This Vanilla Cake Pops Recipe is a copycat of Starbucks’ birthday cake pop. This little treat is a delicious combination of vanilla cake, frosting, and pink candy coating.
If you’re planning to make these bite-sized treats for a party, be sure to try my easy red velvet cake pops (VIDEO) or my no-bake oreo cake pops (VIDEO)!
Table Of Contents
Recipe Details
If you’ve ever been to Starbucks you most likely saw their famous pink “birthday cake pops” through the glass of sweet goodies or on their official menu. This Vanilla Cake Pops recipe is the perfect way to create these amazingly moist and yummy pops at home.
- TASTE: These cake pops are sweet and chocolaty. The cake has a distinct vanilla flavor and the pink chocolate makes these pops taste like birthday cake.
- TEXTURE: The cake in these pops is so moist. And the hard outer candy shell is delicious.
- TIME: This recipe takes a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- EASE: This cake pop recipe is so easy to make. It used box cake mix and melted chocolates for the coating.
What you’ll need
Ingredient Notes
- White cake mix– This will require eggs, water, and oil to make.
- Vanilla frosting– White frosting is best.
- Candy melts– You can use any color you like, but pink matches the ones at Starbucks.
- Crisco shortening– This makes the candy coating on the outside shine.
- Cake pop former– 1 1/4 inch in diameter (or a small cookie scoop) can be used.
- Sprinkles– I used white nonpareils, but you can use whatever you like.
- Lollipop sticks- Any kind you like.
Add-ins and Substitutions
- Substitute cream cheese- If you haven’t got frosting, you can also use cream cheese to make the crumbs stick together.
- Add flavoring- You can make the cake have a lemon flavor with lemon extract and lemon zest. Or use mint extract, caramel extract, or banana extract.
- Substitute coconut oil- To get that shiny sheen on the cake pops outer layer, you can use coconut oil in place of the shortening.
- Substitute the sprinkles- Instead of sprinkles, uses a melted chocolate drizzle, coconut shreds, or ground-up nuts.
How to Make Vanilla Cake Pops
- Bake the cake. Bake the vanilla cake an check for doneness with a toothpick. Let it cool and remove the outer brownish layer with a knife.
- Crumble the cake. Crumble the cake into small pieces and stir in the frosting.
- Make the cake balls from the crumbs. Form the crumbs into cake balls using a tool or your hands.
- Prep the pop sticks. Dip the end of a cake pop stick into melted candy melts and insert the stick halfway through each cake ball.
- Freeze them. Freeze the vanilla cake pops for 15 minutes.
- Dip and sprinkle the cake pops. Pour melted candy melts into a tall narrow cup and dip each cake pop into the candy melts. Then tap off excess candy and sprinkle with nonpareils.
- Allow to solidify. Place the finished vanilla cake pops into a block of styrofoam so that it can cool and stiffen.
Pro Tip: If your candy coating is too thick after melting, add some kind of shortening such as Crisco or coconut oil to thin it out.
Recipe Tips
- Mix the frosting and cake well- A good way to know if the frosting and cake crumbs are well combined is by compressing a handful and checking to make sure there’s no more marbled frosting visible.
- Remove and discard the outer layer of the baked cake– It tends to be drier than the rest of the cake, therefore it can cause the cake ball to fall apart.
- Carefully coat the pops- When you dip the cake pop into the candy coating, don’t swirl the cake pop around. Instead bring it straight down, dip, and slowly bring it back up, so it doesn’t break apart.
- Tap the pops after dipping- After the cake pops have been dipped into the melted candy, quickly tap the hand that’s holding the cake pop to help release any excess candy melt.
FAQs
A cake pop is pretty much a baked cake that is crumbled into fine pieces, then it is mixed with frosting. After that, it is compressed into a cake ball. Then it is placed on a stick and dipped in melted candy melts.
