Cake Balls and Turkey Pops

When the generous people from CSN offered me a giveaway for my blog, I was thrilled and thought that would be the perfect way to thank one lucky blogger for visiting my blog. 

The giveaway is for a $35.00 gift card to any of their wonderful websites where you can find anything from linens, furniture, bathroom shelving, and, of course, our favorite, bake ware.  These websites include cookware.com and holidaydecorationsdirect.com  The prices are very reasonable too.  I have my eye on some Le Creuset bake ware.  Maybe, Santa will bring it:)  To enter the giveaway you must be a follower of my blog; just leave a comment below telling me that you are a follower and for a second chance to win, leave a second comment and let me know which item in your kitchen you are most thankful for (mine is my Kitchen Aid mixer, could not live without it).  I will choose a winner by random.com next Tuesday.


If I could list the things I am grateful for, I would need a book the size of a dictionary, and then maybe I might still need more pages.  But today I would like to thank a few people who have made me really happy lately.  The first person is Diane from Created by Diane.  Diane has a wonderful blog where she shares her very creative and delicious recipes.  Though I have never met her, I can tell Diane is one of those people who is extremely talented and can pretty much do anything and is a super nice person.  She makes the most beautiful rose cupcakes I have ever seen.  She gave away an autographed copy of Bakerella's Cake Pops cookbook on her blog, and I won it!  I just think that was so generous of Diane.  She actually went to a book signing, met Bakerella, and got an extra copy to give away.  I cannot tell you how happy I was.  I had been wanting to get one and was so thrilled when I received it.

Bakerella did a great job on the book.  It is beautifully illustrated and filled with cake pop and cake ball ideas for every occasion.  I just had to make the turkey pops.  If you are interested in making cake balls or pops, I highly recommend you buy the book.  She gives excellent instructions and pictures about how to create these adorable treats.  If you are not familiar with Bakerella, check out her blog at bakerella.com.  Also, Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice has an excellent video showing how to make cake pops. 

I am also thankful to all of my blogging friends.  I have learned so much since I started blogging from you and am amazed at all of the talented and creative recipes you share.  Thank you for all of your sweet comments and taking the time to visit my blog.  And thank you to all the nonbloggers who read my little blog.  I hope you enjoy my recipes as much as I enjoy sharing them with you.

On to the cake balls/cake pops!   Cake balls, as most of you know, are a super easy to make treat.  Using either store-bought cake mix or your favorite cake recipe, the finished cake is crumbled and mixed with frosting and then shaped into balls, cupcakes, or anything else you can think of and then dipped in chocolate candy coating.  

To make the cake balls or cake pops, start by making a cake, either store-bought or homemade, in a 9 x 13 inch rectangular pan.  When the cake is cooled, crumble the cake into a large bowl.  Then add 3/4 of a can of store-bought frosting any flavor you like.  Do not use the whole can of frosting; it will make the balls too moist.  I used red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting which is what Bakerella uses in her Red Velvet Cake Balls.  Using a large, metal spoon, mix in the frosting well, using the back of the spoon to sort of mash the frosting into the cake. 

Take pieces of the mixture and roll it into 1 1/2 inch balls.  I made the cake balls 1 inch so I could get more.  If making cake pops, you will want to make them bigger, though.  Place the cake balls on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for several hours or in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Next, melt your candy coating in a deep bowl. 

  When it is melted, if you are making the cake balls, just drop them into the melted chocolate.

  Using a spoon, cover with chocolate.  Do not mix the balls around as they will get crumbs in the chocolate.


  Using a spoon, lift the ball out of the chocolate, and tap the spoon on the side of the bowl to get some of the excess coating off.  Drop the balls onto wax paper, allowing the ball to just fall off the spoon onto the paper.  If a lot of chocolate pools around the bottom of the ball, use a toothpick to score a circle around the bottom.  When the coating dries, you can easily break off the excess this way.

  If you like, you can drizzle some extra chocolate coating over the tops in a zig-zag pattern. 

