My Very First Cake Pops!

I don't recall the first moment I came across cake pops, but they certainly had me at 'hello'. I made a mental note to make them for my son's birthday this Summer...it didn't matter if he wanted dinosaurs, pirates, or Toy Story as his theme...he was going to get cake pops!

Since I've never made them before, I decided it would be a good idea and in everyone's best interest if I made them a few times before failing miserably and having a meltdown because of pure disappointment in myself for not being able to deliver acceptable goods when expected...been there, done that. *takes a huge breath* I'm getting all excited telling you about my first cake pop adventure and it's wearing me out! ;)

The picture I'm sharing with you includes a handful of my very first pops. These delicious things were made with love. We recently celebrated my sister's and niece's birthdays at daddio's with the family. Now, some of you may think that my beloved sister and niece were guinea pigs. The truth is that I love them both with all that I am and wanted to make them fabulous cake pops for their special day. I'm just that much more happy that they turned out okay. :)

The flavor combination wasn't my favorite. I used yellow cake with strawberry frosting, but it will be different every time, and I expect them to only get better. I can't take all the credit for these...hubby did an amazing job coating a few of them. It was funny and beneficial to have a few casualties (shh, we ate those). Everyone who loves to bake should try making these...it was super easy! Okay, coating the pops was somewhat challenging. It's a little tricky working with melted candy. If I could share a helpful tip with you, it would be to melt enough candy chips to cover 5 pops at a time (bowl about the size of a creme brulee dish but deeper). If your house is as cold as mine, the candy hardens quickly and makes it almost impossible to coat without losing the cake pop into the dipping dish if you melt too much candy at a time. A fabulous website for inspiration is bakerella.com.

One of my creative niece's gave me a great idea for flavor - vanilla cake with rootbeer! Thank you KN! I will be trying and sharing those with you sometime soon. ;) I'd love to hear what flavors you know compliment each other well, so please do share!