Monster Pops

PreparationTo decorate Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator. Melt the purple candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.) When you are ready to dip, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled. One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick in the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating. Hold the pop over the bowl in one hand, and tap your wrist gently with your other hand. If you use the hand holding the cake pop to shake off excess coating, the force of the movement will be too strong and could cause the cake ball to loosen or fly off the lollipop stick. Tapping the wrist holding the cake pop absorbs some of the impact. The excess coating will fall off, but you will need to rotate the lollipop stick so the coating doesn't build up on one side, making it too heavy on that side. If too much coating starts to build up at the base of the stick, simply use your finger to wipe it off, spinning the lollipop stick at the same time. This can happen if the coating is too thin or too hot. It's not as hard as it sounds; it just takes a little practice. Let dry in a Styrofoam block. Pour the remaining purple coating into a large squeeze bottle, and pipe random, drizzled lines all around the monster head. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block. On some of the pops, pipe two small white circles with a candy writer for the eyes, and insert 2 chocolate jimmies before the coating sets. On the remaining pops, pipe a single large, white circle. Let dry completely and draw a large blue circle inside the white circle, using a blue edible-ink pen. With a black edible-ink pen, outline the circle and draw a pupil to finish the eye. Let dry completely. Note: You can also use melted white candy coating for the eyes. Reprinted with permission from Cake Pops: Tips, Trick, and Recipes for More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats by Bakerella, ©: 2010 Chronicle Books

PreparationTo decorate Have the cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator. Melt the purple candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.) When you are ready to dip, remove a few cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled. One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick in the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating. Hold the pop over the bowl in one hand, and tap your wrist gently with your other hand. If you use the hand holding the cake pop to shake off excess coating, the force of the movement will be too strong and could cause the cake ball to loosen or fly off the lollipop stick. Tapping the wrist holding the cake pop absorbs some of the impact. The excess coating will fall off, but you will need to rotate the lollipop stick so the coating doesn't build up on one side, making it too heavy on that side. If too much coating starts to build up at the base of the stick, simply use your finger to wipe it off, spinning the lollipop stick at the same time. This can happen if the coating is too thin or too hot. It's not as hard as it sounds; it just takes a little practice. Let dry in a Styrofoam block. Pour the remaining purple coating into a large squeeze bottle, and pipe random, drizzled lines all around the monster head. Let dry completely in the Styrofoam block. On some of the pops, pipe two small white circles with a candy writer for the eyes, and insert 2 chocolate jimmies before the coating sets. On the remaining pops, pipe a single large, white circle. Let dry completely and draw a large blue circle inside the white circle, using a blue edible-ink pen. With a black edible-ink pen, outline the circle and draw a pupil to finish the eye. Let dry completely. Note: You can also use melted white candy coating for the eyes. Reprinted with permission from Cake Pops: Tips, Trick, and Recipes for More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats by Bakerella, ©: 2010 Chronicle Books