Birthday Cake Pops

Bernice Baran
Feb 4, 2018
5 min read

Helloooo thereeee! So if you follow me on Instagram, you'd see my highlighted story for how I made these puppies, step by step. I made them as traditional cake pops and as fabulous little cakesicles.

I think that's a word...

Mara and I were on whole30 for all of January and it so happened to be her birthday smack in the middle of the challenge. So depressing, I know. So I promised her I'd make her whatever birthday cake she wanted for February 1st. She chose Starbucks cake pops, lol. If you look on Pinterest, EVERYONE makes them from boxed yellow cake and white frosting. I was very unhappy BUT THENNN I came across this GLORIOUS recipe by Sally's Baking Addiction! She doesn't call them Starbucks copycats but they totally are (we actually think they're better)! Whenever I see a recipe there's usually a few things I'll change but this was perfect (her recipes usually are). There was nothing I wanted to change about her recipe except that I added sprinkles into my cake batter which made them even more glorious!

I'll include the recipe down below, exactly how I made them but make sure to head over to her blog to see how she made them as well! The recipe looks extremely long but I promise it's not that bad! I just make sure to be as detailed as I can for you, and I included cake pop ways and cakesicle ways.

BIRTHDAY CAKE POPS

Yield: ~40 round cake pops | Prep Time: 2 hours + cool time | Bake Time: 30 mins | Total Time: ~5 hours

INGREDIENTS:

Cake Batter:

1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

8 tbsp. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk

Frosting:

8 tbsp. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

2-3 tsp. heavy cream (or milk)

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or extract)

Coating:

32 oz. candy melts or coating

OR

2-3 cups white chocolate*

4-6 teaspoons oil*

Sprinkles *optional

*depending on how much excess you leave on the cake pop.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 10-inch pan
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together for a couple minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined.
With the mixer running on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk to the wet ingredients until combined.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cake cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove and set aside to finish cooling while making the frosting.
Using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer, cream butter on medium speed for a couple minutes.
Add confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste with the mixer running on low.
When sugar is mostly incorporated increase to high speed and beat for a few minutes.
Crumble COOLED cake, as small as possible, and add it into the bowl on top of the frosting.
Mix until frosting and cake is well combined.
Form cake pops to preferred size and refrigerate for at least a couple hours.
If microwaving, microwave chocolate/candy melts in 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between. White chocolate can be quite finicky and will burn very quickly so make sure to stir well between intervals.
If using a double boiler, make sure water from underneath doesn't touch the bottom of your top glass, it may burn your white chocolate. Make sure to stir continuously while melting.
Dip a stick about 1/2 inch into the chocolate before inserting into the center of the cake pop. Dip the cake ball into the coating until it is completely covered.
Tap the stick against the edge of the bowl and give it a few seconds to allow excess coating to drop off.
Decorate the top with sprinkles and place upright into a styrofoam block or cardboard box.

Cakesicles:

To make the cake pops in a popsicle shape you will need the mold for it (you can do it without but it wouldn't be very pretty, lol) I got mine from amazon.
Use melted chocolate from above to spread a layer in the silicone mold.
Make sure to bring chocolate up on sides (like a pie) but DON'T cover the opening where you will insert the popsicle stick. If you do, once dry, use a knife to cut a slit into the chocolate where you will insert your stick.
Allow chocolate to fully harden in refrigerator.
Once hard, form cake to fit inside of chocolate, as a filling, ALMOST to the top of the mold, leaving room to spread chocolate.
Spread a layer of chocolate on top of the cake and make sure to fill around the sides of the cake so the front and the back harden together. When complete, the cakesicle should be flush with the mold.

LOVE NOTES

I always use PAM to grease my pans
If your cake is browning too quickly, you can add a piece of aluminum foil on top. I let it brown a little and it gave it more texture when mixed with the frosting; I personally prefer it that way.
I left my cake pops refrigerated overnight before dunking. Probably best in an airtight container but I was lazy and left them uncovered and they were still perrrrffff!
It is much easier to work with cold cake pops so remove only a few at a time when coating.
For coating, melt only 1/2 of candy melts or 1/2 cup white chocolate with 1 tsp. oil at a time so it doesn't cool and harden before you're able to finish.
White chocolate to oil is a 1 cup:2 tsp. ratio - may be different for everyone, this is what works for me. Adding more oil may prevent the chocolate from fully hardening even when cooled.
Chocolate hardens pretty fast so work quickly and add sprinkles immediately after dunking.
Lollipop sticks are generally used for cake pops and popsicle sticks are generally used for caksicles, I used popsicle sticks for both.
Store in airtight container (or ziplock bag).
According to Sally, cake pops are good in freezer (before coating and after) for up to 6 weeks!

If you love Starbucks's Birthday Cake Pops, you will definitely love these, and they're really fun to make.

...for me, at least.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and enjoy these cake pops soonnn! Let me know how they turn out and if you have any questions about making cakesicles shoot them my wayyyy. As always, have a wonderful and blessed day!