it’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again…. my talkative, sweet, hilarious, sword-fighting, super-hero-loving son is having a birthday, a whole hand birthday… my boy is FIVE!
because of our impeding move, we decided to throw him an early party. it’s not yet his big day (that’ll be in a brand new state!), but the party did double duty on a last-chance get-together for birthday and farewell.
i’ve sort of set a precedent on cake pop party favors… the batmen, the cowboys, even robots and buddy the dinosaur pops for some little friends. even though some say cake pops are “so last year”, i like them, darnit, and wanted to continue the tradition. however time is clearly not on my side these days, so i decided to make things a little easier on myself. cake pops don’t have to be too over-the-top on the difficulty scale to be fun. then i found these adorable super hero bottlecap zipper pulls on etsy and i couldn’t resist.
so happy early birthday, big brother. thanks for making us all smile every day.
Super Hero Cake Pops
Servings 24 cake pops
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow gluten-free cake mix love betty crocker
- 1 16-ounce container ready-made vanilla frosting
- 1 1-pound bag vanilla candy coating morsels
- Lollipop sticks
- Colored sprinkles
- Yellow-colored candy coating morsels
- Styrofoam block
Instructions
- Bake cake according to package instructions. Allow cake to cool completely.
- Cut the cake into quarters. Finely crumble each quarter of cake in a large bowl. Add half the container of frosting. Mix into cake crumbles until well combined. Mixture should stick together to form a ball, not too crumbly, not too wet. (Add more frosting, if needed.) Reserve remaining frosting for another use.
- Shape cake mixture into 2-inch balls, and flatten on one side. Place on wax paper-lined baking sheet, cover and chill in fridge till firm.
- Carefully melt vanilla candy coating in a deep bowl in microwave according to package directions.
- Dip 1/4-inch of a lollipop stick into candy coating mixture; insert the stick straight into the cake ball, almost half-way. Hold cake ball at the surface of the candy coating, spoon coating evenly over cake ball; and carefully tap off any excess. Work quickly, but not too forcefully or the cake ball will fall off the stick. Carefully sprinkle entire surface of dipped ball with sprinkles. Place end of stick in the Styrofoam block until sturdy and allow to dry. Continue with remaining balls. Allow to set.
- Meanwhile, add melted vanilla candy coating to a sandwich bag. Snip one corner and pipe "talk bubbles" onto wax paper. Carefully melt yellow candy coating; snip corner of a sandwich bag, add piping tip suitable for writing (Wilton #1 or #2), add yellow candy coating to sandwich bag, and write your favorite fightin' words.
- Attach dried "talk bubbles" to pops with additional candy coating.