What better way to celebrate everlasting love than with festive Valentine's Day cake pops? These round and heart-shaped cake pops are made with an easy-to-prepare box cake in Valentine’s Day red. They are coated in white chocolate with different kinds of fancy sprinkles and ready to be consumed with love and affection.
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Why should you make cake pops for Valentine’s Day?
Cake pops are a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, since they can easily be prepared with a box cake mix, combined with store-bought frosting, and shaped into balls (or hearts).
Shortcuts for the cake and frosting come in handy since you might find yourself taking time to shape the pops, coat them in white chocolate, and decorate them for Valentine’s Day.
They are fun for both kids and adults and can even be wrapped up and given as presents to your loved ones. Cake pops make a wonderful addition to the most fun Valentine’s Day ideas out there.
Valentine's Day Cake Pops
Tools
- Square or Round Cake Tin
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Food Processor (or your hands!)
- Cake Pop Sticks
🥘Ingredients
- red velvet cake box mix
- water
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- store-bought white frosting
Cake Pop Coating
- white chocolate
- Crisco or Vegetable oil
- fancy sprinkles
🔪How to Make Valentine's Day Cake Pops
For The Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease baking pan.
- Combine cake mix with additional ingredients.
- Bake and let cool completely.
To Form/Decorate
- Break up the cake until in crumbs.
- Add frosting to cake mix.
- Form each ball or heart shape, attach to cake pop sticks, and let set.
- Melt the white chocolate with oil or Crisco and add food coloring, if using.
- Coat cake pops in white chocolate and add additional decor. Let set completely.
💭Tips and Tricks
- If you are forming heart-shaped cake pops for Valentine’s Day yourself, make sure to work carefully with each heart. Roll the ball into a teardrop. You can press your finger down the center of the top to guide the heart shape. Use a cake pop stick to get that groove deeper and more precise. You should also use your hands to round the edges of the heart and soften any crumbly points.
- If you are using red velvet cake mix as this cake pop recipe does, it’s a good idea to contrast the color. In case of chocolate cake, choosing only lighter colors will look great. if using white cake, choosing red or chocolate as the coating will do the same.
- Coincidentally if you have a piece of styrofoam lying around, you can stick the finished cake pops into it so they can dry. Otherwise, use a lightly greased piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
If you are looking for more amazing Valentine's Day recipes check out this lovely Red Ombre Cake and these delicious Red Velvet Heart Cake Cookies.
FAQ
What can I use instead of candy melts for cake pops?
This Valentine's Day cake pops recipe uses white chocolate for the coating. Either white chocolate or candy melts will work for the coating.
Just make sure to add an additional tablespoon of vegetable oil or Crisco for each bar used, so the coating will have a sheen and be a good consistency for dipping the cake pops into.
Do I have to refrigerate cake pops before dipping?
Yes - it is extremely important to refrigerate (freezing is even better) your cake pops before dipping them into the coating. A minimum of 30 minutes in the freezer will help the coating go on smooth and keep the pops from slipping.
Keep in mind you were handling the heart pops with your warm hands while you shaped them, which softened the cake mix considerably.
How do you get the stick to stay in cake pops?
A good trick to get the cake pop stick to stay in the cake pops is by dipping each cake pop stick into the frosting or melted chocolate a bit and then sticking them into the cake shape.
Once the pops have had time to set in the freezer, the frosting on the cake pop stick will also harden and keep the cake pop stick in place.
How do you get the smooth finish on cake pops?
To get the smooth finish on cake pops, you should make sure that your white chocolate or candy melts are completely melted and stirred thoroughly. This prevents lumps in the coating. You can use a small scooper to form a smooth ball or be extra vigilant if hand-rolling each shape.
When dipping the cake pops into the coating, spoon the coating over the entire pop. Twisting the cake pop in the coating sometimes forces the stick to come loose. Make sure the bowl of coating is deep enough as well.
How do you store these cake pops?
Cake pops can be stored in the freezer when vacuum-sealed for freshness. If you don’t have vacuum sealing, you can wrap the pops in plastic wrap and aluminum foil or wrap them in plastic wrap before sealing them in a freezer bag for up to a month or more.
Valentine’s Day Cake Pops Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box red velvet cake mix or any cake type
- 1 cup water
- 3 large eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 container white frosting
Cake Pop Coating
- 2-3 four-ounce bars of white chocolate this recipe uses two bars
- 1 TBSP Crisco or vegetable oil per chocolate bar
- Multicolored fancy sprinkles / chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
For The Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the cake mix with eggs, water, and oil until fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into baking pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes under a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a wire rack until turning out from the pan.
To Form/Decorate
- In a food processor or with your hands, process/crumble the cake until it is in crumbs.
- Add a few spoonfuls of frosting and mix together by hand. It may take 2-3 spoons, or a little more or less, depending on the type of cake you are using.
- With your hands, form each ball if making traditional cake pops. If making hearts, roll the ball in between two hands until it forms a teardrop. Press one of the cake pop sticks into the middle of the top of the ball. With your hands, separate and form the two rounds on top of the heart and try to bring the bottom of the heart shape to a point.
- Once finished with either shape, dip the cake pop sticks into a little frosting and stick them into the bottom of the pops. Freeze on parchment paper with a little cooking spray on the surface.
- Once the cake pops are firm (about 30 minutes minimum), melt the white chocolate and Crisco or oil for 30 seconds at a time, while stirring in between.
- Once the white chocolate is melted, separate it into two bowls and add 2-3 drops of red food coloring to one of the bowls until it is a desired pink color. You can add more red to a third bowl also if using red as a coating.
- One by one, dip each cake pop into white chocolate. Either dip completely or spoon additional white chocolate over the entire pop.
- Immediately add whatever sprinkles or additional decor you like. You can stick the cake pops back into the freezer or refrigerator until they are set.
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