a little bit of shortening

Pure melted chocolate is delicious, but it can be globby (yes, that's a real word). If you add a little bit of shortening to the chocolate it thins it out a bit and makes your treats easier to dip.

Tip #2:

Stick your stick

Yes, this sounds funny. But I'm serious. You don't want your donut hole to flop off into your chocolate. Pre-poke holes in your treats, dip the stick in the melted chocolate & then put the stick back into the hole. The chocolate will harden and "glue" your treat to the stick. This is a huge time saver and mess preventer.

Tip #3
Let your chocolate dry a bit before decorating

Sprinkles, especially the larger "pearl" kind, tend to slip off the chocolate when it's still wet and drippy. Let your cake pops dry for a few minutes before decorating. It'll help your sprinkles stick for the long haul. I used a piece of styrofoam to keep my pops upright while they dried. It worked like a charm.

So when it was all said and done, I made almost 60 fake pops! It was a lot of fun and they were a big hit at the party. They were also really yummy... which is the most important part.

 

What I learned is that they don't have to be perfect. They don't have to look like cake pops in a magazine. If you have fun and put your little touch on them, they'll be perfect in their own ways.

[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]