By: Hannah Chimal
For the first treat to start this new school year, I chose to make cake pops from the ingredients I had at home. There hasn’t been a single time when I haven’t enjoyed the cake pops that were on the dessert tables at parties or just getting them from Starbucks. I specifically chose this recipe because instead of the usual buttercream frosting that people pair with their cake pops, this one had cream cheese frosting. It was something that I hadn’t really tasted yet, so I thought it would be a good idea to try baking them. The recipe below had simple instructions to follow. It took around an hour to bake the cake, 30 minutes for the cake to cool, 20 minutes to combine the cake with the frosting, and around 2 hours for it to keep its shape in the refrigerator. I think one hour in the fridge would’ve been good for the cake pops too, but I left them in a while longer since I wanted them to be colder.
The most fun part of baking these cake pops was crushing the cake into pieces since the cake needed to be mixed well with the cheesecake frosting. This step was very important since the mixture needed to take its shape into balls. I loved the smell of the vanilla cake, I think it would’ve been well to eat on its own too. Once the cake pops were finally ready to be dipped in chocolate, I did so with milk chocolate and it was pretty quick to dry just at room temperature. Just in case though I put them back into the fridge, and then I finally shared them with my sisters. Eating them tasted delicious since the flavor of the vanilla cake wasn’t overpowering the cream cheese frosting. You could taste both aspects of the dessert and I think it was even tastier with the chocolate, since it gave the cake pop a sweeter flavor. The cake pops had a soft texture to bite into as well and they kept this texture throughout the days they stayed in the refrigerator. As a day or two passed, I felt like more and more of the frosting could be smelled and tasted in the cake pops. All in all, I think they came out pretty good and it could definitely be an easy dessert to bake when sharing with friends or for birthday parties! Here’s the link to the recipe if you would like to bake these: https://therecipecritic.com/cake-pops/
Ingredients:
Cake —
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup milk
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
Frosting —
4 oz cream cheese room temperature
2 oz unsalted butter room temperature
6 tablespoon powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Butter and line the bottom of an 8” cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together until light and creamy.
Sift together flour and baking powder, stir in the salt and mix with a whisk to distribute evenly. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until incorporated.
Microwave milk and butter in a heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup for 40 – 60 seconds until the butter is completely melted. Add oil and stir to mix. Add the warm liquid to the mixing bowl and stir until completely smooth.
Transfer the cake batter into the cake pan and bake in the middle oven rack for about 32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
When the cake is completely cool, make the frosting. Add softened cream cheese and butter to a medium mixing bowl and beat with the balloon whip until creamy. Add powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir to incorporate, then turn the mixer on high speed and beat until the frosting is fluffy.
Crumble up the cake and add it to the frosting. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and mix until completely incorporated. The mixture should look like cookie dough.
Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the cake mixture and roll into balls. This will make about 24 cake balls. Put the cake balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 – 2 hours.
Melt the chocolate of your choice in a heatproof bowl over a simmering pot of water. Dip one end of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and push it in the middle of a cake ball. Dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate to cover completely. Allow excess chocolate to run off and back into the bowl.
Add sprinkles over the chocolate coating before it dries completely. Allow the cake pop to dry by sticking the end of the lollipop stick into a foam block or setting the cake pop on a parchment-lined baking sheet.