Valentine Cakepops

 Cakepops are always appreciated- what's not to like? A delectable couple bites (or a mouthful!) of cake and frosting surrounded by a shell of candy coating- yum! They're easy to make, freeze well, and are the perfect way to show your loved ones that you care.

First, bake a cake in a 9X13 in pan. You can choose whatever flavor you'd like. I made a red velvet cake for these cakepops. Bake as normal, and then let cool completely. In the meantime, I whipped up some cream cheese icing. You can make the flavored icing of choice- buttercream icings are a good bet. You don't use very much icing for these babies, but I used leftover icing to frost other cupcakes. Stored properly in an airtight container, buttercream or cream cheese icing keeps well in the freezer for several weeks too- for future projects. 

Once your cake is completely cool, crumble into a bowl with your hands. Add a few heaping TBSPs of frosting and mix well with hands. You want the mixture to be moist enough to keep shape easily, but not overly goopy. You can add additional frosting to taste. Take a spoonful of cake/frosting mixture and roll in your hands to form a ball. I like to make all of the mixture into balls and put into a freezer-safe container. Freeze until firm- at least an hour. If you're not ready to decorate, or only want to decorate a few cakepops at a time, properly stored these cakepops freeze well for quite awhile. 

When you're ready to decorate, gather several small containers for various colors. For these cakepops, I used white, red, and pink candymelts. Microwave each color in 30 second increments, stirring well in between. Don't overheat, or candymelts may seize up. Heat until melted smoothly enough to coat the cakepops. I like to dip the tip of the lollipop stick into the melted candymelt mixture, then push the stick into the middle of the cakepop. If you want to slightly shape the cakepop by hand (for example, I shaped a few of these cakepops into hearts), you want to do that before you insert the stick. I like to stick the cakepops into a block of floral foam, and then freeze again until firm.  

Now it's time to decorate! Dip and submerge the cakepops to coat completely in the melted candymelt mixture. It can be helpful to use a spoon. Work quickly, because the candymelts shell dries quickly. You can add sprinkles or other decorative elements at this point. Once you're done, freeze the cakepops again, standing them up in the floral foam block. One completely dried, I like to individually wrap the cake pops and then share with friends!