How To Make Gluten Free Birthday Cake Pops

If you had asked me before last week whether I might be interested in making Gluten Free Cake Pops, I would’ve said absolutely, unequivocally not. I really didn’t give a hoot about Gluten Free Cake Pops even though they seem to be all the rage among a few of my gluten free blogging friends. But then, while browsing at a local craft store, I noticed an entire book (published by Wilton) devoted to cake pops. At this point, the little suckers popped onto my radar screen. The reason I called them little suckers is because they were annoying me and I really didn’t want them taking up residence in my brain. I mean, who wants to spend hours rolling cake balls and sticking sticks into them and dipping them into chocolate or maybe some sickeningly pink mixture? And sprinkling them with, you guessed it, sprinkles or some such thing. Not me.

But then, my world changed. I mean, I just couldn’t get them out of my head. First I read about Bakerella’s new Cake Pops book on Gluten Free Girl’s blog. And then I saw a tweet or two from Elana Amsterdam about her gluten free cake pops. The darn things were turning up everywhere.

From that point on, it didn’t take long for my curiosity to become piqued. I dropped by Elana’s blog to see her gluten free cake pops. I dropped by Bakearella’s blog and saw her cake pops (not gluten free). And then I watched Bakerella’s video and Steamy Kitchen’s video on making cake pops. It was at that point that I crossed over into the “must make these absolutely adorable must-have Gluten Free Cake Pops”. I know, call me fickle if you must. But I predict it’ll happen to you too.With my grandson’s first birthday only a few days away, I began to dream about these cake pops and I knew there was no turning back. Oh, I could’ve made my Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Icing or Gluten Free Goddess’ Frosted Banana Spice Cake or Gluten Free Girl’s version of Lorna’s Lemon-Raspberry Birthday Cake or Silvana Nardone’s Vanilla Birthday Cake with Strawberry Frosting. Yes, any of those recipes would’ve been spectacular. But the cake pops were calling my name.

And now, let me tell you, I have become a total devotee of these cute (yes, they’re irresistible) little cake pops (I am no longer calling them suckers), I want to own every book written about them (this one, for example). I want to make them for every occasion that calls for dessert and even for those that don’t. I want to learn how to work with fondant, something I never in a million years cared about. Fondant allows you to make really cool decorations on the little suckers, I mean balls, I mean pops.

And by the way, while they look perfect for kids, grownups like them too! The raspberry fruit spread that Elana suggested adding to the crumbs of the cake crosses them over, ever so subtly, into gourmet gluten free birthday cake pops.

Moving forward, I’ll make the cake from scratch. But for my first attempt, before committing body, mind, and soul to the craft of making Gluten Free Cake Pops,  I decided to go the easy route and use two Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes. With a little tweaking on my part, the finished cakes could be considered low-fat, more so than had I used the full amount of fat called for on the box directions which list 1/2 cup of butter as one of the ingredients to add to the packaged mix. But I don’t eat butter, and though I could’ve used Earth Balance, I decided instead to use canola oil, and only half the amount of fat called for. I poured the oil into a glass measuring cup, up to the 1/4 cup line. And then I spooned unsweetened applesauce into the oil in the cup, watching the oil/applesauce mixture rise to the 1/2 cup line. The finished cakes were delicious – you’d never know that I halved the oil and replaced it with applesauce!

Gluten Free Cake Pops
makes about 60 1″ cake balls

click here for printable recipe and notes

1 package Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 package Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
Polaner Raspberry Fruit Spread
Lollipop sticks
Chocolate Candy Wafers
sprinkles

1. Make two cakes per package directions (see paragraph above for low-fat directions). When they’re done, cool completely.
2. Break the two cakes into chunks, rub the pieces together over a bowl until they are reduced to crumbs.
3. Add 1/2 cup of fruit spread (fruit spread tip thanks to Elana Amsterdam – it can be found in the jelly/jam aisle of the market) and mix until thoroughly blended into the cake crumbs.
4. Pinch off a small amount and roll into a 1″ ball.  Place on a baking tray and stick in the frig overnight. The next morning, remove from the frig about 2 hours before you plan on dipping them into the chocolate.
5. Melt chocolate in the microwave for 30 second bursts on high.
6. Dip a lollipop stick about 1/4″ into the chocolate, let it drip off, then insert it about halfway through one of the cake balls.
7. Dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl
8. Quickly turn the cake pop over and hold it over the bowl containing the sprinkles. Spoon the sprinkles over the melted chocolate. Place the cake pop in a styrofoam block.

Tips:

• If you rub the baked cake chunks together to make crumbs, be sure you don’t leave any chunks. Alternatively, use a food processor.
• Some recipes call for using frosting to mix in with the cake crumbs. I’m a fan of the raspberry fruit spread. It’s quite decadent tasting – chocolate and raspberry is a winning combination! I bet you could use peanut butter or almond butter instead of frosting or fruit spread.
• After the balls are out of the frig for a couple of hours and you begin dipping them into the chocolate, you might find it necessary to put the undipped balls into the freezer for a few minutes to rechill them. It will no doubt meant opening and shutting the freezer often, but it will do the trick.
• The A.C. Moore craft store carries Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Flavored Candy Wafers that are perfect for these cake pops.
• Every microwave is different, so start melting the chocolate at 50% power, then increase until you find the speed that will melt the chocolate. If the chocolate appears to thick to coat the balls adequately, reheat it in the microwave with a smidge of vegetable oil.
• The deeper your dipping bowl, the more cake pop surface you’ll be able to cover with chocolate.
• To release excess chocolate from the dipped cake pop, either tap the hand holding the cake pop with your other hand or allow it to drip off naturally. But don’t wait too long because the chocolate will harden and you won’t be able to adhere the sprinkles to the cake pops.
• A.C. Moore carries clear, plastic bags and a wide assortment of ribbon for wrapping the completed cake pops.
• For a nice presentation, wrap a piece of styrofoam with silver foil, add some glue to the top surface, spread some Easter basket green grass on the glue and press until it adheres. And then stick the finished cake pops into the green grass and down into the styrofoam.

Are you ready to give it a try??? Go ahead, you know you want to.

Tagged as: gluten free, gluten free birthday cake, gluten free cake, gluten free recipe