View source for Hello Kitty Cake Pops

After nearly 6 months of failures, I finally succeeded in making my version of the gorgeous [http://www.bakerella.com/here-kitty-kitty/ Hello Kitty Cake Pops] on Bakerella's cake pop site. First off, I am obsessed with cake pops, because as we all know, anything on-a-stick makes it taste better than just plain anything. I swore on my good name that I would one day succeed and have a Hello Kitty cake pop in my hand. My 3rd attempt at these tricky cakes involved the use of Jen's chocolate tempering machine, and coincided with Izzy's birthday, which meant he got Hello Kitty cake pops whether he deserved it or not. The verdict:


<i>"the Hello Kitty cake heads are AMAZING!

One came off it's stick on the way home so I figured I should eat it.

so good, I had to put the rest away cause I was so tempted to eat all of them. 

it's the perfect amount of cake.

and for the record I do enjoy cake, just not as much as ice cream =)" </i>


So I'll declare an all-around victory, especially with a review coming from a guy who doesn't much care for cake.

Be forewarned: these cakes are a *process* not to be undertaken lightly. There's chocolate, red food dye, frosting, cake crumbs... you're going to get shit everywhere so be prepared, and make sure you've got EVERYTHING on this list before you even start.

<b>Ingredients:</b>

Red Velvet Cake (same as from Amanda's Mom's Cake recipe, credited to [http://pinchmysalt.com pinchmysalt.com]):
* 2.5 cups sifted cake flour (Softasilk)
* 1 stick butter, softened (if straight from fridge, nuke 10 sec on high)
* 1.5 cup sugar
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup buttermilk, room temp
* 2 eggs
* 1 tsp white vinegar
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
* 2 fl oz. red food coloring (that is a lot - I recommend purchasing a big bottle from Chinatown like Marie and I did)
* a generous splash of almond extract
* cake pan spray

Cream Cheese Frosting (from Best Carrot Cake recipe):
* 1 8oz. brick REGULAR cream cheese, softened (take it out of the fridge and leave it on the counter while you make cake)
* 1 stick butter, softened (take it out of the fridge and leave it on the counter while you make cake)
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1 generous splash almond extract

Cake Pop Decorations:
* 1 black edible pen for eyes and whiskers (ghetto substitute: 1 small tube black gel icing)
* Lots of white candy coating melts (ghetto substitute: white chocolate, but you will probably regret it)
* Red and yellow mini M&Ms for bow and nose (ghetto substitute: 1 small tube red frosting & 1 small tube yellow frosting)
* Jumbo red heart sprinkles for bow
* White chocolate chips for ears

Tools:
* Long paper lollipop sticks (ghetto substitute: extra thick bamboo skewers, cut in half and reserving the non-pointy sides)
* Chocolate tempering machine, if using white chocolate (ghetto substitute: deep microwave-safe bowl, suitable for dipping)
* 2 9-inch cake pans
* 2 big-ass bowls
* 1 medium bowl
* 1 tiny little prep bowl
* 1 fork or chopstick
* 1 stand mixer (ghetto substitute: electric hand mixer. Whatever you do, you do NOT want to attempt this by hand)
* 1 spatula
* 1 styrofoam block (very important. Do not omit this because you will have nowhere to put your cake pops to dry)
* Sifter (or fine sieve)
* 1 tray
* Room in the freezer


<b>Step 1: Make the cake</b>

First, preheat yon oven to 350. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together into your medium bowl. In the tiny prep bowl, dump in the food coloring and cocoa powder, and proceed to stir it with the chopstick or fork until the lumps disappear and it's a red slurry. Take one of your big-ass bowls and cream yon butter and sugar with the electric mixer until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Beat the eggs into the butter/sugar mix one by one. Then beat in the red slurry and almond extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl with the spatula to ensure even coloring of the batter. Add in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and mix well. Add in 1/2 the buttermilk and continue to mix well. Add in another 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and mix. Finish up with the remaining buttermilk and sifted ingredients. Lube up the cake pans and have them handy. Take your tiny prep bowl and mix the baking soda and vinegar (fizz!). Immediately stir the volcano mixture into the cake batter until it's well combined, and slap the batter into the cake pans. Shove 'em in the oven for 25-30 minutes, and use the toothpick test to check for done-ness. Set cakes aside to cool on cake racks.

