Honey Bee Cake Pops

I recently tried my hand at making cake pops, a delicious dessert novelty made popular by blogger Angie Dudley, aka Bakerella.  With the help of my daughter, Michelle, we knocked out about fifty of these babies in an evening.

There are hundreds of different cake pop design possibilities; we chose to make mostly Honey Bees.  The basic recipe is fairly simple:

• One box of cake mix
• One container of prepared frosting
• 50 6-inch lollipop sticks
• One and a half lbs. of yellow candy melts
• 1/2 lb. of vanilla candy melts
• almond slivers (if making honey bees)

1. Bake the cake mix according to package directions (we chose Betty Crocker Butter Pecan).
2. Cool cake completely – about one hour.
3. Crumble cooled cake into a large mixing bowl.
4. Mix container of prepared frosting (cream cheese frosting paired well with the Butter Pecan cake mix) with crumbled cake.
5. Chill cake/frosting mixture for a half hour in refrigerator.
6. While mixture chills, make bee wings by dipping almond slivers in white candy melts (see step 8 for melting instructions).  Place wings on wax paper to dry.
7. Roll chilled dough into balls and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Chill in fridge for 2 hours (or freeze for 15 minutes; refrigerate 15 more minutes).
8. Place candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl.  We used yellow candy melts for our bees.  Microwave at half power for 30 seconds. Remove, stir, and continue to microwave in 30 second intervals until thoroughly melted.
9. Dip end of lollipop sticks in candy melts; then insert into cake balls.  Allow to harden.
10. Dip cake balls into candy melts.  Coat well; drain excess by tapping stick on side of bowl.  Careful–tapping too hard may cause cake ball to fall off stick.
11. Press almond wings into bee bodies while still wet.  Insert into styrofoam to dry.
12. Use black frosting to add bee details:  stripes, stingers, and smiley faces.

We made our Honey Bee Cake Pops for fun, but they would be cute at a party or shower displayed in a basket or decorative bucket.  Place styrofoam in your container and cover with “grass” or curling ribbon.

The butter pecan/cream cheese frosting combination was delicious. Delicious! I’m sure there are other yummy combinations, too, but I loved this one so much, I don’t know if I’ll ever try a different one. The only thing I might do differently — I might try pecan halves for the wings.  The almond slivers were great but it was difficult to find enough large, unbroken pieces in the bag.  Besides, pecan halves seem like a better match for the butter pecan cake mix.

This makes a fun project to do with children. Nathan enjoyed experimenting with chocolate melts and assorted candy sprinkles.  If you take the time to make some, be sure to take a picture as soon as you’re finished.  These little creations are sooo good–they won’t last long!

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Tags: Bakerella, Betty Crocker Butter Pecan, cake pops, candy melts, Honey Bee cake pops, Nathan