Cake pops advice

[reflexgirl]

You'll have to forgive my ignorance as well, never made them before!

I like your idea of using them for a celebration and think I'm going to do just that in July. I shall need quite a lot and intend to make and freeze in advance, I'm hoping the silicone mould will be less messy and ensure they are of even size, and the stick won't move while they freeze. Then I can bag in batches and decorate a day or two before. This is the theory lol! I shall do a test batch soon to see if it works OK.

Thanks for the videos all, the idea of having the chocolate in something tall and narrow is a good one :up:

OK RG - you must have posted while I was compiling mine lol!

Good Luck. What a good idea - making in advance and freezing them. I must say that I was thinking I would have a lot to do before my "Do" as I plan on making around 60!! - dont know why I didnt think of that :doh:

Thanks! (I love this forum :rock

 

[Frazzled]

I only need a few more! :cheeky:

I'm going make some for Easter as soon as the mould arrives, will see how it goes. I've have some more thoughts since yesterday.

 

[Autumn]

Just to let u know Create and craft now have the exact same kit as QVC was selling with the same guest for only £14.99 and £2.99, there on air atm

 

[reflexgirl]

Hello all! Well I made my cake pops at the weekend using the same kit as QVC sell bought from ebay seller. The only difference was that mine had chocolate bits for melting instead of the pink that QVC used. I have to say that the kit was great and all the quantities were spot on for making 15.

The cake mix made a lovely chocolate cake - really tasty. I crumbled it up as instructed, made up the chocolate butter cream and added it and it made a dough like consistency. I made 15 balls and they were quite large, they didnt take long to harden in the fridge, (about an hour) so I dont think you really need to put them in a freezer. I then dipped the ends of the sticks into the melted chocolate and put them in - Note that when the sticks are in the balls, they are quite tall and therefore did not fit in my fridge so I suggest moving shelves around before making these. I put mine in my unheated north facing lobby and they had set in 10 minutes. I then dipped the balls into the melted chocolate - this takes a bit of time because you have to wait for the excess chocolate to drip off. Finally into the sprinkles. They are fairly heavy by this time and about the size of a golf ball. I bought a heart shaped perspex stand for displaying them and although it had 15 holes there is no way you can fit them in because the cakepops will touch each other because the are so large, so I could only really put 7 in them. The kit came with a cardboard cakepop stand and, again, I wouldn't have been able to fit them all in because the holes are too close together, so I was glad that I had 2 seperate "holding" devices.

To say they are nice is an understatement! They are gorgeous. I have only had one as I am currently trying to reduce my size, but oooohhh they are sooo yummy. This was my first attempt and it did seem alot of faffing about (but I do enjoy faffing anyway) but I think it will take me quite a while to make enough for my "do".
Has anyone else made them yet?

 

[sublime]

That sounds really good, reflexgirl. [Great name!] Would it be worth trying them smaller, maybe even half the suggested size? Would there be enough chocolate, sprinkles etc in the kit?

It just occurred to me that these would make rather good small, hand made gifts rather than giving someone, say, the usual box of chocolates.

 

[Frazzled]

USING THE CAKE POP SILICONE MOULD

Fortunately the recipe recommended by the expert is the only cake recipe I have ever used. However it was a disaster today, nothing to do with the mould, I discovered I'd used a tub spread not suitable for baking - will come back with results when I've had another go.

ADVICE PLEASE?
I plan to dip these into warmed raspberry jam, roll in coconut and then coat with chocolate, thought it would give an interesting texture - but I'm not sure - do you think they will be too sweet?

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NON COOK CAKE POPS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cake_lollipops_06507

I found this recipe on the BBC website. I couldn't get a fruit cake in Tesco yesterday (!!) so I bought a bought a walnut loaf cake instead. I also substituted the 300g of white chocolate for plain chocolate flavoured cake covering (61p) - I will be using some white chocolate, see later.

I made 12 good size ones from the amount in recipe? The two cakes I bought would easily be enough to make double the recipe. I left them in the fridge a good hour before coating them. I melted the chocolate in a glass tumbler (microwave) so the coating was deep and I could dip them right in. This worked really well and once the excess had dripped off with a little help, I put them in my stand to set.

I was going to knock up a stand with some cardboard, then a moment of inspiration! A few years ago I was presented with a rose bowl which has a double-layer wire thingy for flower arranging - talk about made for the job!!

They set in a few minutes and I have frozen them at this stage to see if I can make in advance successfully. I shall take them out the day before at Easter and then I'm going to half dip them in the white chocolate and let it run down, with a few dark chocolate sprinkles on the top. I'll post a picture and what my victims thought of them after Easter.

They took no time at all to make and I have calculated the cost for 24 - using basic cakes @ £2 each, 1x300g cake coating (61p) + everything else, including the sticks to be approximately 40p each.
If I make these again I will form them smaller so they look more dainty, that will work out about 30p each.

I think the sponge ones using the mould will work out at 20 for about 18p each, decorated - but to make them in bulk I would need an additional mould, a 4x4x4+2 eggs sponge mix was far more than needed. I think a 6+3 sponge would fill two moulds about right.

I might consider another mould if these turn out to be successful as far as the freezing goes. I would definitely have to make these cake pops a few weeks in advance for a celebration.

I might make some for work when I leave, they'll be expecting something for putting up me for so long lol!

