Epicurean Bliss

Cake pops. Is there anything cuter?

I first discovered these tiny pops of joy a few years back when a friend sent me a link to Bakerella’s red velvet cake balls, and we both spent a good portion of our workdays drooling over the images. Since then, cake pops have been something of a rage ever since someone decided to stick a lollypop stick in cake ball and call it a day. Now there everywhere from Starbucks to local bakeries, and they are simply all over the food blogosphere. And it’s pretty easy to see why. Bite-sized, perfectly portioned cakes, dipped in a luscious chocolate coating and decorated to make the most adorable treat you’ve ever eaten. They’re hard to resist.

Last week, Cara and I threw a party to celebrate. Cara had just finished running her second half marathon, and I had my first weekend free in three months! It just so happened that we had even more of a reason to celebrate when our best friend got engaged, throwing our festivities into over drive. And the main edible attraction for all this celebrating? Cake pops!

But not just any cake pops. Homemade funfetti cake pops. You see, in our apartment, Funfetti cannot be beat in terms of cake preference. Anyone whose had a funfetti cupcake or cookie knows what I’m talking about. Something about that fluffy vanilla cake laced with colorful sprinkles just puts any other cake out of its league. But, since Cara and I are taking this whole “no artificial ingredients” thing for a spin, I decided to make “funfetti” cake pops without using the Funfetti Cake Mix! That’s right, all from scratch.

By using an all-organic, whole wheat cake mix from Whole Foods, homemade vanilla frosting, and organic semi-sweet chocolate chips for the shell, I was able to keep these about 98% all-natural (I wasn’t about to hunt down organic sprinkles, something had to give). And if I can do it, so can you.

But hey, cake pops are definitely a treat, and I can attest that using Betty Crocker boxed cake mix to save some time will not let you down. These cake pops will still come out as sweet, moist, flavorful and delicious as the all-natural ones. Give it a whirl!

Homemade Funfetti Cake-Pops – Makes 50 pops

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 box of all natural organic cake mix, like Dr. Oetker Organics Vanilla Cake Mix
• Additional ingredients listed on cake mix package, like eggs, milk, oil

• 2 cups of confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of skim milk
• 2 tsp all natural vanilla extract

Additional ingredients

• 1 12-ounce bag of organic semisweet chocolate chips
• Mixed variety of sprinkles, including nonpareils
• 50 white lolly-pop sticks

Method

1. Start by baking the vanilla cake according to the package instructions. Once the cake has finished baking, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

2. While the cake is baking, make the vanilla frosting. Combine all frosting ingredients in a large bowl and beat on high with a hand or standing mixer until the frosting is light and fluffy.

3. Once the cake has cooled, crumble the cake into a large bowl. The crumbled cake should have an even texture. Add the vanilla frosting to the crumbs, as well as sprinkles – as much or as little as you like. I used about 2 tablespoons of sprinkles.

4. Mix cake, frosting and sprinkles with your hands until well combined. Using your fingers, form walnut-sized balls from the cake mixture. At this point, you can move to dipping them in melted chocolate, or you can freeze them. I usually freeze them as it makes them easier to dip.

5. When you’re ready to dip your cake balls, set up a double boiler and fill the top bowl with the chocolate chips. Set out a tray lined with parchment and have your nonpareil sprinkles ready. Stir the chocolate as it’s melting to ensure it is smooth.

6. One at a time, drop each cake ball into the chocolate. Roll the ball through the chocolate using a small spoon. Once ball is completely coated, use one or two spoons to lift it out of the chocolate. Let excess chocolate drip off for a moment, then set on parchment. Immediately sprinkle with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining cake balls.

7. Once all of your cake balls are dipped and decorated, put them in the fridge for at least an hour to harden. Once they are hardened, peel them off the parchment and insert a lolly-pop stick in the base of each one. Enjoy!