Learn how to make Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles with this fun, easy recipe and tutorial!
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Who is ready to celebrate?
My birthday is this week, and I can't resist throwing a party! So I've created a bunch of fun recipes and ideas to share with you all week long!
I love coming up with creative party themes. Last year I threw a Pink and Gold Birthday Party, and in years past, I've thrown a Fiesta Birthday Party and a French-Themed Party. So fun!
Can you guess what my theme is this year? I'm a sucker for anything bright and colorful, and I can't think of a party theme more fun and festive than sprinkles!
So let's get sprinkling ... these adorable Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles are the first treat I have for you this week!
Cake pops are the perfect party treat, especially when they're coated in bright, colorful rainbow sprinkles!
These Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles are sure to impress your guests. They're beautiful to look at, and they're totally delicious, too.
If you've never cake pops before, these Confetti Cake Pops are the recipe for you. These pops aren't difficult to make (although they take a bit of time), and I'll lead you through the process step by step. Plus, those cute sprinkles will cover up any little mistakes you might make!
Are you ready to get started?
Birthday Cake Pops Ingredients
I love making cake pops at home, and the nice thing is that they don't require a lot of ingredients!
Here's what you'll need:
- White Cake Mix (plus, ingredients to prepare it) - I used Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Cake Mix.
- White Frosting - I used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme White Frosting. I could only find that frosting in multi-packs online, but Vanilla Frosting would work, too.
- White Candy Melts - I used Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers, but Wilton Candy Melts work, too.
- Sprinkles / Nonpareils - I used Wilton Rainbow Sprinkles (nonpareils).
- Lollipop / Treat Sticks - I used Wilton 6-inch Treat Sticks.
While I love cooking from scratch, and do it probably 90% of the time, I almost always use cake mixes and prepared frostings for cake pops. It just makes the process simpler and quicker. And trust me, they still taste delicious!
Feel free to use your favorite white cake recipe for these Rainbow Cake Pops though, if you have one. You'll need 2 (8 or 9-inch) baked cake layers to make 24 cake pops.
You can also great creative and use different cake / frosting flavors or different colors of candy melts. Just keep in mind that if you use a dark-colored cake (like chocolate), then white or other light-colored candy melts may not cover your pops well.
How to Make Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles
If you've never made cake pops before, I think you'll be surprised at how easy these Sprinkles Cake Pops are to make. They do take a little time, but each step is simple.
The first step is baking your cake. Simply follow the package directions, then let your cake cool completely before starting the cake pops.
Shaping the Cake Pops
Once your cake is baked and cooled, place it in a large bowl and use your hands or a fork to crumble it.
Next, you'll add frosting, and you can use your hands for this step, too. The amount of frosting you'll need depends on a few things: how moist your cake is; how much liquid is in your frosting, etc. You want to add just enough frosting to hold the cake together when rolled into a ball. So start with a small amount of frosting and add more if needed.
To form the cake pops, take a heaping tablespoon of the cake / frosting mixture. Roll it between your palms to form a ball. Don't worry if your balls have minor imperfections, because the candy coating will cover any small flaws.
Place the cake balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or foil). Then, refrigerate the pops for two hours or freeze them for one hour. Don't skip this step, because it firms the pops and keeps them from falling apart.
After your cake pops are chilled, you'll add the sticks.
Melt a few candy melts in a small bowl, then dip in the end of a stick. Insert the candy-coated end into a cake pop ball.
When all the sticks have been added, return the cake pops to the refrigerator or freezer to allow the candy to harden. It should take about 15 minutes in the freezer or a little longer in the fridge.
Coating Cake Pops with Candy
The next step is to coat the cake pops with the candy melts.
You'll need a small bowl. A coffee cup would also work. Fill the bowl with candy melts, then melt in the microwave according to the package directions.
Holding a cake pop by the stick, dip it into the melted candy, rotating to coat. Remove the cake pop from the candy and gently tap the stick on the edge of the bowl, allowing the excess candy to drip off.
As soon as your pops have been dipped, you'll add the sprinkles before the candy hardens.
Tip: if your cake pops start falling off their sticks, return them to the refrigerator or freezer to chill more.
Decorating Cake Pops with Sprinkles
To get the sprinkles to stick to your cake pops, you'll need to add them before the candy coating hardens. Work quickly!
I like to set up an assembly-line: a bowl of candy melts; a small bowl of sprinkles; and a second, deeper bowl to catch the excess sprinkles (and any candy coating drips).
Hold the freshly dipped cake pop over the deeper bowl, then add your sprinkles, working fast. Rotate the cake pop as you work to ensure you're covering the whole pop.
Once your Birthday Cake Pops are coated in sprinkles, return them to the baking sheet. Refrigerate the finished cake pops until ready to serve.
Tips for Adding Sprinkles:
- You can cover the tops of the cake pops with sprinkles or you can cover the whole pop, like it did. I think it's easier to cover the whole pop in sprinkles (it's hard to control where the sprinkles go!). You can see that I did a few pops with sprinkles just on the top below though.
- If you'd prefer, you can roll the cake pops in the sprinkles. Just be aware that you'll use more sprinkles in the process. It's also potentially messier, since the candy coating is not solid. And your cake pops will be (literally) harder to eat, since they'll have more sprinkles on them.