<b>Step 2: Make the frosting</b>

While the cake is baking, take another one of your big-ass bowls and put in the cream cheese and butter. Hit it with the electric mixer just until the sticks are broken down. Add in the powdered sugar and almond extract. Beat until well-combined and a frosting-like texture. Put in fridge.

<b>Step 3: Form cake balls</b>

Once cakes are cooled, cut your cakes into quarters. Start by crumbling 5 cake quarters into the big-ass bowl containing your delicious frosting. Using your hands, really get in there and combine the crumbs with the frosting well until it makes a smooth, moldable, clay-like consistency. If it is too sticky, crumble some of the remaining cake into the mix until you get it right. This cake-mixture should easily roll into 1" diameter balls or slightly larger without falling apart. You can stop here and proceed to the [[Cake Truffles recipe]], or continue to make cake pops. To make Hello Kitty heads, form slightly oblong cake balls about 1.25-1.5" in diameter. Don't make them *too* big or they won't stay on the sticks. Err on the small side if you must.

<b>Step 4: Stick 'n Prep</b>

Melt a little bit of the white candy coating chips (either using the chocolate tempering machine, or in the bowl in the microwave). Dip the end of each lollipop stick into the melted coating. Ream one oblong cake ball onto the candy-coated tip, about halfway in. Take 2 white chocolate chips and dip the bottoms into the melted coating. Stick them onto the oblong cake balls so they form the "ears" (okay, you know what Hello Kitty looks like. I don't have to tell you where to stick them). Lay carefully onto the tray. Repeat stick & ear process for all the rest of the cake pops. Then stick the tray into the freezer for 15-20 minutes (to firm up cake balls).

<b>Step 5: Dip</b>

Melt a suitable amount of the white candy coating chips for dipping the cake heads. If you are using white chocolate, realize that it is an extremely viscous substance and you will want to use a lot of care in the dipping process, and possibly a fork for assistance. White candy coating is made from vegetable fat - white chocolate is made from cocoa butter.

You should be able to just carefully dip each cake pop into the melted white candy coating, give it a gentle tap, and then set to dry in the styrofoam block. Add a touch of vegetable shortening to thin your candy coating if necessary.

Practice shows that with white chocolate, the dipping process can easily become a disaster. I really do not recommend using white chocolate for this, but if you really just can't get the ghetto candy-coat dip, my dipping suggestions include:

* Making sure you have enough white chocolate to make the initial dip deep enough.
* Use a fork as an assist to lift the dipped cakes out of the chocolate so as not to rip them off the sticks. White chocolate is thick and heavy.
* Do not twist the sticks while the cakes are immersed.
* Use a spoon or a fork to push chocolate up onto the stick for reinforcement.
* Use a chocolate tempering machine for white chocolate - the bowl/microwave method is just a guarantee for outright failure.

However your dipping process goes, good luck. Once dipped, leave heads to dry in styrofoam block.

<b>Step 6: Decorate</b>

Put one yellow mini M&M or dot of yellow frosting onto the cake pop for the nose. Use remaining melted candy coating as adhesive. Put one red M&M on Kitty's left ear for the knot of the bow. Add 2 candy hearts on either side of the red M&M to form the bow. Or just squeeze on red frosting and draw a bow on. Take edible black pen (or black gel icing) and draw on eyes and whiskers, using a toothpick for assistance if necessary.

<b>Step 7: Admire</b>

Show your friends or surprise a birthday boy.