Lemon Cake Pop Bouquet

I am so excited by how cute these turned out!  I made a cake pop bouquet to donate to my Mom's Club for a raffle, and I wanted to try a different flavor so I went with lemon.  I had my doubts since I'm still not 100% on board with the cake mixed with frosting thing, but these were awesome.  Super lemony and tasty, I think I might like these better than the chocolate ones from my son's birthday.  I used a boxed cake mix but I would definitely do my own with real lemon juice next time.

The filigree type design was rather time consuming, but once I did a few I got the hang of it.  Whatever you do, don't have a cup of coffee beforehand.  You need some seriously steady hands.  I used a squeeze bottle and candy melts for the piping, it worked great!  I'll try squeeze bottles for cookie decorating next time, it was easy and considerably less messy than decorating bags.  I hope whomever won these enjoys them!

 

Cake Pops

from Bakerella 

1 box lemon cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz)
Candy melts, for a full batch you will probably need about two of the Wilton-sized bags

Lollipop sticks (you can find these at Michael's, if you're making a bouquet you'll want the medium Length sticks)

Block of florist foam 

Small flower pot

Paper grass

1. Bake the cake according to instructions.
2. When the cake has cooled completely, crumble it into pieces with your hands, the crumbs should be pea-sized or smaller.  Mix the frosting and cake together in a large bowl until the cake is moist.  Start with about 1 cup of frosting and try rolling it into a ball about the size of a quarter.  If the ball falls apart add 1/4 cup more frosting and try again.  I ended up using about 3/4 of the can of frosting
3. Form the cake and frosting mixture into balls with the hands and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
4. Melt a small amount of candy melts in a double boiler or in the microwave and dip each stick about 1/2-inch into the melted chocolate, then stick about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through the cake ball.  If it starts to crumble just reshape.
5. Place the finished balls onto a sheet of parchment paper and put in the freezer for about 30 minutes or longer.
6. Melt chocolate in a double boiler in the microwave.
7. Remove the cake pops one at a time from the refrigerator and dip them into the melted candy.  If you use a deeper bowl it will make it easier to fully coat the cake pop.  Rotate and tap the stick at an angle to let the candy drip off to thoroughly coat. 
8. Put the stick in the florist foam block to let them dry completely.
9. Once they are dry, melt the candy melt color you are planning to decorate with.  Pour into a squeeze bottle or a decorating bag with the smallest plain tip attached.  Pipe designs and let dry.
10. Place a square of florist foam in the bottom of the flower pot and cover with paper grass.  Then put in as many cake pops as you like.
11. To package it I put a plastic treat wrapper (from Michael's) around each cake pop and tied it with a pink ribbon.

Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday 
Sweet Indulgence Sunday 
Sweets This Week 
A Baker's Themed Sunday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday