The Kidlet requested cake pops for her birthday party this year. I was somewhat apprehensive since I've never made them before and they seemed a bit fiddly. But, truth-be-told, they weren't actually that difficult to put together!

On the one hand, you have to bake the cake and then crumble it and mix it with milk to form the "dough". Then form it into balls, partially freeze them, impale them on sticks, and coat each one in chocolate. So it is a bit of a process. But, on the other hand, you don't have to make icing or split, fill, and stack cake layers. You don't have to do any decoration beyond a few sprinkles. And they're extremely easy to serve. No plates or cutlery required!

All-in-all, I'd call these a great success and happily make them again in the future!

My cake pops were a little on the large size. According to the recipe, we were supposed to get 36 cake pops, but we only ended up with 30. I could have reduced the size a bit to the proper proportions, but I figured no one would mind the extra-large size. They're a little less dainty, to be sure. And a little more top-heavy. But I quite liked them nonetheless.

Cake Pops

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 210g all-purpose flour
• 200g sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. milk¹
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• ~2 c. white or dark chocolate chips
• 30-36 lollipop sticks
• sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20cm (8") square pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and mix well.
4. Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) until golden and cooked through (~25 minutes).
6. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
7. Once cake has cooled completely, break into small (1-2cm) pieces.
8. Add the milk and sugar to the bowl and mix until a dough forms.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
10. Form the dough into balls (aim for 30-36 total).
11. Freeze for ~1 hour until firm, but not frozen solid.
12. Gently melt the chocolate in a large measuring cup and place in a bowl of hot water to keep it liquid.
13. Dip a stick into the melted chocolate and then stab it about halfway through one of the cake balls.
14. Dip the cake pop in the chocolate to coat completely.
15. Dip in sprinkles so that some are picked up by the chocolate.
16. Stand cake pop in a piece of florist's foam and allow chocolate to set.
17. Repeat dipping process with remaining cake pops.
18. Store at room temperature for up to 4 hours or in the fridge for up to 4 days.

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¹ The original recipe only called for 1/4 c. of milk, but that wasn't nearly enough to form a cohesive dough. I needed to add an extra 1/4 c. of milk for it to reach that point. ^Back