Soft and delicious birthday cake pops made without frosting! You'll need a hot cake, melting chocolate, and sprinkles. This post contains affiliate links.
You might also like our brownie pops, which are made without frosting—just brownies mashed up and dipped in chocolate.
Watch our step-by-step video!
My kids have always loved cake pops. They are so colorful and fun and are pretty easy to make, too. I made dozens and dozens for a church fundraiser years ago with the teenagers from our congregation. We didn't use sticks and sold them as "cake truffles". They sold like crazy, and we made them in so many flavor combinations. Last year I saw quite a few methods shared for making cake pops WITHOUT frosting and was intrigued. I don't like storebought frosting, but was it worth making homemade buttercream to mix in with the cake to make cake pops? No, so I usually used storebought. Until now.
Birthday Cake Pops
These cake pops are made with cake and melting chocolate. That's it! They have a creamy soft filling, and honestly, I think they taste better made without frosting. Don't worry; they are still ridiculously sweet, and because I use the best ingredients, they are loaded with rich flavor.
One batch makes 24-28 pops. When you consider that they are often sold for over $2 each, it's much more cost-effective to make your own at home. Cake pops store well at room temperature or chilled. You can also freeze them for longer storage. So go ahead and make an entire batch to snack on for a while.
Here are a few other flavors that I've made: cookies and cream cake pops, Andes mint cake pops and Copycat Starbucks cake pops.
This is JUST CAKE mashed up. No frosting.
8 Tips for Making The Best Cake Pops
I learned how to make THE BEST cake pop filling from TINA B COOKING IT UP. Tina said that the best cake pops start with a really moist cake and shared her tips for achieving that by adding sour cream and pudding mix to her cake batter. She then lets her cake cool, then uses a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to mix it into a moist dough-like consistency WITHOUT frosting.
I learned from Cookies for Days that you can put the baked cake straight from the oven into the stand mixer, not waiting for it to cool. I'm impatient, so I went that route, and it worked great! The cake is so soft and forms easily into smooth balls; there is literally no need to add frosting to it. It wasn't too hot to work with my hands. I also tried another method, which had me cover the cake pan with foil for 10 minutes as soon as the cake came out of the oven and then mix it with a paddle attachment, but I didn't notice much of a difference between that and just using the hot cake right out of the oven.
- Making the batter: add a box of pudding mix and a bit of sour cream, and use butter instead of oil.
- Baking the cake: DO NOT overbake the cake. I check mine at least 5 minutes early and keep checking for doneness with a toothpick. As soon as the toothpick comes out clear, I remove the cake from the oven.
- Mashing the cake: Use a spatula to scoop the hot cake into the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until a playdough-like dough is achieved.
- Shaping the cake pop balls: use a 2 Tbsp. cookie scoop to portion the dough, then mash each ball between your hands a few times to soften each ball before rolling it into a smooth ball.
- Chilling the dough: Don't freeze the cake pop balls before coating them in chocolate. Chilling in the refrigerator for 20 minutes works just fine. We just want to cool them off and allow them to slightly firm up. Frozen cake pops or really cold cake pops will crack once dipped in chocolate. Slightly chilled or room temperature pops work best. I chill them for 20 minutes (this helps them set up and dry out a little on the outside).
- Adding lollipop sticks: Dip the tip of each stick into melting chocolate before sliding it into the cake pop. Allow it to harden (keep the pops out at room temp, do not place back into the refrigerator). This will keep the stick secure when you go to dip the cake pop.
- Dipping the pops: You want a smooth, dippable chocolate. If your candy melts seem a little thick, add a teaspoon or two of shortening or coconut oil and stir that into the warm melting chocolates. I find that I don't have to do that when using almond bark, but it's helpful when using Wilton candy melts. That's just me, if you've had success dipping without adding shortening or coconut oil, keep doing that. Let the melted candy melts/chocolate sit for a couple of minutes before dipping.
- Perfectly shaped pops: To keep pops upright while the chocolate hardens, place them into a block of styrofoam. This keeps the pops perfectly round vs having a flat side from placing them onto parchment paper to harden.
Just look at that fudgy center. So rich and creamy. I call these birthday cake pops because they are made with yellow cake mix, dipped in white chocolate, and covered in colorful sprinkles. They are a great all-around cake pop!
Birthday Cake Pop Ingredients
scroll down for a printable version
- 1 (13.25 ounce) box of yellow cake mix (Betty Crocker is my go-to)
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box of instant vanilla pudding
- 1 cup water
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted*
- 3 Tbsp. sour cream
- 12 ounces melting chocolate or white almond bark
- sprinkles
More Helpful Supplies
*Most cake mixes call for ⅓ or ½ cup of oil. For cake pops, just use ½ cup butter.
