Every season has its signature flavors. When summertime comes, one of my favorites is citrus. Lemonade, orange creamsicles and, of course, key lime pie. So, when I received a package in the mail with Chocoley Dipping & Coating Chocolate along with LorAnn Oils Key Lime Flavoring, I knew immediately what I wanted to make… Key Lime Cake Pops!
Cake for Key Lime Cake Pops
Ingredients
1 15.25 Ounce Box of Key Lime Cake Mix
3 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Half & Half
1/4 Teaspoon LorAnn Oils Key Lime Flavoring
1/4 Teaspoon LorAnn Oils Buttery Sweet Dough Flavoring
10 Drops Americolor Leaf Green Gel Food Coloring
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together all of the ingredients to create a thick batter. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan for 26 to 30 minutes at 350. Remove cake from oven and set the pan on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Then, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely.
Key Lime Buttercream for Cake Pops
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Salted Butter, Room Temperature
1/4 Cup Shortening
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon Water
2 Teaspoons Lime Juice
1/4 Teaspoon LorAnn Oils Key Lime Flavoring
2 Drops Americolor Leaf Green Gel Food Coloring
Directions
Beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 30 seconds). Add the shortening and beat for another minute on a medium setting. In a separate bowl, whisk the powdered sugar by hand to remove any lumps. Add the sugar to the butter mixture half a cup at a time and beat on a slow setting, increasing the speed until the mixture is creamy. Mix in the water, juice, flavoring, and food coloring. Set aside the Key Lime Buttercream.
How to Make Cake Balls
Now comes the fun part! Get ready to destroy your pretty bright green key lime cake.
Trim off any of your cake’s hard edges. Break your cake into halves or quarters and place them in the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to mix the cake until the cake is broken up into fine crumbs. (If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use your hands to break apart your cake and incorporate the frosting.)
A big thank you to Karyn of Pint Sized Baker for introducing me to this method for making cake pop dough! It’s easier than mixing by hand and there’s less clean up than using a food processor.
Add 1/3 cup of Key Lime Buttercream to the crumbs and mix until well combined. Scoop the mixture in your hands and knead it together to create a cake pop “dough” that is the consistency of clay. If needed, add up to another 1/4 cup of frosting.
Once you have created your “dough”, you can begin rolling your cake balls. I used a stainless steel coffee scoop to make sure my cake pops were all the same size. Roll the mixture in the palm of your hands to create round cake balls.
Set your cake balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet or plate and put them in the freezer or refrigerator. If you have time, keep the cake balls in the fridge for a few hours until chilled. If this just doesn’t fit into your busy schedule, about 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer will do the trick. But, keep in mind that making cake pops is a temperature sensitive process. Putting cake balls in the freezer may make them too cold for dipping, so you will need to let them sit for a few minutes after removing them.
How To Turn Your Cake Balls Into Cake Pops
Ingredients & Supplies
1 lb. Chocoley Bada Bing Bada Boom Dipping and Coating Formula, White
1/4 Teaspoon LorAnn Oils Key Lime Flavoring
Mermaid Mix Paper Straws or Lollipop Sticks
Cake Pop Stand or Styrofoam Block
Americolor Oil Candy Colors, Green and Violet
Start by melting half of your Chocoley coating (1/2 lb.) in either a chocolate melting pot or in the microwave on low power for 30-seconds at a time. Stop and stir after each 30-second interval then repeat until the coating is completely melted. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon of flavoring and several squirts of green coloring. Repeat this process using your purple coloring.
Helpful Hint: All cake pop coatings are not created equal. Although pre-colored candy wafers from the craft store may seem like the easiest option, they will not create a smooth cake pop coating without the addition of shortening and they don’t taste great. Chocoley specializes in making high quality chocolate ingredients and candy making supplies. Their coating melts to a perfectly smooth consistency that you will not need to alter in any way for dipping. Bonus: It tastes amazing!
Dip the end of a paper straw into the melted coating and then into a cake ball, gently pushing until the straw is about half way through the cake ball. Set your cake pops in your cake pop stand in the fridge to chill for dipping.
Helpful Hint: Cake Pop Stand Co. makes cake pop stands with holes sized for either lollipop sticks or paper straws. If your cake pop stand has holes fitted for lollipop sticks, you can still use paper straws. Simply put lollipop sticks in all the holes of the cake pop stand. Then, slide your cake pops on paper straws over the lollipop sticks.
Dip each chilled cake pop straight down into the melted coating until the cake ball is completely covered and sealed. Remove the cake pop from the melted coating by pulling it straight up. Then, turn the cake pop at an angle and gently tap off any excess coating. If you run into trouble with cake balls that just won’t stay on the sticks, check out 5 Tricks to Stop Cake Pops from Falling Off Sticks.
Helpful Hint: A tall narrow bowl works best for dipping cake pops. Keeping the coating warm throughout the entire dipping process is key to having a smooth coating on your cake pops. To avoid having to repeatedly reheat your coating, a chocolate melting pot is a great tool.
Set your cake pops in your cake pop stand until the coating has hardened. Or while the coating is still wet use sprinkles, candies, or fondant flowers to decorate your cake pops.
All opinions contained in this blog post are my own. Chocoley supplied free products to use in the above recipes but no monetary compensation was provided for my review of those products.
Wow these look great! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays 😀 Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.
Shanice recently posted..Wonderful Email – Parenting.com
Thanks for the invite, Shanice! And thanks for stopping by to check out my key lime cake pops!
SOOOO cute! You did a fab job!
Alexis AKA MOM recently posted..Cakes for Charity … Princess Castle Cake
Thanks, Alexis!
I love that chocolate!
It’s so yummy, Sheryl! So glad I got the chance to try it!
Adorable cake pops! Minus the purple, I would use these for a St. Patrick’s Day treat!
Jamie @ At Home Baristas recently posted..What’s The Best Espresso Grinder?
Thanks, Jamie!
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Love the key lime pops. I was also wondering how you the the Chocoley brand choc. I use Merckens and I like that. Can you compare?
Thanks,
Linda
Linda, I haven’t used Merckens but the Chocoley was a dream to work with! It was perfectly smooth for dipping and absolutely delicious!