FOX 9's Tom Halden and Karen Scullin headed to the kitchen to talk about Halloween treats with cake expert Beki Cook.
Pumpkin Cake Pops
Ingredients:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 3 tsp. cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup apple sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- ½ cup buttermilk (or soured milk- ½ Tbsp. vinegar + ½ cup milk)
- 2 cups canned pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
- 2-3 cups Cream Cheese Icing
- Orange Candy Melts (1 bag per 50 pops)
- 1-2 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
- 100 Lollipop sticks
- Chocolate "jimmie" sprinkles
- Green Candy Melts (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the 3 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking soda, 2 tsp. baking powder, 3 tsp. cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice), and 1 tsp. salt.
- In the bowl of a mixer, combine 1 tsp. vanilla, ½ cup melted butter, ½ cup apple sauce, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.
- Add eggs one at a time. Mix well after each egg.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix well. Add the milk. Mix well.
- Add the other half of the flour. Mix well. Add the pumpkin. Mix well.
- Pour into greased & floured pan. Bake according to the pan's instructions or until a toothpick comes out clean. NOTE: For the 6" round pans, it takes 25-35 minutes. For an 8" x 3" round pan, it takes between 50-60 minutes. For a 9"x13" pan, it takes about 35-45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and cool on a cooling grid for 10 minutes. Flip the cake(s) out of the pan(s) onto the cooling rack to cool completely.
- When your cake is cooled, use a fork to crumble the cake into small crumbs.
- Add the icing ½ cup at a time until you get the right consistency to roll into a ball that will hold its shape. NOTE: To make the shape, I use two level scoops from my 1 tsp. scoop.
- Roll them together to create a nice, compact ball.
- To make the "bumps" in the pumpkins, use a spoon, and gently make 4-6 marks all around the ball.
- While you add the bumps, also smoosh the ball a little on the top and bottom to make the pumpkin look less round.
- Put the cake balls into the refrigerator for three hours or overnight. (In a pinch you can put them into the freezer for 30 minutes then move them to the refrigerator.)
- Melt your orange candy in a tall mug. Add 1 Tbsp. of vegetable oil to allow candy to coat more easily.
- Dip ½" of a lollipop stick in the melted candy.
- Insert the stick about halfway in to one of the cake balls.
- (I usually work with just 5 or 6 at a time, leaving the rest in the refrigerator.)
- Dip the cake pop into the melted candy.
- Gently tap the stick against the edge of the mug to allow excess candy to fall off.
- Immediately set one jimmie sprinkle on the top to make the stem.
- Place the pop in a styrofoam sheet or disk to set.
- If you want to add the leaves and vines, use a tip #2 for the vine, and a tip #352 for the leaf. You can use a squeeze bottle that fits with a coupler ring, or you can use a decorating bag.
