When I think of September, apples always come to mind, so when I was trying to think of what kind of cake pops I would make, a nice red apple cake pop seemed logical.
Cake pops are something that seems really frightening and hard, but really, they are pretty easy.
Apple Cake Pops
Whenever I make cupcakes, I like to freeze any extra ones I might have (unfrosted of course) so you know – I have a few on hand in case of a cupcake emergency, these things can happen!
So it was convenient that I had a half dozen white cupcakes in the freezer when it came time to make cake pops.
What You’ll Need
- A cake or 6 (or more) cupcakes
- Royal Icing (at least 1 cup)
- A Bag of Cake Pop Sticks
- 1 Bag of Red Candy Melts
- 1 Bag of Green Candy Melts
- Chocolate or Brown Candy Melts
Directions
Make a cake or take a frozen cake or cupcakes out of the freezer (if you are me) to defrost. Once defrosted (or cooled if making from scratch), crumble the cake into a bowl. This is most easily done by breaking the cake or cupcake into two pieces and rubbing the pieces together to get something that looks like this:
Next, take some buttercream (you can make this or buy it in bulk at Bulk Barn – which is what I did) and add it to the crumbled cake.
Mix to form a dough that is just sticky enough to hold together. You’ll notice I’m not giving a cake to icing ratio here as I think it really depends on the moistness of the cake and icing. You’ll just have to play this by ear. Start with a smaller amount of icing as it’s easier to add more than take it away.
Once your dough is formed, using a tablespoon scoop make cake pop balls with your hands.
The balls will be sticky. Don’t worry about making them perfectly round, shape them the best you can and place on a freezer safe tray. Once you have all your cake pop balls made, place them in the freezer for a few hours (I like to leave mine in overnight) to allow them to harden.
Once frozen, that the cake pops out of the freezer and roll them in your hands to make a nice ball shape. Then mold the balls into an apple shape. I did this by making a slight indent in the top where the stem and leaves would go, and making the apple slightly smaller on the bottom versus the top. You could also leave the pops perfectly round and they would make lovely apples!
Return the cake pops to the freezer while you prepare the dipping chocolate. Place red (or green) candy melts in a microwave safe bowl with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Heat in the microwave in 10-15 second bursts stirring after each burst until candy melts are entirely melted. If the candy melts seem a little bit too thick, add a bit more coconut oil to thin the consistency.
Remove cake pops from the freezer. Take a cake pop stick, dip it in the candy melts and then stick into the bottom of your apple. Place cake pop into a styrofoam form. Once all cake pops have a stick in them, place cake pops in the fridge to cool.
Next, put dark chocolate in one ziplock bag and 2-3 green candy melts in a second bag. Place both bags in the microwave and heat in 5-second bursts until melted.
Place a piece of wax paper or parchment on a cutting board. Cut a small corner off each bag and then create chocolate “stems” and green leaves for your apples. Make sure you make more than you need in case some break or don’t turn out well. Put cutting board in the fridge or freezer to harden for 2-3 minutes.
While you are waiting for the decorations to harden, check in on your red candy melts to determine if they need to be heated in the microwave again. You want the viscosity of the candy melts to be quite thin when it comes time to cover your cake pops or else they won’t turn out!
When you are ready to cover your cake pops, take your cake pops and decorations out of the fridge/freezer. Take one cake pop and place it over the bowl with the red candy melts. Using a spoon, spoon candy melt over the cake pop. Once fully covered, tap the cake pop stick along the side of the bowl to remove any excess. Place the cake pop back on the styrofoam foam and finish with a stem and one or two leaves.
Once you’ve finished all of your cake pops, place them back in the fridge to harden.
Then viola – apple cake pops!
A bushel of apples if you please?
Wrap the cake pops individually to keep them fresh and hand out to your friends and send to school with your kids for their teacher! These are so adorable and tasty they are sure to make you a rockstar!