A Cakepop Without the Stick

I know Bakerella is queen of the cakepop, but I thought it might be nice to see a step by step tutorial of a cakepop that doesn’t involve the difficulty of making it stay on the stick. This is the way you make cakepop cupcakes.

First thing, you need to start with a cake. Bakerella will tell you to take the easy way out–bake a boxed cake mix and pair it with canned frosting. This is where I beg you to reconsider. The store made combination will make cute cakepops, but they are too sweet to eat. Go ahead and take the time to make it from scratch. It really isn’t that hard and makes a big difference.

Once you have a cake made, you need to break it apart. (Tragic I know after you spent that time making it from scratch. But trust me, it will be worth it.) Taking two pieces and rubbing them together lightly will give a fine texture to the crumble.

I used a red velvet cake so the frosting is a no brainer. Again, I implore you to use a homemade recipe. For this, I went traditional with a cream cheese frosting. If you have a whole cake worth, use a can’s worth of frosting. You’ll be fine eye-balling it.

Once you’ve mixed, I’ve learned the trick to wait about fifteen minutes before forming. This gives the cake time to absorb the frosting. Take some cake, about a small cookie scoop’s worth, and shape into an oval. Then put the cake in the fridge to chill for a couple hours. Before you bring them out to put into the cupcake molds, melt the brown chocolate and put a dollop in each of the mold cups. The mold is something similar to what you would make Reese’s mini knock offs. You can get these at any cake store or Michael’s. Before it sets, push the cake into the mold and refrigerate again. Once the chocolate is hard, push down the tops to give them the cupcake shape.

They will come out pretty easily. This is when you get to pick the top color. You hold it by the chocolate bottom aka the “wrapper” part and dip them down into the melted chocolate. Let it hang upside down over the chocolate bowl for a second so the excess chocolate can drip off. I would have taken pictures, but I don’t have that many hands. After setting it down on a cookie sheet, sprinkle on some traditional cupcake sprinkles and top with a M&M before the chocolate hardens.