Sweet to Eat Valentine Heart Cake Pops

This is our third Valentine treat and it's sweet in more ways than one! Cute and fun and delicious! Here we go!

Recipe

1 box of your favorite two-layer white cake mix
Eggs and water according to instructions
Applesauce, the same amount as the recipe calls for in oil + 2 tablespoons
12 oz. good quality white chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
Pink food coloring
A few drops of vegetable oil

Combine cake mix ingredients, starting with eggs. Yes, I’m using a mix. It just works better for cake pops. One of the most critical things about cake pops is making them stay together and scratch cakes are just more delicate and they, well, they just fall apart. 

Break the eggs into a bowl and combine them with a whisk. The reason we whip the eggs together first is because the white and the yolk are two different substances. The yolks are oil based and the whites are  water based, so getting them mixed well is kind of like mixing a salad dressing. It takes a little extra time, but it’s worth it. 

After the eggs are whipped, add the applesauce, water, and the mix itself and whisk together. You don’t need an electric mixer for this. Just make sure all the flour bits are mixed in well. Now bake it. The video only shows one layer, but don’t let it confuse you. I have a super big pan, so nothing overflows.You can bake the cake in two layers just like the instructions, if you want. It won’t change a thing. When it’s done, cover the layers with foil so that they don’t dry out while they’re cooling. You want them moist so all the little crumbs you’re going to make will stick together.

This is the fun part. Cut the cake into chunks while it’s still in the pan, then lift them out and crumble them into a bowl. The crumbs should be small because you’re going to have to press them together. In fact, that’s the next step. After you’ve turned the whole cake into crumbs (if somebody is helping you, they’ll love this part), it’s time to turn it into a dough by pressing it together. If it’s still crumbly, add a little water. You want to be able to almost knead it. But don’t. 

What you should do is pack it into a tablespoon measure twice, so you have two good tablespoons of dough, then roll that dough into a ball. Now, shape any kind of heart you want. You see mine on the video: I don’t make a lot of points. The bottom is rounded and I make a kind of deep crease down the middle so the chocolate coating doesn’t fill it in. 

Now melt your chocolate chips. Did you know that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate at all? The only part of the cocoa plant that it has is some cocoa butter. The rest is milk, flavoring, and sugar. What that means to us, though, is that white chocolate is even more temperamental than the brown stuff. Go figure.

So be sure to get out your double boiler or a good heatproof bowl that will fit over a pot of simmering water and put the entire 12 oz in. Stir gently until it melts completely. Treat it gently and it will behave. Dip your cake pops into the melted chocolate with a fork. (Don’t poke them--cradle them!) Shake off the extra, and lay your pops gently onto parchment paper to dry. After they do, give them another dunk and let them almost dry again. 

Now, you should have some melted chocolate left and you’ll want to turn it pink, so you get out your food coloring. STOP!!!  Remember the egg thing and how oil based and water based stuff doesn’t mix? Well it won’t here either. In fact, if you add water to melted chocolate, which is, like, VERY oil based, it seizes up. It will almost immediately turn into ugly glops and you’ll have to throw it out. So squeeze your food coloring into another bowl, add a few drops of vegetable oil, and stir well. Now it’s ready to add to the chocolate. Whew!

Load the pink chocolate into a small pastry bag without a tip, cut the tiniest snip off the end, and give the wide top end a good twist. You don’t want to lose the chocolate out of the back. Now you can play if you want. Just run it back and forth for thin lines like I do, or draw hearts, or even somebody’s name. You get to be you.

​And, guess what? They’re done! Share them with the ones you love and bask in the compliments!