Birthday Cake Pops – Confetti cake pops are covered in white chocolate and sprinkles to make for a cute birthday treat.
It’s my birthday month! I’m officially at the age where I need to do math to figure out how old I am because I simply can’t remember. But I am not yet at the age where getting old scares me. I love being in my 30s – it’s definitely a more confident decade for me. I heard your 40s are even better so getting older sounds empowering, not scary.
To celebrate another year older, I have some gorgeous and, of course, delicious cake pops loaded with festive sprinkles. A cake pop is such a fun way to eat cake. And, it’s arguably healthier since you’re limited to one big bite of cake versus an entire slice. But good luck just having one!
Without further ado, here are my Birthday Cake Pops!
Making cake pops
Cake pops are made by mixing crumbled cake with frosting, rolling into a ball, and then dipping into chocolate coating. This creates a chewy, gooey textured pop that’s so addictive.
The cake
These cake pops are made with white vanilla cake. I am using white cake instead of yellow cake because the white cake makes the sprinkles pop more.
To make white cake, cake flour is used to create a fluffy texture. Also, egg whites are used instead of whole eggs to keep the color white instead of yellow.
The process for making the cake batter is exactly like any other cake you’ve made. Once the batter is made, it’s poured into a 9×13 pan and baked until completely done. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
Forming the cake balls
Once the cake is cooled, it’s time to form the cake balls. To do this, make the buttercream frosting in a stand mixer first. Then, crumble the cake and pour into the bowl with the frosting, along with confetti sprinkles. Mix for about 10 seconds until the cake, frosting, and sprinkles are combined.
Form the mixture into 1.5-inch balls (about a tablespoon of scooped dough). Place them on a plate and chill for an hour.
Dipping into chocolate
Once the cake balls are chilled and firm, it’s time to cover them in chocolate coating. Melt the coating in the microwave until smooth. I used Ghirardelli White Chocolate Coating for this step because it’s easily available and does the job so well. After the coating has melted, dip the stick into chocolate and then into the cake ball. This will help keep the cake ball from sliding off the stick.
Let the chocolate harden so the stick is firmly in place. Then, dip the cake pop in coating and let the excess drain off. Set it up to dry either standing up or upside down so the bottom of the cake pop is flat. Sprinkle with confetti sprinkles and repeat with the rest of the balls.
Tips and Tricks
- Let the cake cool. Before forming the cake balls, make sure the cake has cooled completely. If it’s still warm, it will melt the frosting and you will have a gloopy mess.
- Forming the balls. Make sure to firmly pack the cake into a ball so that it stays together when you go to dip into the white chocolate.
- Chilling is required! After forming the cake balls, make sure you chill them for 1 hour before inserting the stick and dipping into chocolate. When the cake ball gets cold, the center gets firm and perfect for gripping the stick. Don’t worry – they won’t need to be chilled after assembly so the center will be nice and moist once it gets back to room temp.
- Melting chocolate vs chocolate chips. Make sure to use melting chocolate for the coating. If you simply use chocolate chips, the coating will never fully harden again and will be too soft at room temp. This does not look good for presentation purposes. Here is the chocolate I used. I found it at my grocery store but it’s also available on Amazon.
- Have a drying plan. Make sure you think through how you want to let the coating dry on the cake pops. I wanted a completely smooth outer shell so I wanted them to dry standing up. To do this, I inserted the coated cake pops into an empty egg carton. But you can use a cardboard box or block of styrofoam, too. Or you can let them dry upside-down on a plate. This will obviously cause them to be flat on the bottom but that also makes for a cute way to serve them at parties and such.
Birthday Cake Pops
Ingredients
For the vanilla cake:
- 2½ cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter unsalted, softened
- 1¾ cups sugar
- ½ cup sour cream
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup milk
For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter unsalted, softened
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the cake pop assembly:
- 24 ounces white chocolate melting chips
- 40 candy sticks
- ⅔ cup confetti sprinkles divided
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9×13 pan by spraying with nonstick spray. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Add sugar and butter to a mixing bowl fit for a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, cream together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add sour cream and mix until combined. Add half of egg whites and mix until combined. Add rest of egg whites, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix until combined.
- Add 1/3 of dry ingredients to batter and mix until combined. Add half of milk and mix until combined. Add another 1/3 of dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add rest of milk and mix. Finally, add last 1/3 of dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Add batter to prepared dish and spread into one even layer. Bake cake in preheated oven until set, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembling cake pops
For the frosting:
- Once the cake is cool, prepare the frosting. Add butter to the bowl of stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat on medium high until ultra creamy, about 5 minutes. Add in powdered sugar and beat another 2 minutes. Add vanilla, salt, and milk and mix until combined. Keep frosting in mixing bowl for next steps.
For the cake pop assembly:
- Crumble the baked and cooled cake while still in the baking dish. Add crumbs to the prepared frosting left in the mixing bowl. Add ⅓ cup of sprinkles and mix all together with the paddle attachment. It should only take 5-10 seconds to combine. Remove and place in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the cake mixture. Press firmly together and roll into a ball. Place on parchment paper. Repeat with rest of dough. Chill for about 1 hour in the fridge to let the balls firm up. This will make sure they stay on the stick.
- When balls have chilled, place white chocolate melting discs into a 2-cup measuring cup or similar vessel that will be used for dipping. You'll only be able to fit about 10 ounces of chocolate into cup at a time. Microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir discs and then microwave another 30 seconds.
- Before you get started, figure out how you want the cake pops to dry. I wanted mine completely round so I used an egg carton to keep them standing up while they dried. If you don’t care, you can place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to let them dry with a flat bottom.
- Grab 1 ball from the fridge. Take a candy stick and dip it into melted white chocolate, about 1 inch deep. Place stick into cake ball and then dip into melted white chocolate. Gently tap on the end of the cup to shake off excess chocolate. Place into egg carton to dry or place flat onto lined baking sheet to dry. Sprinkle with confetti sprinkles while chocolate is still wet. Repeat with remaining cake balls. I recommend leaving cake balls in fridge and simply removing them one by one for dipping.
- Once cake pops have dried, you can store them in a storage container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Funfetti Whoopie Pies
Black & White Cake Pops
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Pops
I had so much fun making these with my friend and her children. They were so tasty !
I made these cake pop with the children, and we had a blast making them and even more fun eating them. This is a keeper recipe! Have a great day!!!
So cool! next week is my daughter’s b-day! I’ll make this pops for her! She will love them!
I love making cake pops for my kids birthdays and these birthday cake pops look so amazing and I love how colourful they are. My daughter will love these for her upcoming birthday, thank you!
Birthday cake pops are such a great idea for less mess and a fun way to have cake!
oh yum!! cake pops are the best they are so tasty and fun to make! thanks fro sharing this recipe!
These look so fun! I can have these any season of the year!
Such a fun yummy treat! I need to give it a go!
I would eat so many of these. I tend to love all things with sprinkles!