Santa Christmas Cake Pops | Step-by-Step Tutorial

I’m not sure if it’s the pink button nose or the rosy cheeks, all I know is I can’t help but “aawwww…” out loud when I see these adorable Santa Christmas cake pops. They are sure to be the cutest Christmas treat on the table at any holiday party!

Supplies for Santa Christmas Cake Pops

To make Santa cake pops you will need:

• White cake balls

• Lollipop sticks

• Red, white, and peach candy melts (or white candy melts and candy coloring)
• Marshmallow bits
• Red disco dust (optional)***
• White sparkling sugar
• White tiny sugar pearls
• Pink sugar pearls
• Pink luster dust (optional)
• Black confetti sprinkles
• Toothpicks
• Tweezers (clean and used for food only)
• Small paint brush (clean and used for food only)
• Cake pop stand

How To Make Cake Balls

Start by making your cake balls and chilling them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to start dipping your Santa cake pops.

For step-by-step directions for making and dipping cake pops like a pro, see How To Make Cake Pops | A Step-By-Step Tutorial.

How to Make Santa Christmas Cake Pops: The Face

Start by microwaving your peach candy melts in a bowl 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. Do not overheat the candy melts or your coating will become lumpy. If the coating is too thick, add a small amount of vegetable oil to thin it out.

Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted coating and then into a cake ball, gently pushing until the stick is about half way through the cake ball. Complete this step for all cake balls then set them in the fridge until they are chilled.

Helpful Hint: Work with just a handful of cake balls at a time. Rotating them in and out of the fridge ensures that you are always working with perfectly chilled cake balls. This is where it comes in handy to have a few petite cake pop stands to rotate around!

For the next step, you will need to have pink sugar pearls and black confetti sprinklesready to apply with tweezers.

If your peach coating has cooled or thickened, repeat the microwave heating process.

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.

Dip each cake pop straight down into the peach coating until the cake ball is completely covered and sealed. If you need to angle the cake pop, gently tilt it in one direction and then another. 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. Turn the cake pop upright. If you have trouble with cake pops falling off of the sticks, check out 5 Tricks to Stop Cake Pops from Falling Off Sticks.

Before the coating hardens, use tweezers to place two black confetti sprinkles about half way down the cake pop for Santa’s eyes. Then, set a pink sugar pearl another quarter of the way down for the nose. Stand your Santa cake pops upright in a cake pop stand to dry.

Once the coating has completely hardened, you can give your Santas rosy cheeks at any time by brushing on a small amount of pink luster dust.

How to Make Santa Christmas Cake Pops: The Hat

To make the hat on your Santa cake pops, be ready with marshmallow bits, red disco dust, and white sparkling sugar.

Melt the red candy melts. Turn each cake pop upside down and dip it into the coating to cover half  the distance between the top of the pop and Santa’s eyes.  If you would like your Santa cake pops to have sparkly hats (more sparkle = more cuteness!), gently sprinkle red disco dust on the wet coating. Place one marshmallow bit on top of the cake pop to make the ball on Santa’s hat. Let the red coating harden then wipe off any excess disco dust with a clean, dry paint brush.

***UPDATE: Please note that since this blog post was written, I have discovered that there is some debate over the use of disco dust on food products. It is marketed for cake decorating, but it is not FDA approved and is labeled only as “non-toxic”. My understanding is that it is not digested by the body and will pass through harmlessly in small amounts.  For an edible alternative to disco dust, try Wilton Cake Sparkles or Sugarpaste Crystal Colors.***

Melt the white candy melts. Use a toothpick to spread the coating around the rim of Santa’s hat. Sprinkle white sparkling sugar onto the coating while it is still wet. Then, set the cake pops aside until all the coating has hardened.

How to Make Santa Christmas Cake Pops: The Beard

For the next step, you will need to have white tiny sugar pearls ready to apply. If your white coating has cooled or thickened, repeat the microwave heating process.

Use a toothpick to spread white coating around the sides and under the nose to make Santa’s beard. Sprinkle white sugar pearls onto the wet coating and set the Santa cake pops aside until completely dry.