Cake Pops and Cheesecake Pops!

Okay, so if you have not checked it out yet, you must go to the bakerella.com website! Bakerella has a lot of ways to make your baking cute! I'm honestly usually more about the taste, but presentation does matter.

Anyway, for the holidays this year, I wanted to make something that would be fun for my nieces and nephews to enjoy since I was preparing dessert for the family party. So, I turned to these awesome cake pops and cheesecake pops from her website, and did a little fun creative design of my own as well.

Here's the recipes, as well as a few pictures!

First, Chocolate Cake Pops

1 box chocolate cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) (you can use other flavors, but why in the world would I do that when chocolate is obviously the best?)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (I actually just made Ben make me some of his cream cheese frosting - much more delicious than store bought!)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but bakerella recommends hand rolling. Just make sure hands are thoroughly washed, okay!)

4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)

5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.

6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.) Or...... if you are making pops, get your lollipop sticks. Dip end in melted chocolate and then push into your chocolate ball. Let dry and firm up before dipping the rest. Decorate to your heart's content! Store finished pops in styrofoam board.

I made some santa hats (sorry no pics but they were really cool looking), christmas trees (I used decorating sprinkles and nerds for the ornaments; also did some with mint chips and some just green colored vanilla candy melts), and of course some butterscotch elves (hershey kiss and marshmallow hats, butterscotch ears, and some decorating sprinkles for the eyes and mouth)! My pictures didn't turn very well (bad focus on the camera), but you can still kinda get the picture....

Also, I did some ordinary pops, some dipped in white chocolate, some in milk chocolate, and some in mint. For extra flavor, I dipped them in andes mints, heath toffee, and crushed peppermint. All delicious, although my favorite combo was the chocolate cake ball dipped in white chocolate and covered with heath toffee!

Next.....Cheesecake Pops!

Well, basically find your favorite baked cheesecake recipe and make it! You want one that has some substance to it, not too light and airy, because you have to have some form to it when you make the cheesecake balls. I baked the one from bakerella's website (click here to get recipe), and it was good. I did have to bake it quite a bit longer than the recipe said - probably the altitude change did something to that. Next time, I think I'll try a recipe that is a great fav that my mom makes!

After cheesecake is cooked and cooled, freeze it for a little while so it will be really firm. Then scoop out with spoon, or melon baller to form the balls. I even mixed in a little bit of the graham cracker crust to give it more substance. Finally, roll the ball in crushed graham cracker so that it can retain its form better. (This can make it a little trickier when dipping, because the chocolate won't stick as well all of the time - but with a little care, no problem.)

Then freeze those suckers! You have to have these extremely frozen to work with them otherwise they will easily start falling apart when you dip them. I did a few of these on sticks, but then just chose to do the rest truffle style. They were a huge hit at the party, especially among the adults!

I dipped these in white chocolate, butterscotch, milk chocolate, and some other colored candy melts that were vanilla flavored. For toppings I used heath toffee, andes mints, peppermint, and coconut. They were all delicious!!!!!