 

[reflexgirl]

That sounds really good, reflexgirl. [Great name!] Would it be worth trying them smaller, maybe even half the suggested size? Would there be enough chocolate, sprinkles etc in the kit?

It just occurred to me that these would make rather good small, hand made gifts rather than giving someone, say, the usual box of chocolates.

Actually I did think they were a bit big, but the recipe said it made 15 which I did. The melted choc and sprinkles were just the right amount. They are quite big and quite alot to eat, being so heavy and dense so I agree, maybe making them smaller would be a good idea. I'm sure the melted choc and sprinkles would stretch if you were to buy a kit. They looked really good in the cellophane bags tied with gold twisty wire thing(?) and would be absolutely perfect as a present as they looked unusal/different.

 

[reflexgirl]

ADVICE PLEASE?
I plan to dip these into warmed raspberry jam, roll in coconut and then coat with chocolate, thought it would give an interesting texture - but I'm not sure - do you think they will be too sweet?

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Absolutely NOT! sounds right up my street!

I was thinking that if I were to make just cake pops in the mould, I could inject jam into the middle, like you do with donuts and then dip in chocolate? What do you think?

 

[Frazzled]

Like that idea RG - I'll be having another go with the mould this week.

 

[Frazzled]

Second attempt with the mould, still following the online advice below - ¾ fill the bottom cups and cook at gas mark 4 (180c) for 15 mins. I had to give them another five minutes or so, and even then the centre 6 had not risen very much.

I did a second batch with the same mixture, enough for 12. This time I filled the bottom cups and cooked at mark 5 (190c) for around 20-25 mins - success!

This was a 444-2 sponge mix which, had I filled the cups with the first batch, I reckon will make at least 26-28.

They came out of the mould very easily (I had greased & floured as instructed) and are a perfect size. The dipping in jam, coconut and white chocolate covering was very sucessful and they taste delicious!

The white chocolate covering took a long time to set - about 3 hours (not in the fridge). They are now in the freezer and will be finished off when they come out.

I have tried one of the original non-cook ones, as said it was quite dense and I wasn't so keen on the dark chocolate covering. I think if I use this again I will melt a bar of proper chocolate in with it.

I'm going to experiment with the non-cook batch using different cakes, I think Maderia is too heavy a texture. I'm going to use the mould - fill both sides, chill, sandwich together with melted chocolate when fixing stick, then cover etc.

The sticks I bought on ebay are solid plastic and good quality. I see no reason why they couldn't be washed and re-used where possible.

If you make these all the time the mould would be a good buy an economical. I will only use for cakes on odd occasions but I can see potential for other things, making starters etc......mmmmn, choc ices?

ADVICE FOR USING MOULD GIVEN ON REVIEWS - AMAZON

"Great product and it works. Personally I never use the recipes included because they are always American and don`t quite work with me, instead I use a basic sponge mix. Firstly as with my other silicone moulds I grease then flour (works every time). For this mould I made a 6oz mix of sr flour, c. sugar. margarine (never butter) and 3 free range eggs. There was more than I needed but it didn`t go to waste I made cupcakes with the remainder although I`m sure you could get away with a 4oz mix instead. 3/4 fill the bottom mould and then put the top mould on (the one with the holes in it), I used gas 4 for about 18minutes but that depends on your oven. Make sure you place the mould on a baking tray to keep it level. When pops are ready leave them on your work surface to go completely cold otherwise they tend to break in half because they are too hot. When cold gently lift the top mould off and the rest of the balls should just pop out quite easily.
To decorate the pops I use cake melts which are made for this job of icing as it doesn`t slip off the round balls like ordinary icing would do, or if you used melted chocolate bars trust me neither work. The cheapest place I have found so far for the cake/candy melts is Hobbycraft £2.99 for a 12oz bag. You can buy it in various colours and flavours. All you do is put the cake/candy melts in a bowl and let it melt over a pan of hot water.
When you insert the lolly sticks into the cake balls you need to "glue" them in place so they don`t fall off. For this all you do is insert about an inch of the lolly stick into the cake melt then push it gently into the cake ball. Then leave them to set for about 15 minutes. I stick mine in a thick piece of polystyrene or you could use a piece of oasis. When they are set you can begin dipping each cake into your cake melt carefully coating it fully, when coated gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl to remove excess icing. Then decorate as you wish either with sprinkles or chopped nuts, its up to you. I made some recently with pink icing and placed a wafer butterfly on each one, I have also used wafer daisies. Just have fun.
I can highly recommend these, hope all you home bakers give them a try instead of making them with left over cake and mixing them up with some sort of frosting or buttercream, baking them from scratch is so much better."
Give them a go, happy baking Anne

 

[merryone]

Thanks for everybody's help, but I think I'll just stick to making them the "messy" way. As I said I've had reasonably good results, and I'm sure I'll hit upon the right cake/icing combo eventually which will create the perfect home made cake pop which taste as good as the shop bought ones. Sorry, really can't see much point in cake balls on sticks unless they're for a kid's party or a wedding. They're cake pops in name only! I'd rather have a decent slice of cake!

 

[Frazzled]

I defrosted them overnight in the fridge to avoid condensation and decorated them today, it has been completely successful. You can tell I'm not used to baking and need to work on my presentation, but I'm pleased with my first attempt, they are yum and the step-grandchildren won't be looking at them for long tomorrow! :sun:

(In case you're wondering the "yellow" are Easter chicks)

 

[Diamond Diva]

They look absolutely scrummy and they won't be around for long!