Cake Pop Tips - How To Make Cake Pops, Brownie Pops and Cake Balls!

Learn how to make cake pops with these great cake pop tips. With all of the colors and flavors possible, we love making these for parties and events! This post contains affiliate links.

Cake pops tips and tricks

Making cake pops? Maybe cake balls or brownie pops? If so, there are a bunch of different ways you can make the process go a little smoother. Cake pops have become all the rage lately, I love them! Check out our basic cake pops recipe, a few good cake pop tips, and some cool cake ball ideas below.

How To Make Cake Pops, Brownie Pops, and Cake Balls

Here is a (very) general cake pop recipe:

Ingredients:
– Cake (boxed or baked from scratch, your call)
– Frosting
– Melting chocolate (Wilton makes the best candy melts!)
– Standard white lollipop sticks
– Sprinkles (optional)

Homemade cake balls tutorial

You can make your own cake pops with cake mix and frosting, a cake pop baking pan is not needed (but it is helpful). Bake the cake and let it cool. Break it up into a bowl and add frosting. This is what makes the cake balls stick together.

Pop the sticks into the bottom of the cake balls, coat with melted candy or chocolate, decorate, and refrigerate. Sounds easy right? Not so much! The balls tend to fall apart. The sticks fall out of place. The chocolate gets too hard to dip. This is why you might need these…

Popular cake pop maker, Bakerella, shares a bunch of ideas on how to make cake pops in her book, Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats. Pick up a hardcover copy at 40% off today, check it out!

Some helpful cake pop tips:

After trying out a few batches of my own (I sucked up until batch #3), I can offer the following tips for making cake pops that saved them! If you find yourself saying, “Why do my cake pops fall apart?” or “I need cake pop tips and tricks!“, try out some of these ideas…

After you roll your cake balls, refrigerate them to let them set. This is good to do BEFORE dipping in chocolate, the cool cake balls will allow the chocolate to stick better and cool faster.
Are you making brownie pops? If so, choose a fudgy mix and let them cool overnight. They should not need any frosting, my brownie balls stuck together just fine.
Dip the tip of your stick in the chocolate before pushing it into the cake ball. This will allow it to stick in there a little better.
Don’t roll your cake pops too big, if you do they will be too heavy and fall off of the stick. Alternatively, try making cake balls, this Oreo balls recipe without cream cheese is a good start.
Cake ball dipping tips – If you are making cake balls (cake pops without the stick), dip them with a toothpick instead of the big stick. Sit them on a wax-lined tray and refrigerate them immediately.
If your cake pops crack a little bit, drizzle in a little melted chocolate to hold it together.
Do not use white chocolate chips, they do not work well at all! Use candy melts instead, this is one of the really important cake pop tips!
Shake on your sprinkles or other decorations before the chocolate cools, they’ll stick on better that way.
You can make a simple cake pop holder using styrofoam. Take a plain piece and stick the cake pops into it while they dry, or decorate it with wrapping paper and use it as a stand for them. Here is a cake pop holder you can buy.
Do not overheat the chocolate. Whether you are melting it in the microwave or in a double broiler, it will thicken and you won’t be able to dip your cake pops. Add a little butter or shortening to smooth out the chocolate. Also, keep it away from water or it gets grainy and un-dippable.
Drizzle on melted chocolate in different colors to make a cute design. Candy melts work great for this (craft stores carry them), they come in a bunch of different colors. Too cute!

Blue velvet cake pops – Sugar, Spice, and Family Life

Sunshine cake pops – Mom Endeavors

Lolli Cake Pops – Edible Crafts

Conversation Heart Cake Pops for Valentine’s Day

Noah’s Ark Animal Cake Pops

Baby ‘It’s A Girl’ Cake Pops

Christmas Cake Pops – Trees, Snowman, Santa Hats, Gifts

Easter Egg Cake Pops

Halloween Pumpkin, Mummy, Ghost, Monster Cake Pops

Character Cake Pops – Sesame Street, Angry Birds, Winnie The Pooh, Minnie Mouse, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Muppets

We hope you can use these tips for making cake balls!

Here’s a complete recipe for cake pops and cake balls with step-by-step instructions and photos, it’s very well done. Do you have any other cake pop ideas? Share them with us all in the comments! You can make perfect cake balls with this cake ball molded pan, the cake pop maker that simplifies the whole process! No mess, use any cake mix, and they are ready to dip and eat.

Love cake pops? Check these out and learn how to make marshmallow pops. They are a great twist on traditional cake pops and super easy to make!