Mix cake mix with pudding mix, eggs, water, melted butter, and sour cream in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, or beat vigorously by hand for two minutes.
Pour batter into a baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray (bake in 2 round pans or a rectangular cake pan).
Bake the cake using the reference chart on the box as a guide. Remember to not overbake the cake; start checking for doneness early.
Use a spatula to scoop the hot cake into the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until a playdough-like dough is achieved (this may take a minute or two). Press the dough between your fingers. If it is soft and moldable, it's ready.
Use a 2 Tbsp. cookie scoop to portion the dough, then mash each ball between your hands a few times to soften each ball before rolling it into a smooth ball. Place the balls of cake onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil to keep them from sticking.
Chill the balls in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
Melt ¼ cup of white candy melts according to the package instructions. Dip the tip of each lollipop stick into melted white chocolate, then slide the stick into the cake pop ball, about ¾ of the way into the ball. Repeat for all cake pops.
Let sit until the melting chocolate has hardened and the pops have come to room temperature (or close to it). 20-30 minutes.
Melt the remaining white chocolate according to the package instructions. Add any leftover melted chocolate used for dipping the sticks and stir. If the melting chocolate seems thick, add a teaspoon or two of shortening or coconut oil and stir until smooth.
Pour melting chocolate into a glass or cup.
Dip cake pops into the white chocolate and tap the stick against the side of the cup to allow excess chocolate to drip off.
Immediately add sprinkles.
Stand cake pops upright to harden. The easiest way to do this is to use a cake pop stand or styrofoam blocks.
This recipe makes 24-28 cake pops.
How To Store Birthday Cake Pops
Store at room temp: Place cake pops into an airtight container and store for up to 5 days.
Store in the refrigerator: Place into an airtight container lined with paper towels and store for up to two weeks.
How To Freeze Cake Pops
Place the cake pops into an airtight container, and they'll stay fresh for at least a month or two in the freezer. To thaw, place the container on the counter (with the lid ON) and let them sit out for a few hours to come to room temperature. You can also place the container in the refrigerator and let them thaw overnight. I haven't had any issues with condensation thawing them this way.
Birthday Cake Pops Recipe
Birthday Cake Pops
Ingredients
- 1 13.25 ounce box yellow cake mix Betty Crocker
- 1 3.4 ounce box of instant vanilla pudding
- 1 cup water
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup butter melted
- 3 Tbsp. sour cream
- 12 ounces melting chocolate or white almond bark
- sprinkles
More Supplies
- 6" lollipop sticks
- styrofoam blocks or cake pop holder
Instructions
- Mix cake mix with pudding mix, eggs, water, melted butter, and sour cream in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, or beat vigorously by hand for two minutes.
- Pour batter into a baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray (bake in 2 round pans or a rectangular cake pan).Bake the cake using the reference chart on the box as a guide. Remember to not overbake the cake, start checking for doneness early.
- Use a spatula to scoop the hot cake into the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until a playdough-like dough is achieved (this may take a minute or two). Press the dough between your fingers. If it is soft and moldable, it's ready.
- Use a 2 Tbsp. cookie scoop to portion the dough then mash each ball between your hands a few times to soften each ball before rolling into a smooth ball. Place the balls of cake onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil to keep them from sticking.
- Chill balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes (DO NOT FREEZE).
- Melt ¼ cup of white candy melts according to the package instructions. Dip the tip of each lollipop stick into melted white chocolate then slide the stick into the cake pop ball, about ¾ of the way into the ball. Repeat for all cake pops.
- Let sit at room temperature until the melting chocolate has hardened and the pops have come to room temperature (or close to it), at least 20 minutes.
- Melt the remaining white chocolate according to the package instructions. Add back any leftover melted chocolate used for dipping the sticks and stir. If the melting chocolate seems thick, add a teaspoon or two of shortening or coconut oil and stir until smooth. Let melted chocolate sit for a few minutes to cool down slightly.
- Pour melting chocolate into a glass or cup.
- Dip cake pops into the white chocolate, and tap the stick against the side of the cup to allow excess chocolate to drip off.Immediately add sprinkles.(If the chocolate cools off too much and starts to thicken, pop it back into the microwave for 15-20 seconds and stir. Continue dipping.)
- Stand cake pops upright to harden. The easiest way to do this is to use a cake pop stand or styrofoam blocks.
Brandy says
Hi everyone! Brandy here, I made and shared these with a few other cake pop flavors at a youth group activity, and they were a HIT! I brought 5 dozen and they were GONE! My daughter recently used this method to make cake pops for a class project in high school. They turned out great!