I'm Not a Baker

I would say I can cook, but I don't bake. I was never really a baker mainly because sweets just weren't my thing. And with baking, everything has to be exact. Packed and unpacked sugar, exact leveled measurements, and baking times down to the second. I don't have the patience for all that. That's probably why my holiday cookies are always questionable. Out of the 10 batches I make, maybe 2 batches turn out tasty enough to give as gifts. lol!

But I'm trying to plan Blake's birthday and cake pops were an idea to have around the dessert table. They pose as decorations but Blake's guests can also stuff them in their mouths. ;-)

I've been working on getting pricing for them and didn't realize how the cost would add up. And if you know me, I try to cut costs where I can and find an alternate solution.

That means... I had to try and make cake pops on my own.

So I baked the cake and surprisingly it didn't end up burnt or mushy.

Then crumbled it.

Added some frosting and rolled them into balls. Pretty impressive I made it THIS far!

Next, I dipped the pop sticks into candy melts and stuck them into the cake. This is what makes it into the wonderful cake pops that they are! And guess what? My cake didn't topple over, slide down the stick, or fall apart on the stick! WIN!!

But the hard part was the coating. Did I want to use candy melts? Fondant? White chocolate? Royal icing? I was lost on this part so I tried a little bit of everything. The fondant looked smoothest, but didn't really hold the cake in after a few hours. I guess if I kept it refrigerated, the fondant would've held up but... I didn't. The candy melts held up the best (with some shortening mixed in). The thing is... it was just too sweet for my liking. The cake tasted just fine... it was the sweetness of the candy melts. :-/

Does anyone have any suggestions on making the cake pop less sweet?