If you are making cake pops, when the chocolate is melted, dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate. 

 Then place the stick into the cake ball about halfway, no more than halfway, though.

  Next, dunk the cake pop into the chocolate coating and submerge completely. 


 Remove from the chocolate.  Allow excess to drop back into the bowl.  You can sprinkle on some candies or sprinkles at this point if you like.  Place the cake pops in a Styrofoam block to dry. 

If you would like to make the turkeys, as soon as you remove the cake pop from the chocolate and allow the excess to drip back into the bowl, place two tiny pieces of pretzel sticks into the bottom of the cake pop to create turkey legs, holding to allow them to set.  Place the cake pops in a Styrofoam block to dry for a few minutes.

  Next, for the feathers, dunk the tips of candy corn pieces, one at a time, into the melted candy coating and hold in place until set using the coating as glue.  This takes a little patience, as you have to wait for each one to set.  I only used three candy corn pieces, Bakerella uses five.

  Next, add an espresso bean for the head, using chocolate on a toothpick to act as glue.  Hold in place until set.  I could not find espresso beans; so I used M&M's.

  For the beak, Bakerella uses orange tiny rainbow chips and an upside down heart shaped sprinkle.  I could not find either of these (next time I will order them online).  So I just cut off the tips of some candy corn pieces and then glued them on with the chocolate coating.  I used an edible marker for the eyes.

  Next time, I will allow myself more time and will take the time to find the right items.  But overall, I thought they came out cut.  They were easy, just a little time consuming.  Place the turkey pops in styrofoam to dry. 


Cake balls & Cake Pops

For cake balls and pops:
18.25-ounce box cake mix (or homemade cake recipe)
16-ounce container of ready-made frosting
32 ounces (2-3 pounds) candy coating
Lollipop sticks (cake pops)

For turkey pops, in addition to above, you will need:
Pretzel sticks
Candy corn
Candy-coated espresso beans in shades of brown
Orange rainbow chip sprinkles
Red miniature heart sprinkles
Black edible ink pen

Bake cake according to recipe or package directions in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  When completely cool, crumble the cake into a large bowl.  Add 3/4 of a can of frosting.  Do not use the whole can or the cake balls will be too moist. Mix into the crumbled cake with a metal spoon using the back of the spoon to mash the frosting into the cake.  Mix until all of the frosting is incorporated into the cake.

Roll the cake into 1 1/2 inch balls.  Place the balls on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for several hours or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Melt candy coating according to package instructions.  For the cake balls, drop the balls into the melted candy coating.  Use a spoon to spoon chocolate over the ball.  Using a spoon, lift the ball out of the chocolate, and tap the spoon on the side of the bowl to allow excess candy coating to drip back into the bowl.  Drop the balls from the spoon onto wax paper and allow candy coating to dry.  You can drizzle some melted candy coating over the tops by placing some of the melted candy coating into a small zip-top bag and cutting of the tip.  Drizzle over the cake ball in a zig-zag pattern and allow to dry. 

For the cake pops, place the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating.  Place the lollipop stick about halfway into the cake ball.  Dunk the cake pop into the melted candy coating and submerge completely.  Remove from the candy coating and allow excess to drip off.  Place the cake pops in a styrofoam block to dry.

If making the turkey pops, as soon as you remove the cake pop from the chocolate coating, stick two pretzel stick pieces into the bottom of the pop, one at a time and hold until set.  Place the cake pop in a styrofoam block to set.  Next, for the feathers, dunk the tips of candy corn into the candy coating, one at a time, place them on the back of the cake pop, holding in place until set.  Place the cake pop back in the styrofoam to dry.  Next, place an espresso bean on the front of the pop using a toothpick and some melted candy coating as glue, holding with your fingers until set.  Add a rainbow chip for the beak and a red heart sprinkle upside down under the beak using the candy coating as glue.  Hold until set.  Add eyes using an edible ink pen.  Allow the cake pops to dry thoroughly on a styrofoam block.