Pirate Cake Pops

Family Circle

Ingredients

• 48 uncoated Basic Cake Balls
• 48 ounces (3 pounds) white candy coating
• 2 deep, microwave-safe plastic bowls
• 48 paper lollipop sticks
• Styrofoam block
• 24 ounces red candy coating
• About 15 white confetti sprinkles per cake pop
• Toothpicks
• 48 red M&M's Minis
• 48 red jumbo heart sprinkles
• Black edible-ink pen

[post_ads]Directions 

1. Have the cake balls chilled.
2. Melt the white candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)
3. When you are ready to dip, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.
4. One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating: Hold the pop over the bowl in one hand, and tap your wrist gently with your other hand.
5. (If you use the hand holding the cake pop to shake off excess coating, the force of the movement will be too strong and could cause the cake ball to loosen or fly off the lollipop stick. Tapping the wrist holding the cake pop absorbs some of the impact.) The excess coating will fall off, but you will need to rotate the lollipop stick so the coating doesn't build up on one side, making it too heavy on that side. If too much coating starts to build up at the base of the stick, simply use your finger to wipe it off, spinning the lollipop stick at the same time. This can happen if the coating is too thin or too hot. It's not as hard as it sounds; it just takes a little practice.
6. Let dry completely in a Styrofoam block.
7. For the bandannas, melt the red candy coating in the second microwave-safe bowl and dip the top half of each cake pop into it, holding the pop at a diagonal. Before the red candy coating sets, place miniature white confetti sprinkles randomly on top. (You can also attach the sprinkles after the coating dries by using a toothpick to dot on coating and then attaching the sprinkles.)
8. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.
9. To finish the bandannas, use a toothpick to dab a little red candy coating onto one side of the pop, and attach a red M&M's Mini. Hold it in place until the candy coating sets like glue. Use the same technique to attach a jumbo heart sprinkle, with the pointed end toward the cake pop, for the final touch, and let dry.
10. For the faces, use a black edible-ink pen to draw on eyes, patches and mouths. Let dry completely.

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Tip 

1. Look for candy coating disks, candy coloring, candy writers, paper pop sticks, edible-ink pens and Styrofoam blocks in the baking section of your local craft supply store or at michaels.com
   
   See Also
   
   • Chocolate Truffle Cake Recipe
   • Diabetic Cake Recipes
   • Classic Carrot Cake Recipe