Chocolate Cake Pops

For this Valentine's day, I followed this Chocolate Cake Pops recipe to make cake pops for my daughter's class. 

yield: 24-40 cake pops depends on pop size

Ingredients

【Cake】
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 6 Tablespoons (1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp)
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup (canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil)
Large eggs - 2, at room temperature (For eggless version, use 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (4oz)  + 1tsp baking powder)
Pure vanilla extract -1 tsp
Hot water - 1/2 cup

【Frosting】

Unsalted butter - 6 TBSP, softened to room temperature
Confectioners' sugar - 3/4 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Heavy cream or milk - 2-3 tsp
Pure vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
【Coating】
32 ounces candy melts or coating (or pure chocolate)

sprinkles

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch pan.
2. Whisk all dry ingredients for cake together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the wet ingredients for cake together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water, and whisk everything together until combined. 

3. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

4. To make the frosting, with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream/milk, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes until it really comes together. Add another teaspoon of milk/cream if it looks a little too thick.
5. Crumble the cooled cake into the bowl on top of the frosting. Make sure there are no large lumps. Turn the mixer on low and beat the frosting and cake crumbles together until combined.

6. Measure 1-1.5 Tablespoon of moist cake mixture and roll into a ball. Place balls on a lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

7. Melt the coating in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, using microwave, double boiler, or candy melt pot.
8. Coat the cake balls: Remove only 2-3 cake balls from the refrigerator at a time. (Keep the rest cold!) Dip a lollipop stick about 1/2 inch into the coating, then insert into the center or the cake ball. Only push it about halfway - 3/4 through the cake ball. Dip the cake ball into the coating until it is completely covered. Make sure the coating covers the base of the cake ball where it meets the lollipop stick. Very gently tap the stick against the edge of the measuring cup to allow excess coating to drop off. Decorate the top with sprinkles and place upright into a lollipop stand, or styrofoam block or box. Repeat with remaining cake balls, only working with some out of the refrigerator at a time. The cake balls must be very cold when dipping!

9. Coating will set within an hour. Store cake pops in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Make ahead tip:
- You can make the cake 1 day ahead of time. Cover and keep at room temperature.
- You can store the undipped cake balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze them for up to 6 weeks. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator then continue with step 7.
- You can also freeze the finished cake pops for up to 6 weeks once the coating has fully set. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.