Hello
So, I decided that I am going to try my hand at making cake pops last night and unfortunately they didn't turn off as well as I expected.
I rolled the cake into balls, froze them a bit to harden and then inserted the lollipop stick with a little candy coating on the end (melted of course) and then stuck them again in the freezer to harden.
Everything was going well until it was time to coat the cake balls with the melted candy coating. The result was not as smooth as I anticipated. The melted candy coating was still a bit thick and then I added some shortening to the mix hoping to get a smoother result. The result was not as thick as before but I still found that when I dipped the cake ball into the melted mixture, the coating still look a tad lumpy and I didn't get the smooth shell that I was looking for.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get the smooth-shell look? Should I have added even more shortening to the candy melts? If so, is there a particular ratio of candy melts to shortening that I should use?
Also, what in your experience has been the best way to "harden" the shell? In the fridge, in the freezer or on the countertop? I stuck mine in the freezer for maybe 5 minutes and still got some condensation on the pop.
Other than that, they were delicious :)
Hope that someone can help.
Stacey
I had that problem too, I'd add more shortening. You can always double dip them if necessary. Another thing you could do is to re-roll them a bit after you freeze them the first time. You should be able to smooth them out a bit then so when you dip them they will be perfectly round. I let mine sit out on the counter to harden, they might take a little bit longer but they won't get the condensation you were talking about. The chocolate might crack too if the pops are still totally frozen.
AWilton makes a special little thing called the melting pot it's to keep there chocolate wafers melted while you are dipping your cakepops I'm not sure if you have to use shortening at all if you use the melting the chocolate. There are hundreds of videos on tube on how to make cakepops. I leave mine out on the counter in starfoam to hardened
Sounds like your first try turned out way better than mine lol. I've finally gotten the procedure down to make them consistently smooth and cute. It sounds like you do need more shortening (I used between 1 and 2 tablespoons shortening per pound of candy melts/candy bark). It really does depend on the weather and brand of candy melts/bark as well though. If your candy melts are clumping up, it may also be that you're overheating them. So be sure to heat them only 30 seconds at a time and stir them between each blast.
One thing I want to warn you about after reading your process is to make sure not to over-chill the pops before dipping. Doesn't sound like it was a big problem this time, but if the balls are too cold before dipping, they will later expand as they warm up and cause huge cracks in the coating. This wouldn't be that bad on its own, but due to the compression on the cake, yellowish oil (due to the fat content of the cake ball filling) will seep out anywhere there are cracks in the coating.
In terms of hardening the shell, it will usually set even at room temperature given enough time. I used to hold the pop by its stick until I could see at least part of the coating turning less shiny (a sign that it was setting), then set it down on my non-stick mat. Now I've found it much faster to stick these stick-down into a styrofoam block to dry while I move on to dip more pops. It's really made the dipping part of pop-making FLY by. Hope that helps!
Sounds like your first try turned out way better than mine lol. I've finally gotten the procedure down to make them consistently smooth and cute. It sounds like you do need more shortening (I used between 1 and 2 tablespoons shortening per pound of candy melts/candy bark). It really does depend on the weather and brand of candy melts/bark as well though. If your candy melts are clumping up, it may also be that you're overheating them. So be sure to heat them only 30 seconds at a time and stir them between each blast.
One thing I want to warn you about after reading your process is to make sure not to over-chill the pops before dipping. Doesn't sound like it was a big problem this time, but if the balls are too cold before dipping, they will later expand as they warm up and cause huge cracks in the coating. This wouldn't be that bad on its own, but due to the compression on the cake, yellowish oil (due to the fat content of the cake ball filling) will seep out anywhere there are cracks in the coating.
In terms of hardening the shell, it will usually set even at room temperature given enough time. I used to hold the pop by its stick until I could see at least part of the coating turning less shiny (a sign that it was setting), then set it down on my non-stick mat. Now I've found it much faster to stick these stick-down into a styrofoam block to dry while I move on to dip more pops. It's really made the dipping part of pop-making FLY by. Hope that helps!
It's not my thread, but thanks @sixbittersweets for explaining why did my cakepops from last month were dripping this gooey oil from everywhere. I never thought it was because of over-chilling. I looked it up on the internet and even Bakerella wouldn't provide me answers about this. I so love you right now.
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