Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter Cake Pops {or Balls}

I have wanted to make cake pops ever since I saw the adorable creations at Bakerella, and Easter seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something new.  The method is pretty simple – bake a cake, crumble it up, combine the cake crumbles with can of frosting, roll into balls, and dip in {white} chocolate.  For Easter, I envisioned little white chocolate covered cake “eggs” resting in a “nest” of toasted coconut.  They didn’t turn out quite as perfectly as I had hoped, but they are delicious and decadent.  Plus, they were a welcomed surprise for my in-laws in Pittsburgh.


I considered starting from scratch, but with all of the post-baking steps and a limited amount of time, I opted for the semi-homemade version with boxed vanilla cake mix and premade frosting.  Since Dan loves almond cake, I added some almond extract to the cake batter for an extra layer of flavor.  Once the cake had cooled, I crumbled it in a large bowl and mixed in the vanilla frosting until it resembled cookie dough.  I chilled this mixture thoroughly, and then rolled it into 1-inch balls.  I lined these balls up on a tray and froze them before dipping them in chocolate the next day.


It got a little messy at the chocolate dipping step, and may have gone better if I had remembered the lollipop sticks and used a double boiler method.  Instead, I melted the white chocolate chips in the microwave (I also stirred in a little vegetable oil to keep it smooth) and then dropped the chilled cake balls in the chocolate, rolling them around until well coated.  I rolled the bottoms around in toasted coconut and voila – Easter cake balls!  I’d like to try different flavor combinations, and maybe, just maybe – try some more extravagant decorations like these, or these.  Okay, I probably won’t get that fancy, but aren’t they precious?     

Happy Easter!

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