Yummy Mummy Halloween Cake Pops

 This is the scary story of when Cake Pops bite back...

The thing about making cake pops is that its pretty simple, but not necessarily always easy.  I've made cake pops before: quick, fun, no sweat. But this Halloween batch was different. With a small window of time to create 150 Cake pops, this is the sad cry-for-help-email exchange I had with friend Binky of Cakeb0t a few nights ago:
Me: "Hey, you...eech...I need help...I don't know why, but I cannot get my cake pops to work this time...I need to call on a professional! Why aren't my candy melts melting properly?"
Binky: "Ugh, candy melts! I know. What do they look like? I heat them in a plastic container. Take about half a bag and nuke for 30 seconds. Mix a bit and then 30 second intervals on half power until they start getting liquid. If they get too hot, they will seize, so I use the other half to seed the melts! Also depending on the color or brand, they just sometimes don't get very liquid, so I add shortening about a tablespoon at a time. If it seizes and looks grainy, then they are probably not fit to be saved! Sometimes they curdle if your melts are much warmer than the cake pop, so try for not very cold on the pops, not very hot for the melts! Ps I love my cake pop machine."
In the end,a plastic container, a drop of shortening and better temperature control did the trick! I also came across a video featuring Karen Tack of Hello Cupcake fame which was a super helpful little refresher course: How to Make Cake Pops
 

we used white chocolate pistoles instead of candy melts-- they tasted better and had a nice shine

just the right consistency of melted chocolate

dip the cake ball...

...straight down into the chocolate, and hold it there for a few seconds

pull the cake ball straight up and out of the chocolate

use your finger to apply more chocolate

swirl the additional chocolate around the pop by spinning the lollypop stick

continue to add chocolate

and continue to make swirls

this is Mariel, doing a wonderful job

the faces are painted on with gel food color mixes with a little bit of vodka

the gel color sets up well and doesn't smear (but will make little lips a ghoulish shade of black, until wiped away)

we made 2 different presentation boxes for the little Yummies:

this box is a 18"X12"X2" sheet of styrofoam covered in plastic wrap and then wrapped in decorative wrapping paper

for this box we glued 3" wrapping paper covered foam core walls around a 2" sheet of styrofoam covered in plastic wrap and then filled the top of the box with M&M's and Jellybellys (It took a surprising amount of candy to fill it up!--four 7.5 oz bags of jelly beans and three 7oz bags of M&M's)

Spooky.

Happy Halloween, ever more!