once you pop…

…You just can’t stop!

In the history of cute desserts, cake pops are the newest thing to cross my radar. Bakerella was the blogger to bring these fun creations to internet fame. A few friends made cake pops for different reasons lately, and I couldn’t get them out of my head.

Around come my friend ‘s surprise 30th birthday party. In the middle of a lot of mass planning by her , it was mentioned that funfetti is one of Christina’s favorite desserts. Funfetti cake pops covered in white chocolate and adorable rainbow star sprinkles? Who could resist?

From what my tastebuds could remember, funfetti is a simple white cake with almond flavor. Homemade funfetti isn’t exactly a new idea, but having a recipe I could trust is very important. Cook’s Illustrated white cake recipe looked like a winner, and with sprinkles added in, it came out as a perfect funfetti replacement. A simple vanilla buttercream frosting was a fine accompaniment.

Nix the Mix Funfetti Cake
[this makes two 9" round cakes or one 9"x13" sheet pan]

• 2 ¼ cups cake flour [9 ounces], plus more for dusting the pans
• 1 cup milk, room temperature
• 6 large egg whites [¾ cup], room temperature
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste [or extract]
• 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar [12¼ ounces]
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter [1½ sticks], softened but still cool
• ¼-½ cup sprinkles [use , not round for best results]

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your cake pan[s] with nonstick cooking spray, dust the pans with flour, and turn the pans over and tap sharply to remove excess flour.

Pour the milk, egg whites, and extracts into a small bowl and mix with fork until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add the butter and continue beating until the mixture looks like moist crumbs, with no major clumps of flour showing. Add all but 1/2 cup of the milk mixture to the bowl and beat at medium speed for 90 seconds. The last of the milk mixture along with the sprinkles go in and beat for 30 more seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and continue beating for 20 more seconds. You can do this all by hand, with a large whisk, as well.

Divide the batter evenly between your prepared cake pan[s] and spread the batter evenly to the edges of the pan, smoothing the top.

Place in the center of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Let cakes rest in pans for 5 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, and flip onto wire racks. For faster cooling and quicker cake ball making, I cut the cake up as shown, placed the chunks on a sheet pan and placed it in the freezer.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

[makes 2 cups]

• 14 tbsp unsalted butter [1 2/3 sticks], room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste [or extract]
• pinch salt
• 4 tsp milk or cream

Beat the butter until fluffy and paler in color. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Add the milk, vanilla and salt and beat 2-5 minutes, depending on if you’re making this with an electric mixer or by hand. The frosting should be light and fluffy in texture.

And look at those gorgeous vanilla bean flecks! Place frosting in refrigerator at least 15 minutes before using in cake pops.

How to Make the Cake Pops

Needs:

• 2 9″ cakes, cooled
• 2 cups frosting
• 1 lb candy melts or white chocolate chips
• lollipop sticks [or skewers]
• sprinkles of choice

This process is a hands-on project. Once your cake chunks have cooled completely, fully crumble them into a bowl.

This can also be done with a food processor. Add 1½ cups of the frosting and incorporate with a large spoon or your hands. Depending on how moist the mixture feels, you can add the rest of the frosting. [You don't want it to be overly moist, but it needs to be able to stick when 'smushed' together.] Using a [or eyeballing], make small cake balls. This recipe makes 75 small cake balls or 50 medium ones.

Place the cake balls into the freezer for 5-10 minutes while you melt some or candy melts. Once melted, remove the cake balls from the freezer. One at a time, dip the end of skewer or lollipop stick into the melted chocolate. Place the stick into the cake ball, about halfway into the ball.

Put the cake pops back into the freezer, preferably for at least 30 minutes. It is important to keep the cake balls solidly frozen and let the candy melt freeze and bond the stick to the cake. Once all the cake balls are stuck and frozen, it is time to dunk them in the melted white chocolate. I used a metal bowl over very lightly simmering water. The chips should just barely melt.

Dunk each ball fully into the chocolate, covering down where the stick meets the cake ball. Swirl the cake pop around over the bowl, letting the excess coating fall off. While the chocolate is still damp, add your sprinkles of choice.

If you have styrofoam, you can stick the pop into a square of it. Otherwise, place in a large mason jar or vase and let dry completely All these steps move pretty quickly, and before you know it, you have a kitchen covered in stars…

And four to six dozen gorgeous, party ready cake pops!