Halloween Cake Pops! Yum!

We were invited to a neighbor- hood Halloween party and since this is our first Halloween living here I thought I better bring something to impress! I knew just the perfect dessert when I volunteered to make something sweet - Halloween Cake Pops!

Inspired by cake pop master Bakerella and my friend Linsey who made an entire barnyard of super cute farm animal cake pops for her son's birthday I decided to make my second batch of cake pops.

My first attempt was bride cake pops for my sister's bridal shower- they were A LOT of work because of all the detailing. Each had a 5- pearl necklaces and 3-flower bouquet all of which I had to 'glue' on individually. This time I figured I'd make pumpkins (not jack o' lanterns with faces) with nothing but some sprinkles and a tic tac stem.  The candy corn cake pops were a bit more labor intensive because I had to triple-dip them to get the three colors.

Cake pops are a relatively new phenomenon and they're quickly gaining popularity thanks to Bakerella and her awesome cake pop blog and cookbook. She's got tons of ideas and has inspired me for sure - of course mine never look nearly as good as hers. Anyway, here's basically what you do:

• Bake a box cake according to the package directions
• Let it cool completely 
• Crumble the cake (I put it in the food processor)
• Mix it with 3/4 container of icing
• Put the mixture in the fridge to harden up slightly
• Form into 1" balls (one cake mix makes about 40 cake balls)
• If you want to shape the balls into something else such as the candy corns or pumpkins do this now, but always make balls first
• Line the cake balls on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for at least 2 hours
• In a deep microwavable dish, melt chocolate melting wafers according to the package directions (if it's not thin enough add a little crisco)
• Remove and work with just a few of the cake balls at a time so they're not out of the freezer too long - they soften up quickly
• Dip the lollipop stick about 1" into the melted coating
• Insert the dipped part of the stick into the bottom of the cake ball (or top - ie brides)
• Dip the entire cake ball into the coating, tapping the sides to remove the excess coating
• Stand the cake pops up in a pre-punched/drilled piece of styrofoam to dry 
• NOTE: If you want to add sprinkles (like I did on the pumpkins) do this quickly before the coating dries. For other decorations add them later using a little of the coating as 'glue'