- If you'll be serving the cake pops with the sticks facing up (like I did), you do not need to cover the bottom of the pops.
- If you'll be serving the cake pops with the cake part facing up, make sure to cover the whole pop with sprinkles. Also, after your pops are finished, place them stick-side-down in a piece of styrofoam to harden (do not return them to the baking tray )
- You can reuse any sprinkles that don't stick to your cake pops. Just pour them back into the smaller bowl occasionally.
Types of Sprinkles
If you've ever walked the baking aisle at a well-stocked grocery store, you've probably noticed lots of different types of sprinkles! I used nonpareils, but you can use other types for these Birthday Cake Pops, too:
- Nonpareils: Round sprinkles, like the ones I've used here, are called nonpareils (which means "without equal" in French). They come in single colors or in mixtures of colors.
- Cylinder Sprinkles: These log shaped sprinkles, or Jimmies, come in single colors, multi-colors, or chocolate.
- Dragées: Similar to nonpareils, dragées are round, and they have a hard outer shell. They're usually metallic, and come in many colors. They're very pretty, but I personally don't think they're that pleasant to eat.
- Sanding Sugar: This is a decorative sugar with large crystals. Sanding sugar is semi-translucent and comes in multiple colors. It would give these Sprinkles Cake Pops a totally different, yet super pretty, look!
Displaying and Serving Cake Pops
You can serve cake pops with the sticks facing up, like I do here, or with the sticks facing down (cake side up).
Personally, I prefer to serve these Sprinkles Cake Pops (and other cake pops) with the sticks facing up. It's just easier ... simply display them on a tray, and you're good to go!
If you'd prefer to serve your cake pops with the cake facing up, then use a piece of thick styrofoam to hold the pops. Choose a piece of styrofoam about 3 to 4 inches thick, then poke holes to hold the cake pops sticks. You can cover the styrofoam with tissue paper or wrapping paper for a decorative touch, if you wish.
You could also serve the cake pops in a short vase (or similar container), but you'll probably need to add a weight to the bottom so it doesn't tip over from the weight of the pops.
However you serve them, these Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles are sure to be a hit at your next party!
Let me know if you try this recipe, I'd love to see how your cake pops turn out.
Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles
Ingredients
- 1 white cake mix (plus, ingredients to prepare it)
- ¼ to ½ cup white frosting
- 2 (10 to 12-ounce) packages white candy melts
- 1 (3-ounce) container rainbow sprinkles (nonpareils)
- lollipop sticks
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Cool cake on a wire rack.
- Crumbled cake with a fork or your hands.
- Mix in frosting. Add just enough so that cake holds together when formed into a ball. (It's easiest to do this with your hands.)
- Roll a heaping tablespoon of cake mixture into a ball.
- Place ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat process with remaining cake.
- Refrigerate cake pops for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.
- Melt a few candy melts in a small bowl.
- Dip the end of the lollipop stick into the melted candy, then press into a chilled cake pop. Repeat with remaining cake pops, then return pops to refrigerator until candy hardens.
- Melt one package of candy melts in a small bowl according to package directions. Place sprinkles in a separate bowl
- Dip a cake pop into the candy melts, coating entire pop. Rotate pop and gently tap on edge of bowl to remove excess candy.
- Immediately cover cake pop with sprinkles. (Do this over a bowl, so you can catch the excess sprinkles and reuse them.)
- Return cake pop to tray, then repeat process with remaining cake pops. Reheat candy melts (and add more to bowl), as needed.
- Refrigerate cake pops until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Love these Birthday Cake Pops? Get more fun ideas!
If you liked these Sprinkles Cake Pops, make sure to check out all my cake pop recipes. These Pecan Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops are my fave ... yum!
Want to see my other Sprinkles Birthday Party ideas? Visit these posts:
And you can check out all of my Party Ideas here!
Do you love sprinkles, too?
It look like we are going to have to try this again! The kids had fun though! Thanks
I'm so glad you had fun making the cake pops with your kids, Jenny! 🙂
I make these for every holiday occasion using different colors and sprinkles. My family LOVES them! For Fourth of July I’m going to try and make red white and blue stars. A must try they are soo yummy!
So glad you're loving the recipe, Summer! It's so fun to experiment for different holidays ... those Fourth of July pops sound like they'll be so cute! 🙂
The recipe sounds yummy! That being said, its super annoying the amount of ads popping up and covering the instructions. Also it drives me nuts with all the useless commentary,just get to the recipe/pics please.
Hi, Shell Sea! Thank you for the feedback. I agree that ads can be annoying, however this website is my full-time job. Without them, I would not be able to provide you with the free recipes. If you don't like the commentary (which in this case is helpful tips that lots of people need and rely on), there is a "Jump to Recipe" button at the top of every recipe post.
I just wanted to thank you for your thorough instructions! I stumbled on your blog after I chose a different cake pop recipe and it was confusing and ended up being a disaster. The type of box cake does matter. For those reading don’t pick a moist flavor. It ended up turning into liquid. I’m going to have to redo the whole thing over tomorrow but I’m grateful I have your instructions and pictorial to help me 💕
Hi, Hoku! I'm so glad you found the instructions helpful. I hope you enjoyed the cake pops!
These are so cute and I know would be an instant hit at a party.
Thanks, Paula! They are definitely perfect for parties ... everyone loves them 🙂