Easter Cake Pops Round Up

With Sunday being Easter, I took the time tonight to look back on the Easter Cake Pops I have made to decide which ones will grace our dinner table this weekend.   The great thing about all of these Easter Cake Pops is how simple they are, so you can even get the kids involved with the creation of these little beauties.  From bunnies to baskets, I've got you covered.

Easter Bunny Cake Pops

Ingredients:

• Babycakes Cake Pop Maker
• Pillsbury Cake Mix of your choice (Pillsbury works best in the Cake Pop Maker)
• White Candy Melts
• Sweet Mallows Marshmallow Confetti
• Pink Heart-shaped candy sprinkles
• Chocolate Piping Icing with bag and small tip

Begin by making your cake pops as usual with the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.  Pillsbury mixes work best – my favorite being the Funfetti style.  Mix your cake batter as usual by the directions on the box, and spoon a teaspoon of mix into each hole and cook for four minutes.  Place cooked cake pops on a cookie sheet and run into the freezer for no less than an hour.  Then “stick” your cake pops using a few candy melts on the tips of your sticks and run into the freezer for another hour.  Now your cake pops are ready to decorate.

I have seen pictures of these guys where the baker had used Spring Candy Corn for the ears…  I looked at four different stores and was unable to find them.  I was about to give up and ditch the entire idea when I saw these near the marshmallows in Walmart.  I decided to give them a try, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  I did use scissors to snip the very ends off  – both to make the proper size for “ears” but also to give some added “stickiness” to help them stay on the bunnies heads.

For the Easter Bunny Cake Pops, you will use the white candy melts which can be found in just about any grocery store.  Almond Bark works as well but I have found it to be a bit thinner than the candy melts so it doesn’t stay smooth quite as well.  Do NOT try to use cake icing – it's a totally different consistency when heated. Melt the white candy melts in 30-second increments and stir – making sure you do not burn it.

Dip your Easter Bunny Cake Pop gently into the white candy melts and place in your cake pop holder.  While the coating is still good and warm, stick the Marshmallow Confetti with the snipped ends into the melts in the place for ears.  Hold for a few seconds until the candy begins to set and the ears and secure.

Let the candy coating set for about 20 minutes or until completely cooled and hardened.  Do not put into the freezer or refrigerator as that will cause the candy coating to “sweat” – making the next steps virtually impossible.  Simply let the cake pops sit room temperature.

Using your piping bag and icing, put a tiny dollop of icing onto a pink candy heart sprinkle and place your “nose” in the center of the Easter Bunny Cake Pop leaving room for both eyes above and the mouth below.  I found that since I have acrylic nails that it was easier to lower the cake pop onto the sprinkle than trying to hold on to the teeny little heart and stick it on there.  I think I dropped about 15 of them before figuring this out. Then pipe on eyes and a mouth to complete your Easter Bunny Cake Pop.

Easter Sheep Cake Pops

Ingredients:

• Cake Mix – I recommend Pillsbury Funfetti
• White Candy Melts
• Wilton Pearl Sprinkles
• Large Black Jellybeans or Licorice Buttons
• Miniature Chocolate Chips
• Pink Heart Sprinkles
• Babycakes Cake Pop Maker
• Cake Pop Sticks

Mix your Funfetti Cake Mix as directed on the box.  Spoon one teaspoon into each spot in your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.  Let cook four minutes.  Use Babycakes fork to put onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for one hour.

Melt three or four candy melts and dip the ends of your sticks into the melt and into the cake pop.  Set upside down on a cookies sheet and put back into the freezer for another hour.  You should then have a cookie sheet that looks like this -

Melt the remainder of your candy melts and gently dip your cake pop into the melts coating the entire cake pop.  Immediately set into cake pop stand (I use large pieces of styrofoam that I poke holes in with a screwdriver – cheap and easy) Place the jellybean in place for the head and hold a few seconds to secure.  Then gently begin putting sprinkles on and kind of “tapping” them into the candy melt to gently secure them.  Do this slowly to make sure the weight of the “wool” does not slide off the other side.

Like I said this took a bit of practice and a bit of time but was fun nonetheless.  Each “sheep” takes about 5 minutes to complete applying the “wool.”  Once you are happy with the wool, place back into your cake pop stand and let set for at least 20 minutes.

Once the candy has completely set and the pearls are secure you can use a dab of candy melts to apply the pink heart “nose” and chocolate chip “ears” (eyes!?) to the jelly bean.   Then put them together in their own little “herd.”

These were the most difficult of the Easter Cake Pops that we made, but they were also the favorite at the party.  We also made them with different colored candy melts which were cute – we had some yellow sheep!

Easter Basket Cake Pops

Ingredients:

• Cake Mix – I recommend Pillsbury Funfetti
• Blue Candy Melts
• Chocolate Candy Melts
• Green Candy Melts
• Small Multicolored Jellybeans
• Green Sugar Sprinkles
• Piping bag with Small Tip
• Babycakes Cake Pop Maker
• Cake Pop Sticks
• Cake Pop Stand (optional)

 

Mix your Funfetti Cake Mix as directed on the box.  Spoon one teaspoon into each spot in your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.  Let cook four minutes.  Use Babycakes fork to put onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for one hour.

Melt three or four candy melts and dip the ends of your sticks into the melt and into the cake pop.  Set upside down on a cookies sheet and put back into the freezer for another hour.  You should then have a cookie sheet that looks like this -

Next, melt your chocolate candy melts and coat each cake pop entirely.  Set in your Cake Pop Stand to let the candy harden and cool- about an hour.  DO NOT PUT INTO THE FRIDGE – if they get too cold the candy will “sweat” and the next part will not work.

Once the chocolate is completely hardened, melt your blue candy melts and gently dip the Cake Pops upside down half way into the blue candy.  Set them back into the Cake Pop Stand to harden again.   Your Easter Basket Cake Pops should look like this:

After the candy has completely hardened around the Cake Pop, melt your green candy melts and put into your piping bag.  Pipe a line of candy around the edges where the chocolate and blue candy meets, and quickly dip into the green sugar sprinkles.  This makes your “grass” inside of the basket.

Next put the rest of your chocolate candy melts into a piping bag, and pipe the “handle” for your basket.  Since I had a very small tip I put four lines together to make it a bit thicker.  You could also use a wider flat tip for this.

For the “Easter Eggs”  cut the ends off of small Jelly beans, leaving some in the middle – in other words, you should have three pieces from each jellybean – two “eggs” (each end) and a middle to snack on… because let’s face it, by this time you are probably starving… or ready to eat the cake pops – eggs or not!

Pipe a dot of leftover candy melts to help them “stick” and place them randomly on the “grass.”   Let your finished cake pops set for at least 20 minutes to make sure your eggs stay put.

These Easter Basket Cake Pops took much longer to make than any of the other Easter Cake Pops – but they were still a blast!  The girls had fun helping – and eating – the leftover decorations as we were making them.

These three are my top picks for this weekend's Easter celebration.  Last year we also made Easter Chicks, but struggled to find candies perfect for their little "wings".... maybe that will be on the to do list for next Easter.

Are you making Easter Cake Pops this year?  What are your favorites?