Cake Pops

straight from the blessed Bakerella's site. She's an evil, evil, wonderful lady!

1 box cake mix, any flavor, plus ingredients listed on back
1 can frosting (not large size), flavor to complement cake mix *
2-3 bags Wilton candy melts
lollipop sticks, if desired
sprinkles, if desired

Bake cake according to directions on back for 9x13.

Let cool completely (can place in fridge if desired).

Dump cake into large bowl. Add can of frosting and mix to combine, making a sort of paste. (I usually add just short of the entire can of frosting - like one large spoonful less than the whole thing.) Just keep stirring - it'll get there!

Roll into quarter-sized balls with your hands, washing hands every few balls so they don't stick to your hands. Place on a cookie sheet, then pop into the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up. (One cake mix makes about 60-70 balls for me. Bakerella says it only makes 3 dozen - I must make mine smaller, but I prefer it that way.)

Before removing the balls from the freezer, melt your candy melts. Try to use a deeper container rather than a wide, shallow one - makes dunking easier. Don't melt all of them at once, because you can't re-melt them easily. Start with maybe one bag and work up from there as needed.

When candy is in the microwave, grab cake balls from freezer. Using a large spoon, lower the cake ball into the melted candy, turning the ball around to ensure it's entirely coated. Working quickly, remove from candy with the spoon, tapping the spoon lightly on the edge of the container to remove excess candy. Still working quickly, place on cookie sheet (i use a silpat liner on mine), sprinkle with sprinkles if desired, and insert a lollipop stick if you like.

(If you just want cake balls, then no lollipop stick! Also, you can forgo the sprinkles and drizzle with a different color of candy melts after you're all finished with the dunking. OR you can be really adventurous and choose to insert the lollipop stick into the bottom of the cake ball, using a styrofoam block to hold sticks upright. Then they actually look like lollipops. This is definitely harder.)

If cake balls start to get too mushy, place them back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Or you can work in batches, just taking a third or half of the balls out at once.

However you choose to make these, they're really difficult to mess up and REALLY yummy!! Oh - and they don't require refrigeration, though I often do just so they aren't sitting on the counter within my mouth's reach...

*Using a lighter cake and darker candy melt is easier (white / yellow cake and chocolate candy melts, for example). However, use whatever you'd like! Chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting, pink & white candy melts for Valentine's Day... Cream cheese frosting is always a great choice - even with a chocolate cake. It just blends right in and you can't see any white.
Combinations to try:
-Red Velvet cake with chocolate candy melts
-Yellow cake with any color candy melts
-Chocolate cake with chocolate candy melts
-Spice cake with white candy melts
Really - whatever you have in your pantry works!!