Reindeer Cake Pops

A few weeks ago, I made some cake balls for a coworkers birthday.  I actually made them by accident; I was planning on making an oreo bundt cake but I got impatient and tried to take the cake out of the pan too early and it fell apart.  Instead of scrapping the whole thing I decided I'd just make cake balls because I happened to have some chocolate almond bark in the freezer from a chocolate covered strawberries project a long time ago.  The girls at work became, in a word, obsessed with them.  So when we decided to do a little cookie exchange at work for the holidays they demanded requested the oreo cake balls again.  Not one to disappoint, I obliged them but changed it up a little bit.  I mean, it was a holiday cookie exchange, I had to make them festive.  Right?  So, I decided to decorate them like reindeer.  I personally think they are adorable and I hope you agree.

Reindeer Cake Pops

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What you need:

1 box cake mix (I used yellow cake mix)

Oil, water, eggs (whatever the cake mix calls for)

Oreos (I used about 1 row of the double stuffed oreos, chopped)

1 package pudding mix

2/3rds can icing (I used cream cheese)

Chocolate candy melts

Lollipop sticks

Candy eyes

Mini Pretzels

M&Ms 

Edible ink pen

What you do:

Bake your cake according to the instructions on the back of the box, but ad the pudding and oreos to the mix.  Make sure to chop the oreos up pretty finely because you are going to want a smooth ball for the cake pop.  Once the cake has baked and cooled (you can put it in the fridge to expedite the process) place it in a bowl and use your hands to crumble it up.  Make sure that it's crumbled up very finely.  Next, mix in the icing using your hands.  Yep, it's time to get messy, y'all.  You really only need 2/3rds of the can of icing or else it will get too mushy.  You want the consistency to still look kind of crumbly, but you should be able to roll it into a smooth ball and have it stay together.

To form the balls I first scoop out the "dough" using a cookie scoop.  That ensure that they are all the same size, and that they aren't too big or small for the lollipop sticks.

After you scoop out the dough you'll want to roll them into balls.  Make sure you wash your hands occasionally or else they will get super sticky and you won't be able to make the balls as smooth as they should be.  They need to be smooth so you can get a nice even layer of chocolate coating.

After you've rolled the cake balls pop in the freezer for about 20 minutes and melt a little bit of the candy melts.  Pull the balls out the freezer.  Dip the end of a lollipop stick in the melted chocolate and insert it in the cake ball, about halfway through.  This will kind of seal the lollipop stick to the cake ball.  Once each cake ball has a lollipop stick in it, put them back in the freezer for another 20 minutes or so and melt the rest of the candy melts.  I like to melt mine in a cup because that makes it easier to just dip the cake pop into the chocolate and have it be completely covered.  If you use a shallow bowl you have to worry about twisting it and then it makes it more likely that you're cake ball will fall off the lollipop stick and then you're going to get really annoyed.  Believe me, I am saving you A LOT of frustration.

Pull the cake pops out of the freezer and let them sit for a few minutes to kind of take the chill off.  If you don't do this the candy coating will crack when you go to the put the little reindeer antlers in.  In the meantime, you can break the pretzels in half.  

Okay, now we're ready for the fun part.  You'll want to dip the cake pops into the chocolate coating, and let the excess chocolate drip off when you pull it out.  Working quickly before the coating hardens,  insert the antlers in to the top of pop.  Set them aside to fully dry in a styrofoam block or a cup.  To attach the eyes and nose just dab a tiny bit of the chocolate to the back of each and press them in place.  Use an edible ink pen to draw the mouth.  I bought a cheapo set at WalMart and I would highly recommend using another brand because mine did not draw very well on these.  But, they still worked out okay.

To finish them off, I placed them in a little clear treat bag and tied it off with some red ribbon.

These are probably some of my favorite things I have ever made.  They may be a little time intensive but I really think the end results are worth it.  In fact, I think I'll be making these for Christmas Eve with Cole's family.