How to Make Cake Pops Video

Check out my video on how to make cake pops. You can also follow the steps listed below! And don’t forget to watch Part 2 – How to Cover Cake Pops in Chocolate.

How to Make Cake Pops

Here’s what you need to make your cake pops:

Cake! Either cake scraps or cupcakes
Frosting of your choice (buttercream, chocolate ganache, etc)
Food Processor
Kitchen scale or 1/2 cup measuring cup (if using cake scraps)
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
Cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper
1.5 Tablespoon scoop (optional)

Estimating how many to make

When I’m making cake pops for an event I like to make cupcakes since I have found that a single cupcake will yield about 2 cake pops. This could be a little less or more depending on your cake recipe, but that will get you pretty close. When using leftover cake scraps I usually weigh out the cake I have and estimate that 1.5-2 ounces is equivalent to a cupcake. So I should get two cake pops for every 1.5-2 ounces of cake that I have. If you don’t have a scale you can always use a 1/3 to 1/2 dry measuring cup to measure out your cake.

Making Your Cake Pop “Dough”

I like to use my trusty food processor to make my cake pop “dough”. If you don’t have a food processor you can try using a blender, or just good old elbow grease. I breakup my cake and add it to my food processor. Be sure not to overfill! Pulse a few times to get the cake all broken up, then start adding your buttercream. I like to add 1 Tablespoon of buttercream for every cupcake (or 1.5-2 ounces of cake). So if you added 4 cupcakes to your food processor you should add 4 Tablespoons of buttercream. If your buttercream is very soft or if you are using ganache you may want to start out with a smaller amount and then add more if needed.

Once your buttercream has been added run the food processor for 10-15 seconds to mix it in and get the “dough” to come together. If it seems dry (you can test this by trying to roll some into a ball, if it falls apart it’s too dry) then add more buttercream and run the processor again.

Once the “dough” seems ready and seems to be holding together you are ready to roll!

Rolling your Cake Pops

I like to use a 1.5 Tablespoon scoop to measure out my cake pops. I find it makes them a good size, plus using a scoop makes them consistent. If you don’t have a scoop you can use a heaping tablespoon to measure out your cake pop dough. Roll each pop into a ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Once you are done rolling you can either roll them in powdered sugar or a 50/50 mixture of cocoa and powdered sugar if you plan to serve them immediately (note that over time the coating will dissolve so make sure you do this close to serving). This is more like a cake truffle.

If you want to dip the pops in chocolate then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them over-night. You want them to be cold when you dip them. If you are in a hurry you can also put them in the freezer for an hour or two.