When love is in the air, you can show your sweet side by making Valentine’s Day cake balls with a cake pop maker. A simple vanilla cake dyed pink, like a bashful blush from your sweetheart, red glaze with a lemon zing, and pink sprinkles on top.
With how quick the cake pop maker bakes them, it’s a great dessert to make in case you are short on time. Spread the love with this Valentine’s Day-themed bite-sized treat!
Cake balls are originally made and molded with leftover cake and frosting and covered in chocolate or glaze. They became popular in 2008, when a baker named Angie Dudley made them and put them on a stick to resemble lollipops; people know these creations as cake pops.
What is different about this recipe is that it is baked instead of molded together with frosting. You make the batter and bake it, giving it a lighter texture and no worries about cake crumbs. You can add treat sticks or not.
Although the cake balls do not take long to bake, about 3-4 minutes, they still need to cool before they are dipped in the glaze. If they are still warm when dipped, the glaze will melt off the cake balls and will make a huge mess.
Thankfully, because of their size, they will only take a short time to cool. You could even pop them in the fridge for a bit if you like. While you are waiting, you can prepare the glaze and line a baking sheet with wax paper and/or start clean-up.
What is fun about this technique of using a cake pop baker, is that when they pop out, they look like doughnut holes!
One of the best things about making a Valentine’s Day treat is that you can make it personable. You can do this by adding personal messages to the cake balls, sort of like the candy hearts without the chalky taste. You can use royal icing, edible writing gel, and other options to show how much you love them.
Another variation is to try adding some cherry or strawberry flavoring to the glaze instead of the lemon juice. You could also add some to the batter in place of the vanilla extract to make it even more special.
You can play around with the colors and go as faint or bold as you like. Here is a batch we made with red gel food coloring. The colors really pop:
How do you show your love on Valentine’s Day? Did you enjoy these Valentine’s Day cake balls? Let me know in the comments!
Valentine’s Day Cake Balls in the Cake Pop Maker
Ingredients
For the Cake Balls:
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp. red food coloring
- ½ cup butter - melted
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. red food coloring
- Pink sprinkles - to decorate
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix all wet cake pop ingredients with an electric mixer, until combined.
- Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and start incorporating it into the wet ingredients, until combined.
- Preheat the cake pop maker by plugging it in. Transfer the cake pop batter to a piping bag.
- Fill the holes with the batter using the piping bag, or alternatively using a teaspoon (try not to fill higher than the cavity line, as it will rise when baking). Work quickly here, as the batter will start to bake.
- Close the lid and bake for about 3 minutes or until baked through (you can check with a toothpick). Repeat until you finish the batter. Let the cake pops cool while you make the glaze.
- Mix the glaze ingredients together. Place the cake balls on a piece of wax paper.
- Coat with the glaze and sprinkles. Let the glaze harden (either at room temperature or in the fridge) and serve! Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information on In the Kitch is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may not include toppings and/or sauces.
Hungry for more food inspiration? Try our Bacon Butty (Bacon Sandwich)