As every parent knows, something inexplicable happens when you ball up regular cake batter, spike it with a stick, and coat it in chocolate; it turns it into an exorbitantly priced must-have treat for kids. Luckily, preparing homemade cake pops using these tips is the answer to safeguarding your ailing bank balance from the coffers of conglomerate coffee shops. Moreover, you can make lighter versions by adjusting your method and nixing the frosting. A foolproof tip to keep your cake pop batter together without using dollops of frosting is to process it in your mixer while it’s still super hot from the oven.
The classic way to make cake pops is to combine cold, crumbled cake with frosting to help it bind into a ball. The cake has to be cold to prevent the ingredients in the icing from melting and creating a sloppy mess. The balls are then pierced with a stick and dipped into melted chocolate or candy before they’re decorated with cute little sprinkles, freeze-dried fruits, and more. The problem with this technique? You have to wait for your cake to cool and use lots of extra frosting, which you might want to avoid if you prefer your desserts to have a lower measure of sugar. To eliminate both of these issues, all you need to do is pull your cake out of the oven, immediately place it in your mixer while it’s steaming hot, and switch it onto a low speed.
The steam inside a hot cake binds it together without frosting
To create the perfect foundation for your cake pops, your cake must be hot and filled with steam. This steamy moisture encourages the broken fragments to bind together into a cohesive ball. Your cake should also be perfectly baked and tender (if it’s over-cooked it will be too dry to clump together and press into the correct shape). Once your hot cake mixture has come together, portion it up equally, and roll it into balls before freezing. This last stage is crucial because the quick chill in the freezer helps the balls to solidify and retain their shape. When they’re chilled and easier to handle, you can coat them in chocolate and decorate as you please.
The benefit of keeping cake pops together without extra frosting is that the interior tastes like actual cake. Instead of having a super-saccharine, almost cloying quality, each pop has a crack-able coating on the outside (to provide texture and structure) and a soft and tender middle that’s cakey and flavored with anything from vanilla and almond to chocolate and peppermint. It’s also cheaper to make your cake pops this way as you won’t be spending extra on making classic vanilla buttercream frosting or buying large tubs of ready-made icing that you won’t use up. Check out these 15 mistakes to avoid when making cake pops for more tips.
