Guest blogger, JANINE ESHELBRENNER from SugarKissed.net shares her cake pop wisdom along with her fabulous recipe for Chocolate Irish Cream Cake Pops.
Like any other holiday, St. Patrick’s Day brings with it a slew of festive foods you can make to celebrate the occasion. This year, I suggest you skip the corned beef and indulge your sweet tooth instead. Served up in adorable bite-sized portions, these cake pops are made from a decadent combination of chocolate and Irish cream. The key to creating this heavenly match is a homemade Irish Cream Buttercream created using LorAnn Oils’ Irish Cream flavoring.
Chocolate Cake for Cake Pops
Ingredients
1-16.5 ounce boxed chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 teaspoon LorAnn Oils Madagascar Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon LorAnn Oils Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion
3/4 cup of half & half
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Mix together all of the ingredients to create a thick batter.
- Bake in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan for 26 to 30 minutes. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely.
Irish Cream Buttercream for Cake Pops
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon LorAnn Oils Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion
1 teaspoon LorAnn Oils Irish Cream Flavor
Directions
- Beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 30 seconds). Add the shortening and beat for another minute on a medium setting. Mix in the Buttery Sweet Dough and Irish Cream flavorings.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the powdered sugar by hand to remove any lumps. Add the sugar to the butter mixture one cup at a time and beat on a slow setting, increasing the speed until the mixture is creamy. Mix in the water one tablespoon at a time. Set aside the Irish Cream Buttercream.
How to Make Cake Balls
It seems counterintuitive to bake a cake for the purpose of destroying it, but that’s what cake pops are all about! So, don’t get too attached to your chocolate cake, you will be reducing it to nothing but a pile of crumbs.
Place half your cake in a stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to mix the cake until the cake is broken up into fine crumbs. Add 1/2 cup of Irish Cream Buttercream to the crumbs and mix until well combined. Scoop the mixture in your hands and knead it together to create a cake pop “dough” that is the consistency of clay. Repeat this process for the other half of your cake. (A big thank you to Karyn of Pint Sized Baker for introducing me to this method for making cake pop dough! It’s easier than mixing by hand and there’s less clean up than using a food processor.) If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use your hands to break apart your cake and incorporate the frosting.
Once you have created your “dough”, you can begin rolling your cake balls. I used a My Little Cake Ball mold to make sure my cake pops were all the same size and perfectly round. You can also use a stainless steel coffee scoop to portion out your cake mixture and then roll the mixture in the palm of your hands to create round cake balls.
Set your cake balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet or plate and put them in the freezer or refrigerator. If you have time, keep the cake balls in the fridge for a few hours until chilled. If this just doesn’t fit into your busy schedule, about 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer will do the trick. Do keep in mind that making cake pops is a temperature sensitive process. Putting cake balls in the freezer may make them too cold for dipping, so you will need to let them sit for a few minutes after removing from the freezer.
How To Turn Your Cake Balls Into Cake Pops
Ingredients & Supplies
1-16 oz. bag chocolate candy melts
Lollipop sticks (large)
A cake pop stand or Styrofoam block
- Microwave your chocolate candy melts in a bowl on low power for 30-seconds at a time. Stop and stir after each 30-second interval then repeat until the coating is completely melted.
- Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted coating and then into a cake ball, gently pushing until the stick is about half way through the cake ball. Set your cake pops in your cake pop stand, then in the fridge to chill before dipping.
- Dip each chilled cake pop straight down into the melted coating until the cake ball is completely covered and sealed. Remove the cake pop from the melted coating by pulling it straight up. Then, turn the cake pop at an angle and gently tap off any excess coating. If you run into trouble with cake balls that just won’t stay on the sticks, check out my blog post: 5 Tricks to Stop Cake Pops from Falling Off Sticks.
- Set the dipped cake pops in your cake pop stand until the coating has hardened. Or while the coating is still wet use sprinkles, candies, or sugars to decorate your cake pops.
Helpful Hints: A tall narrow bowl works best for dipping cake pops. Keeping the coating warm throughout the entire dipping process is key to having a smooth coating on your cake pops. To avoid having to repeatedly reheat your coating, a chocolate melting pot is a great tool.
