Spring is almost here! Cherry blossoms are popping up on all the trees, and it makes for such a pretty sight! That ethereal pink is gorgeous! The hills around us are a lush green, and on sunny days it makes for a very pretty scenery. The kids have been wanting to make cake pops for a while, I had gotten the supplies as in candy melts, lollipop sticks, mini bags, ties etc, since a few weeks. We finally got around to making them. I used a vanilla cinnamon sponge cake base recipe and a raspberry buttercream, because … raspberries! I added raspberry powder to the buttercream and the it elevates the flavor profile! It is tart and sweet and absolutely delicious!
Making cake pops is a fun activity with kids! My kids had a great time crumbling the cake, because MESS! And which kid does not like making a mess!? Then mix the buttercream with the cake in the stand mixer so that it blends well. The kids loved scooping out the balls and making them round between the palms. This step is important, because you want to ensure that the cake ball does not break apart, and is “glued” together. They are set in the freezer for a few minutes which is an important step, so that they can be put in the candy melt mixture with ease, once the lollipop stick is inserted into the cake pop.
We had a lot of fun using different pastel colored candy melts, to create a spring vibe. I made royal icing, to pipe some bees, which are not perfect but I adore them! We used Wilton flowers from Michael’s to put on the cake pop, it is glued on with the royal icing. The favorite part was coating the cake pops with different sprinkles! They had a blast :). I can be fun sometimes! LOL.
We later packaged them individually into mini plastic bags, with ties, so that they could share with their close friends at school. Fun little rainy day activity in February. You can switch up the buttercream flavor to whatever you want. Fruit powders which are readily available on Amazon now a days, are a great way to flavor the buttercream and create a vibrance in the cake pop.
Make these with your kids and have some fun! J Or just make them for yourself and your loved ones! My husband LOVED these cake pops, and it was a fun treat for him too!
Happy Almost Spring!
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
Raspberry Buttercream:
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tbsp raspberry powder
- 1-2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
Decorations:
- Candy melts in different colors
- Sprinkles in different colors
- Royal icing recipe(search on blog) to create butterfly and dots.
- Flowers from Wilton Cakes
Instructions
Vanilla Cake
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare and 8x8 inch square pan. Spray it with non-stick spray, and add a parchment paper to make it stick to the pan. Spray again with non-stick spray.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder and whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add in the butter and sugar, and start slow, and increase the speed to max, and whip up the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until the butter appears almost white in color and fluffy. Next add in the eggs, one at a time, and scrap the bowl after each addition, to make sure it all combines well. Add the vanilla extract, and mix again to combine. Slowly add in the milk and flour mixture, alternating between the 2, and ending with the flour mixture. Do not over mix, whisk until combined. Add the batter into the pan and make sure to get all the batter from the stand mixer bowl. Level the cake in the pan with a spatula.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 2 hours.
Raspberry Buttercream:
- Sift the raspberry powder and icing sugar in a large bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add in the butter and salt, and whisk for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Carefully spoon in the sugar mixture into the bowl on low speed to blend. Add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and blend. Add in the sugar slowly and mix well. The buttercream should be smooth.
Assembly:
- In a large bowl, break down the cake to crumbles. You could also do it in a food processor, but make sure you do not over mix it. Next combine the buttercream with the crumbled cake and mix well. When you put the mixture in your palm and close your palm, it could hold together. Use a small ice cream scoop about 2 tablespoons, and make small solid balls, all even in size. You could do it by weight to make sure all balls are exact. Lay them on a parchment paper that is on a baking tray. Freeze it for an hour.
- Get the lollipop sticks, candy melts, decorations, sprinkles, royal icing all of it ready to go. When ready, melt one color of the candy melt at a time. You can microwave 30 seconds at a time, for about 3 to 4 minutes in total. Adding about 1 tsp of coconut oil helps to keep it smooth. Use a narrow beaker for the candy melts so that it is easy to dip each cake pop and coat it properly. Shake off the excess. You can add sprinkles at this point, if you want your cake pop to be covered in sprinkles.
- Keep a Styrofoam block ready to keep the cake pop upright. It will set in about 5 minutes. After it sets, you can use royal icing to make decorations on the cake pop. Use your creativity and imagination and come up with the designs, and have fun with it!
- I pack them in mini plastic bags that I got from Michael’s, and tie it up. They can be stored outside for about a week.
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