Wilton's Cake Pops

These colorful cake pops are a whimsical addition to any holiday dessert table and are also the perfect grab and go treat for little hands.

There are so many different cake pop recipes online and it was difficult to decide which one we wanted to try. So, we went to the experts. Wilton has a variety of products available online and in craft stores, for both baking and decorating. You can find Wilton products inside Michael’s, Jo-Ann stores, Amazon, Wilton.com and more.

Read the Important Notes section below before beginning the recipe.

Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients

1 box cake mix of your choice (vanilla, chocolate, etc.)
1 box instant pudding and pie filling mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttercream frosting
1 bag of Candy Melts Candy in the color of your choice | Bright White Candy Melts® Candy, 12 oz
Wilton Garden Candy Colors

Tools

9 x 13 cake pan
cooling grid
Cookie sheet covered in parchment
treat or popsicle sticks
craft foam
Vegetable shortening for thinning candy melts (if necessary)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a sheet cake pan with nonstick vegetable pan spray.
Let’s make the cake: In a large bowl, combine cake mix pudding mix, eggs, water and oil. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes.
Remove cake from pan to cooling rack and cool completely.
When cake is cooled, divide in half and freeze on half for future use. (It should keep for a couple of weeks in the freezer)
Make the Cake Balls: Size Chart Below Using your hands, crumble the cake into small chunks. Add icing and mix well with fingers until incorporated, form the mixture into balls and place on prepared pan. Chill until set for about 2 hours.
Create & Coat Cake Pops. While the cake balls are setting, melt Bright White candy according to package instructions. Ceramic Candy Melting Bowls make this a breeze. Dip the tip of the lollipop stick into melted candy, then into cake ball. Let it set for about 10 minutes and repeat with all cake pops.
Dip cake pops, one at a time, into melted bright white candy. Tap lightly to remove excess. If you are going to add sprinkles do so now, so they will “stick” and set in craft block. Repeat with all cake pops. Chill until set for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Small cake pops: 1 tablespoon-sized cake balls (each about 1 1/4-inch diameter) makes about 48 cake pops.
Medium cake pops: 2 tablespoons-sized cake balls (each about 1 1/2-inch diameter) makes about 24 cake pops.
Large cake pops: 3 tablespoons-sized cake balls (each about 1 3/4-inch diameter) makes about 16 cake pops.

Important Notes:

Use a tall and deep bowl or cup or a Ceramic Candy Melting Bowls, to dip your cake pops in Candy Melts. This way the pops can be completely submerged.

When coloring your candy melts, use coloring specifically made for candy melts, like Wilton’s Garden Candy Color and follow the directions. (Available at Michael’s, Jo-Ann stores, Amazon or Wilton.com) If you use regular food coloring, your candy coating will seize up, and you’ll have to toss it out.

If your candy coating is too thick, add a small amount of vegetable shortening to the coating and stir well. Do not use oil.

Standing cake pop “up” in a foam rack is recommended, although not completely necessary. As you can plainly see here, we placed our cake pop “down”, giving the candy melt a chance to pool. They are still wickedly delicious though.