Cake Pops

Ah, cake fads. I remember when I was younger, everyone on the block had a Barbie Cake. You know, the upside down bowl shaped cake decorated like a dress with a half-naked Barbie stuck in the top of it? Yup, I had those. Back then, it seemed like nothing would top the absolute awesomeness of the Barbie cake, and in my mind, nothing did, until a few years ago. A few years ago, cupcakes made a comeback. Not that they ever left the scene I guess, they just got all 'Hollywood' on us. It was like they made the transformation from ugly ducking Julia Roberts in the beginning of Pretty Woman, to a beautiful swan  Julia Roberts at the end of Pretty Woman. Every bakery had them, specialized in them, and every cooking channel on TV had an hour dedicated to them every Sunday. This year, the new fad is Cake Pops. They seem to be all the rage, but its a wonder it took so long for someone to say, 'hey, lets put cake on a stick.' 

Red Velvet Cake Balls made with cream cheese frosting and milk chocolate shell
Cake balls, not pops. I didn't have the sticks.

I have recieved praise from almost every dessert I have ever made for a get-together. The most came from the mini cherry cheesecakes I mentioned last week. Last night, I made these bite-sized beauties for a dinner party, and the amount of positive feedback I recieved kicked my mini cheesecakes mini butts! It brought the ladies to their knees, and it even got an obscene amount of compliments from the men (and you know men, they usually just grunt in approval of decent food- never actual exclamations of joy!) On top of it all- they are super easy to make, despite their posh reputation.

Ingredients:

* 1 box of cake mix (any flavor you want, the possibilities are endless)
* 1 tub frosting (yup, you really don't make anything in this recipe)
* Chocolate for melting (again, pick your flavor- I used the baker's melting chocolate because it said it will harden well)
* Sprinkles, nuts, frosting, whatever for decorating
* Lillipop sticks (if you want the pop form, not the ball form)
* Candy melt (to help cake stick to lollipop sticks)

To Do:

* Bake cake as directed on box. Let cake cool.
* Crumble baked cake into large bowl. Mix in tub of frosting until nice and thick
* Roll into balls. (I used a tablespoon to measure out how much cake to use for each) If you are doing the cake pops, insert the stick into the candy melt and then into the cake ball.
* Melt chocolate until nice and runny. Thicker chocolate may be more difficult to work with
* Dip cake into chocolate. Decorate before chocolate hardens.Place on foiled baking sheet for cake balls, and stick the cake pops in a piece of styrofoam if making the pops.
* The recipe I used said to cool them in the refridgerator, but I threw mine in the freezer until it was time to eat them. They were amazing cold!