A Mom with Nails: Cake pop-a-palooza

Have you jumped on the cake-pop wagon yet? If not, you need to. Or don't, because they are a little sphere of chocolate love. Really, they are that good.
I heard of cake pops for the first time years ago before they were the "in" thing to make. And honestly? They sounds gross to me. I love cake, but I'm not the biggest fan of icing. So hearing that you mush (ugh, the word even sounds yucky!) a whole can of icing into perfectly good cake and mush it together? Not so great sounding. So I avoided them for years.
Until one day I was just....bored I guess. I love to bake. We love to eat baked goods. Because we love to eat baked goods so much, I stopped baking. But this is worth it.

I've tried cake pops a few times, and have ironed out the wrinkles in the process now. This isn't a quick make-at-the-last-minute kind of dessert: it takes some time and patience, so I usually only do them for special occasions. Easter is one.

So to make the pops:

Make a cake. Any cake, any flavor. Break it up until it looks like this:

Once it's all crumbly, add in a whole can of icing (1 can to one 8x11 sheet). Mix.

Keep mixing until you have a firm, mushy mixture. It should stick together into a ball.

Form into balls. This is where I love my Pampered Chef scoop: this is the medium size. Using the scoop keeps everything uniform, and you know with kids (of all ages), everyone having the same portion is a big deal.

scoop compared to a tablespoon

At this point I've learned that the freezer is your friend. Stick these puppies in the freezer for 5-8 minutes. Take them out and roll; Freeze for another 5-8 minutes.

During your last freezing spell, melt a little bit of chocolate. I've used both the Wilton brand the the grocery store brand with success. Dip candy sticks (bought from a craft store) into the chocolate, and then into the ball.
Yep: freeze again for a few minutes to let the chocolate and the stick become one. Trust me: this will make your life easier in the next minutes.

Hint: Always place your pops on a cookie sheet as you are working with them; this makes it easier to transfer in and out of the freezer. Hint Two: Check first to make sure your sheet will fit into the freezer before you load all the cake pops. Trust me. Check ahead.

Now comes the dipping part. Melt chocolate; double boilers are recommend for melting, but I found using the microwave works just fine. The key is slow, a minute at a time on 50% power, stir and repeat.

I melt my chocolate in a measuring cup that has a pour spout. Then I pour this into a tall, narrow mug. This makes dipping so much easier.

Dip; twirl, tap. Dip, twirl tap. Touch down into sprinkles or other decorations; this also helps the pop from sticking as it dries.

I've tried to do pops "right side up" in a lollipop form, but doing them upside down is easier and the kids eat them just as quickly.