Chocolate Cake Pops
Chocolate cake pops made with homemade chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, dipped in chocolate! They are a dainty and delicious treat, perfect for any kind of party.
Servings 42 cake pops
Calories 123kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water
Frosting
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder Dutch process or unsweetened natural
- 3 teaspoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12-24 oz candy melts or chocolate for coating see notes
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 1- 9 inch round cake pan (or square). Make sure you use a cooking spray that contains flour. (VERY important you use a cooking spray that contains flour).
- In a medium bowl whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment mix the eggs, buttermilk, and veg oil until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix until combined. Pour in the vanilla and hot water, mix on medium speed until combined.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 29-33 minutes (mine baked for 30 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Remove cake from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the cake pan and allow cake to cool completely.
Make the Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
Assemble the Cake Pops
- Once the cake is cool, crumble it into the frosting bowl. You want to be quite thorough. Make sure there are no large cake chunks. With the paddle attachment, mix the frosting and cake on low speed until it comes together.
- Roll into 1 tablespoon sized balls. Place the balls on a wax paper or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Chill the cake balls in the fridge for 2 hours (or overnight), or chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
- Melt the chocolate in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. (Note: if using pure chocolate make sure you chop the chocolate before melting AND add ½ tsp vegetable oil to thin it out. This will make the coating smoother and all around better for coating the cake pops).
- Dip the ends of the lollipop sticks in the melted chocolate, you want the top 1/2 “ inch of the stick coated in chocolate, then insert the stick into the center of the chilled cake ball, pushing the cake ball about ½ way to ¾ the way through the ball. Repeat until all cake balls have a lollipop stick inserted in it.
- Place the cake pops back on the baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes or until cold and firm.
- Dip the cake ball into the chocolate coating until it is completely covered. Gently tap the lollipop stick against the side of the measuring cup to allow excess chocolate to drip off.
- Immediately after dipping in the chocolate, roll the cake pop in the sprinkles OR sprinkle the sprinkles overtop of the wet chocolate.
- Place the cake pops in a Styrofoam block to set. (This is the best way to get them to set without ruining the beautiful appearance!) Cake pops will set in 1 hour at room temperature.
- Continue until all cake pops are done. Let set at room temperature. Store the coated cake pops at room temperature for up to 5 days, store in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week.
Notes
Don't make the cake balls to big (no bigger than 1 T) or else they'll be top heavy and fall off the sticks.
Nix the sticks if you want and roll and dip as cake balls.
When dipping in chocolate, make sure the chocolate isn't still really hot and the cake balls aren't super cold. This will reduce the risk of the chocolate coating cracking.
You can store un-dipped cake pops in the freezer in a ziplock bag for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 60mg | Potassium: 58mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg