Ingredients
Ingredients for Cake:
- Use any boxed cake recipe or buy a plain pound cake
Ingredients for Frosting:
- 4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 5-6 teaspoons milk
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup stick softened butter or use pre-made frosting
Directions for Cake dough:
- Start with an 8 inch cake and crumble by hand or roughly in a food processor
- Add ¼ - ½ cup of frosting and mix together well
- Measure 2 Tablespoons of dough and form a ball in your hands
- Place balls on parchment and chill for 2 hours (1hr in freezer)
- Melt chocolate in batches in microwave, stirring frequently
- 50% power for 30 seconds, stir & repeat until melted or use an electric warmer
- Remove chilled dough
- Dip lollipop sticks ½ inch into candy and insert into ball
- Smooth out the collected pool of candy
- Place on parchment and chill for 30 minutes (on side or stick up)
- Gently dip balls into melted chocolate and twist until covered
- Note: if candy is too thick, blisters will form, use a candy thinner or 2 tbsp of melted shortening per 12oz of candy and blend well
- Tap stick gently on edge of bowl to bleed off excess
- When candy stops flowing off, gently scrape excess against bowl
- Smooth out point with finger or butter knife
- If you are adding sprinkles to your ball, now is the time to gently shake sprinkles or jimmies over ball otherwise, add cookie hat on melted chocolate and insert pop into styrofoam block and chill 20 minutes
Directions for Assembly:
- Using decorating pen or parchment bag, decorate with colored icing
- Chill 15 minutes
- Tent with cellophane
- Tie ribbon
- Insert into prepared coffee mug
TIPS:
- Pack dough evenly into 1 Tablespoon measuring spoons (2 per ball) for consistent sized pops
- If your dough is too thick, add small amounts of frosting until you can form even balls
- Place dough balls on parchment paper and chill for 2 hours
- Chilling the dough at each step is important to achieve stable, smooth pops
- Dip lollipop stick ½ inch into melted candy and press into chilled dough
- Smooth excess pool of candy with your finger or a butter knife
- If microwaving candy, stir well every 30 seconds until completely mixed
- An electric warming pot is handy to keep candy perfectly melted
- If candy is too thick, mix in 2 tbsp melted shortening (per 12oz of candy) or use candy thinner
- Chill for 30 minutes after dipping in melted candy before decorating
- Use a parchment piping bag or decorating pen to create face
- A daub of melted candy can hold the cookie hat in place
Cristina Ferrare Cooks! - Home & Family
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