Monday, April 9, 2012

Banana Split Cake Pops

You know something? I don't really like banana splits. But apparently I love Banana Split in all other forms...

The Banana Split Cake Pop

The Banana Split Cake

And the Creme de la Creme: Banana Split Cupcakes. Hands Down, my favorite dessert. Ever.

But I digress. You care about the cake pops today.

What You Need:
One recipe of my Best Banana Cake, baked and cooled
One half recipe of my Cream Cheese Frosting (at room temperature)
Pink Candy Melts
Strawberry Flavoring(oil-based flavoring, not alcohol-based)
Dark Chocolate Candy Melts(in a squeeze bottle or decorating bag)
Rainbow Nonpareils Sprinkles
1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
Lollipop Sticks
Optional:
Runts candies (which, by the way, no longer includes "cherry," which was the whole reason I got them... but I made do.)

Make the Cake Balls

Follow the recipe for my favorite Banana Cake. When I'm using it for Cake Pops, I make it in a 9x13 pan.

When it's completely cooled (give it a good couple of hours), you can make crumbs and add about 1 cup of cream cheese icing.
Mix the crumbs and icing until it makes a ragged dough, adding more icing slowly if the crumbs don't start to stick together.
Click the link to see my complete tutorial on making cake pops. All of the important information is in this post, but if you need a little more troubleshooting, check out that post.

Use 1-2 tsp. of dough to roll into cake balls.
Refrigerate the cake balls at least three hours or overnight.
*As always, if you're in a rush, you can stick them into the freezer for 30 minutes, then move them to the refrigerator, but they have a better chance of falling off of the stick or cracking if you make them this way.

When you're ready to dip the cake balls, combine a bag of Pink Candy Melts (available at craft stores or candy/cake stores), 1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil, and about 3-5 drops of Strawberry Flavoring.
*I use LorAnn brand flavoring. It is oil-based, so it won't make the candy seize (like the kind you'd buy at the grocery store can). I can buy this flavoring at one of the "finer" grocery stores in my area, or at a kitchen store, or online.

Melt the chocolate on 30% power for about 3-5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. The candy is ready when it is just warm and melted. DO NOT let it get hot or it will seize.
Remember that to keep the cake pop from falling off of the stick, always dip the stick into the candy before you insert the stick into the cake ball.


Work with just 5-10 cake pops out of the refrigerator at a time - or they get too warm and squishy while you work, and will fall off of the sticks. Insert the dipped lollipop stick about halfway into the cake ball.

Dip the cake pop into the melted candy, being careful to move quickly. Try to just dip the pop straight down, bring it back up, and do not swirl or twist it as this loosens the stick.

Tap the stick on the edge of the mug to remove the excess candy coating. Watch that you hold the cake pop so that the cake ball is higher than your stick. This increases the chance that if your pop wants to topple off the stick, you will notice the wobble before it falls off. If you tap the pop with the cake down... it's more likely to just fall right off into the candy.

Insert the stick into the styrofoam (you can buy this at the craft store, too) to let the pink candy harden.

To decorate the pops, use a squeeze bottle or decorating bag with chocolate Candy Melts.

It looks a little messy at first...

...but lightly tap the bottom of the stick on the counter or your hand, and it smooths out nicely.

Immediately add the rainbow sprinkles and the Runts candies.

And there you have it! Homemade Banana Split Cake Pops.

I have to tell you, that I served these at a little backyard party with my kids' friends and their 30 & 40-something parents... and the fact that these had Runts candy on top of them was pretty much the big draw. Nostalgia or something.

Click the Links Below to See
Banana Split Cupcakes
Banana Split Cake 
Banana Cake Recipe
Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
How Long Does It Really Take To Make Cake Pops?
Other Cake Pop Ideas & Recipes

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4 comments:

  1. oh I love these! And you always make this stuff look sooo easy! great post, great step by step instructions!

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh wow! mouth watering...you are amazing :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amazing and very easy to make.

    ReplyDelete

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