How to Make Cake Pops like Starbucks

Love your Starbucks? Then you have probably seen their line of sweet petites, consisting of mini baked treats. One of these dainty delicacies is a line of cake pops, which are balls of cake on a stick dipped in a candy shell. If you cannot get to the renowned coffee house or are trying to cut back in an effort to save some cash, you can still enjoy cake pops like those Starbucks offers by making them yourself.

You only need some basic ingredients in order to make any variety of cake pops, including cake, frosting, candy coating and lollipop sticks. The steps for preparing them are essentially the same, no matter what flavor combination you create. Learn the basic cake pop instructions, followed by tips on creating cake pops like those offered at Starbucks.

Start with a sheet cake prepared from a mix or from your own favorite recipe. When the cake is completely cool, break it into small pieces and toss it into your food process to make crumbs of it. If you do not have a food processor, break the cake up by hand into a large bowl. Make the pieces as small as you can.

Once the cake is crumbled, add about 1/2 cup of homemade frosting or about half of a standard size can of prepared frosting. Mix the cake and frosting by hand, as you would meatloaf. When the mixture is well combined, use it to make small balls of the "dough," similar to meatballs. Place them on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.

Melt a small amount of candy melts, almond bark or flavored chips, such as chocolate or peanut butter. Dip each lollipop stick into the melted coating so that about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of the end of the stick is coated. Insert a stick into each cake ball. This will help secure the stick to the ball, making it easier to coat them later.

Place the pops in the freezer for about 15 minutes, allowing the coating to harden and the cake balls to become firm. Melt more of the candy coating and dip each cake pop into it, twisting and moving the pop so that the melted candy coats as much of the cake as possible.

If desired, embellish the cake pops with nuts, sprinkles or other decorations. For professional looking cake pops, stand the sticks in a sheet of Styrofoam so that the cake balls retain their round shape. Otherwise, you can set them back onto the waxed paper. Allow the coating to become firm and enjoy.

Starbucks offers three flavors of cake pops: birthday cake, rocky road and tiramisu. You can replicate the flavors and appearances of these cake pops at home using the right flavor and topping combinations with the basic cake pops instructions.

To make birthday cake flavored cake pops, bake a French vanilla cake from a mix or your favorite recipe. If you cannot find French vanilla cake mix, make a yellow cake instead but replace four teaspoons of the liquid called for with four teaspoons of vanilla extract. Mix the cake with vanilla frosting. Dip the cake balls into melted pink candy melts and shake on white sprinkles.

To make rocky road flavored cake pops, mix devil's food cake with chocolate frosting. Dip the cake balls into melted chocolate flavored candy coating, commonly referred to as almond bark. Roll each cake pop into chopped almonds and miniature marshmallows.

To make tiramisu cake pops like those at Starbucks, make a white cake but replace 1/4 cup of the liquid called for with strong coffee and add a teaspoon of instant coffee granules. Combine equal parts vanilla and chocolate candy coating and add a few drops of coffee flavored liqueur to the melted mixture. After dipping the cake pops into the coating, top each one with a chocolate covered coffee bean.

Don't stop with these flavor combinations, though. Look at flavored cake mixes, frosting varieties and candy coating colors to come up with more cake pop creations that you will enjoy crafting and feel proud about serving.