SO, I finally buckled down and made cake pops again.
The only other time I've done this was for the 17th(!!!) recipe I posted on this blog wayyyy back when, and believe me, since then, I've had my fair share of "Have you/can you make cake pops?" questions. I'm not sure why it took me this long to go for round two, but I'm so glad I finally did! The truth? Cake pops are NOT that hard to make - from scratch too! Yeah, there are a few steps involved, but all in all, it's pretty fun to make in the way that only some desserts can be (meaning the kinds that get covered in sprinkles and look extra cute). There's not even any dark chocolate involved here and I still say it was worth it. Significant? I think YES.
My #1 beef with cake pops is that so many of them aren't made from scratch, and while I swear I'm not bagging on anyone who likes using cake mix, it's just not my thing. I'm a huge fan of doing things from scratch and that's a really significant part of the inspiration behind this blog, so the chances of cake mix making an appearance here are pretty much zero. But here's the deal; making cake pops from scratch is no more of a big deal than making a layer cake from scratch. If anything, it's easier - more room for mistakes, easier to decorate, and just all-in-all not that complex. In fact, I think my new mission should be to get more from-scratch cake pop recipes out in the world; we totally need them!
I've had spring on my mind lately (who hasn't really?! It's time!!), and I bought these freakin' adorable cupcake liners last winter that I've been dying to use - plus I seem to get a sporadic obsession with carrot cake when this time of year rolls around - so these cake pops had to happen. I can't get enough of how colorful and spring-like they look which makes me almost not want to eat them, but then I remember that they taste way too good to pass up annnnd... I think you can pretty much guess how the rest of the story goes. Moist carrot cake + tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting + white chocolate?! Ohhhh yes.
Recipe Card
Carrot Cake Pops
Made-from-scratch carrot cake pops with cream cheese frosting - a perfect springtime dessert!
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 50 cake pops 1x
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 9 ½ ounces (2 ¼ cups, spoon and level) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅝ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 5 ¾ ounces (2 cups) shredded carrots, divided
- 5 ⅜ ounces (⅝ cup) unsweetened applesauce
- 4 ¼ ounces (½ cup) sour cream
- 7 ½ ounces (1 cup packed) brown sugar
- 2 ounces (¼ cup) vegetable/canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 5 ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 10 ounces (2 ½ cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- heavy pinch of salt
Assembling & Decorating
- 50 cake pop sticks
- 1 ½ ounces Chocoley Bada Bing Bada Boom Candy & Molding Formula White Chocolate
- 1 lb 5 ounces Chocoley Bada Bing Bada Boom Dipping & Coating Formula White Chocolate
- orange jimmies sprinkles
Instructions
Carrot Cake Pops
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease two 9" round cake pans with nonstick spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In a blender or food processor, combine 1 ⅜ ounces (½ cup) shredded carrots with the applesauce and sour cream and blend/process until smooth.
- In a separate, large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and oil until the sugar is evenly moistened and the mixture is clumpy. Whisk in the egg until well-incorporated. Add the liquid carrot mixture and the vanilla and whisk in until smooth; the batter will be very liquidy.
- Fold in the dry ingredients just until no longer visible, and then gently fold in the remaining 4 ⅜ ounces (1 ½ cups) shredded carrots, just until dispersed.
- Divide batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans, lightly smoothing out tops. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, just until a skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pans for about 20 minutes before flipping over onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, prepare cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment, or using a bowl and handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar until incorporated, and then continue to beat on medium-high until smooth, light, and fluffy. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth.
Assembling & Decorating
- In a large bowl, mash cakes with a large fork until fine and crumbly. Add cream cheese frosting and mix in until evenly combined.
- Roll cake mixture into 1-oz balls (about the size of a ping-pong ball) and place on a large tray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or two, until cold and set. Meanwhile, use a cake pop stick to poke holes (about an inch apart) into a large block of styrofoam for holding the cake pops (unless you have a cake pop stand).
- Place the Candy & Molding white chocolate in a bowl and microwave on medium power for 30-60 seconds, until beginning to melt. Stir and microwave for additional 15-second increments, stirring in between, until about ¾ of the chocolate has melted. Continue to stir until smooth. Allow to cool to 96º-98ºF before using.
- One at a time, dip each cake pop stick about an inch into melted chocolate, and then stick into one of the cake pops. Repeat with remaining cake pops, leaving pops upside-down on tray while chocolate sets.
- Place the Dipping & Coating white chocolate in a bowl and microwave on medium power for 60 seconds. Stir and microwave for additional 15-second increments, stirring in between, until about ¾ of the chocolate has melted. Continue to stir until smooth. Allow to cool to 96º-98ºF before using.
- Dip each cake pop into white chocolate to coat completely, letting excess drip off. Sprinkle jimmies around base of cake pop and then stick into styrofoam or cake pop stand to set. Once set, cake pops can be placed in mini cupcake liners if desired before serving.
- Store cake pops in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Disclaimer: Chocoley provided me with products to help make this post possible. All opinions are my own and I make a point of only promoting products I personally use and love!
For more recipes and other food-related tidbits, stick around and subscribe to receive new blog updates by e-mail or RSS. You can also find recipes by category in the recipe index.
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2015
Kathy
my frosting tastes a little bland not sweet enough
alexandra
You can always add more confectioner's sugar and thin it down with milk if it gets too thick. If it tastes bland, you might actually just need to add a bit more salt though!
Maria
HI! I'm new to Bada Bing/Chocoley. May I ask.. why did you use molding chocolate for the sticks and dipping for coating the pops? Can you use dipping chocolate for the sticks? Thanks!
alexandra
The dipping chocolate is a bit thinner and better for dipping purposes, whereas the molding chocolate is a bit thicker which is why I used it on the sticks (i.e., since the hold would be a little stronger). I'm sure dipping chocoate would work just fine too though!
Jill
Is tthere a reason not to bake the cake in a 9 x 13 pan I did that for Red Velvet cake pops and it was easy. You are crumbling them anyway? Thoughts?
alexandra
It should be fine... but you would likely need to increase the baking time. ;)
Leah
Hey,
In your recipe, step three says and applesauce and yogurt and blend until smooth, but the ingredients don't cal for yogurt. How much yogurt am I supposed to add? What kind?
alexandra
Whoops! That's supposed to say sour cream. It's fixed now. :) Thanks for the heads up!
Melissa
Simply wonderful! I like the lightness of the cake and the frosting takes you to the peak of sweetness without being too sweet!. Perfection!
alexandra
Aww thank you! :)