Below is a photo of the cake pops that ALMOST failed!
I have no fancy decorations on these. I was happy just to get them done. My husband was having a Halloween lunch at work, so I took this as a chance to attempt cake pops. I looked online for some recipes, and decided to make pumpkin cake pops!
As the instructions said. I made a spiced cake and mixed the cake with pumpkin puree.
I rolled the cake balls and froze them overnight.
Successful so far......not so fast! It was time to melt the chocolate so I could dip them.
First. I attempted to melt wilton orange chocolate morsels. FAIL. those burned in no time.
Then. I attempted to melt the dark chocolate in the house. FAIL. It was WAY too thin to actually coat the cake pop. .
Here are some lovely pictures of my kitchen sink after melting all the chocolate in my house didn't work!. I used up all the chocolate in my house. I ALMOST gave up on these!!
Solution:
I hopped online and found a forum on melting chocolate for dipping. The secret is adding Shortening to the chocolate! This thins out the chocolate enough to dip things. AND unlike oil or butter, It dries thick with the chocolate!!
( I really could have used this tip during my chocolate covered pretzel disaster last Christmas)
and THATS the secret of successful cake pop dipping! ( or any kind of chocolate dipping!)
Like? Check out my Dark Chocolate Apple Pops
Congratulations!! And thank you so much for finding that great tip. I could have used it last Christmas when I also tried dipping pretzels in white chocolate. What a fiasco! Didn't work, the chocolate was thick and lumpy and my hope of making little candy shapes was totally dashed. But now, thanks to you, I'll get another go at it this Christmas...AND I'm going to make cake balls too! :-)
ReplyDeleteI had to do the same thing last year - research half way through! I also learned if you melt choc with coconut oil you get 'crackle' like for ice cream topping :)
ReplyDeleteWe always used to add a bit of parafin (from the canning section of the grocery store) to any chocolate we were going to dip with. It adds a bit of extra shine when it dries and thins the chocolate while it is warm. I still do my peanut butter balls and chocolate covered cherries this way every Christmas. My grandmother always did it so I do too. LOL
ReplyDeleteLove this! Great idea. I have never made them before but I am going to try this weekend. I love your blog!
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Thanks for your hints! I tried cake pops this week too...check out how they turned out! www.palmettosandpigtails.com.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip! I am going to be making some for the first time soon, so this is good to know! Pumpkin Cake pops sounds so delicious!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! I plan on dipping chocolates next month for a party.
ReplyDeleteThat must be why the cheap chocolate always works best. I've found Almond bark and/or the wilton candy melts work best with cake pops. And I hate cake pops because of the work they take and they never come out as nice as Bakerella's. Anywho, looks like yours worked out great. Coming by way of a linky party.
ReplyDeleteI use a mini crockpot for all my dipping. It keeps the chocolate at a constant temperature. I mostly use candy melts and chocolate bark. One thing I've learned is the "white" chocolate or colored candy melts just do not melt as smooth as milk or dark. I only use for drizzling. (in a Wilton squeeze bottle) I use the microwave in short increments for that. If you overheat, the chocolate will get grainy. (not good) and don't let water anywhere near it. Cheers!
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ReplyDeleteCheri from Its So Very Cheri
I LOVE cake pops! I like to eat them way more than make them though! ;) Thanks for linking up to Sassy Sites FFA party! Have a wonderful Halloween weekend! XOXO!!
ReplyDeleteMarni @ Sassy Sites!