I am SO excited to introduce you to our newest contributor, Kerri Cupcake from Sweet Indulgence! Kerri rocks my world in the dessert department. This girl is beyond talented. You’ve never seen detail like this, friends. Kerri owns two beautiful bakeries in Rhode Island and specializes in creating gorgeous dessert tables and sweets. We connected awhile back and had been wanting to collaborate on something together, so when I needed custom sweets for our recent Pottery Barn Kids party shoots, she jumped on the opportunity. Kerri is an absolute doll and sent the most spectacular cake pops, custom chocolates, and chocolate dipped pretzels. I am so thrilled that Kerri will be joining us on a regular basis to share recipes, tips and tricks that she has learned along the way.

To start, Kerri is sharing her recipe and tips for making cake pops! There is definitely a skill to cake pop perfection and the more you make them, the better you will be at it. Trust me, the taste and the cuteness is worth the effort. Kerri will also be sharing top secret techniques for creating some of the amazing designs she makes for holidays and parties, starting later today with two adorable ideas for Halloween Cake Pops!

Recipe for Basic Cake Pops

Cake Pops are a party favorite, especially when made to match the theme. With these detailed tips and instructions, you’ll be all set to make them for every occasion! 

Ingredients:
box of cake mix
frosting of your choice
lollipop sticks
mixing bowl
wax paper
melting chocolate

Step One: Baking your Cake

For the flavor of your cake choose your favorite box or scratch recipe. Some of our favorite flavors are chocolate, vanilla and red velvet; with chocolate being our most popular flavor.

After your cake is baked, set it aside to cool. Once cool, trim off the edges, so that you are left with only soft and moist cake.

Step Two: Mixing Cake Pop Batter and Rolling into Balls

To mix the cake pop batter, start with a large mixing bowl. Simply pick up sections of your cake and crumble it into small pieces in the bowl, using your hands or a fork. You can make as much or as little as you need, however as you are crumbling pieces of the cake keep in mind that what you see in the bowl will mix up to be more compact.

Once you have the desired amount of finely crumbled cake it is time to add the frosting. As with the cake, the type of frosting is up to you. We suggest a vanilla icing for vanilla cake, chocolate for chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting for the red velvet.

Add a small scoop of icing and begin mashing the cake and icing together. It is important to start out with a small amount; using too much icing will cause your cake pops to be too heavy and dense, affecting the flavor and consistency. Continue adding small amounts of icing until the consistency of the cake pop batter sticks together when cake and icing are evenly mixed.

The next step is to roll your cake pop batter into balls for the pops. It is important to keep the size of the pops consistent, we weigh our cake pop balls out to ensure they are exactly the same, but you could also measure your mixture with a tablespoon, using it as a scoop cupping around 1/2 of a ball.

Once you have a desired portion begin rolling the portion between your palms to make a ball.  Apply even pressure while rolling to create a smooth, even and compact ball. Continue this process until you have portioned and rolled all of your batter into balls – making each ball the same size.

Step Three: Dipping and Designing Cake Pops

Melt down your desired choice of chocolate (milk, dark, white, or colored white chocolate) and while you are melting your chocolate, you can start sticking your lollipops into your cake pops and let them sit in the fridge for a few minutes to harden. Once your chocolate is melted you can start dipping, letting the excess chocolate drip from your cake pop until you have a smooth consistency. Place your freshly dipped cake pop on a piece of wax paper and allow to dry.  Repeat this process until all of your cake pops are dipped.

Now, it’s time to design and decorate your cake pops!

Stay tuned for specific instructions on creating Kerri’s amazing designs! 

In the meantime, visit Sweet Indulgence around the web: 

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All photos courtesy of Heidi Hope Photography and Sweet Indulgence