Avoid big temperature changes. If your cake pops cracked, the most common reason for this is that the cake pops were too cold and the candy melts were too hot. When the two come in contact the sudden temperature change can cause a shock to the candy melts and eventually crack the shell.
Serving Suggestions
These Vanilla Cake Pops are moist and sweet with a delicious chocolatey coating. They are delicious with other cake pops, cookies, cakes, and coffee.
- Cake pops: Serve these vanilla cake pops with some Chocolate Cake Pops, Oreo Cake Pops (VIDEO), or Red Velvet Cake Pops (VIDEO). Or try these Red Velvet Cake Balls.
- Cookies: Pair them with some Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Double Chocolate Cookies (VIDEO), Chewy Nutella Cookies, or White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.
- Cakes: Serve them alongside a slice of New York Style Cheesecake, Tiramisu Cake (VIDEO), Chocolate Mousse Cake, or Chocolate Honey Cake (Spartak Cake).
- Beverages: Enjoy these homemade cake pops with a Pumpkin Spice Latte, Brown Sugar Boba, Iced Caramel Macchiato, or Hot Chocolate.
Make This Recipe in Advance
Make ahead: Make these ahead of time and store them in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool, dry place. They can be coated when you are ready to serve.
Storing: Store the cake pops at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. Refrigerating will cause condensation to form over the cake pop.
Freeze: You can freeze these cake pops individually wrapped for up to 3 months, but the candy coating will be mushy and melted when it thaws because of the water in the ice. It’s better to freeze the uncoated cake pops and coat after they thaw.
More Delicious Cakes!
This recipe was originally posted on Apr 30, 2015, we’ve tweaked it a bit since then.
Full Recipe Instructions
Vanilla Cake Pops (Starbucks Copycat)
Equipment
- 1 Tall narrow cup
- 1 Cake pop former 11/4 inch in diameter or small cookie scoop
Ingredients
- white nonpareils
- 1 box Pillsbury classic white cake mix
- 2 Tbsp Pillsbury creamy supreme vanilla frosting
- 12 oz Pink Wilton candy melts
- 1 1/2 tsp Crisco shortening coconut oil works too
Instructions
- Bake the white cake according to the package and let it cool down to room temperature.
- Cut the cake into 4 pieces and peel away the browned outside layer of the cake. I peel off the outer layer because it tends to be too dry to form the cake pop.
- In a large bowl, crumble the cake with your hands. Add 2 tbsp of vanilla frosting to the crumbled cake and mix with a spoon or your hands.
- Shape the cake into balls and place them into the cake pop former. Make sure the cake ball is a little bit bigger than the size of the press. Once the cake ball is pressed tightly, remove the extra cake from the sides and roll the ball with your hands to smooth any imperfections.
- Melt about 1/4 cup of candy melts in a small bowl. Heat in 30 second intervals to avoid overheating the candy.
- Dip the tip of each cake pop stick into the melted candy and poke it into to ball about half way through. Place each cake pop onto a baking sheet and transfer to the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the rest of the candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure you melt them in 30-second intervals with mixing in between. Once it's melted well, add 1 1/2 tsp Crisco shortening and mix well with a whisk or fork. Then pour the melted candy into a tall narrow cup.
- Once the cake pops have been in the freezer for 20 minutes, dip each into the cup and tilt to the sides slowly to make sure the entire cake pop is covered. Then slowly pull up the cake pop. (Don't swirl the cake pop) Hold the cake pop in one hand and tap your wrist so that all the extra melted candy drips off into the cup.
- Sprinkle the cake pop right away so that the sprinkles stick to it before the candy hardens.
- Place in a Styrofoam block and let it stand for about an hour.
Notes
- Store the cake pops at room temperature. Refrigerating will cause condensation to form over the cake pop.
- Mix the frosting and cake well- A good way to know if the frosting and cake crumbs are well combined is by compressing a handful and checking to make sure there’s no more marbled frosting visible.
- Remove and discard the outer layer of the baked cake– It tends to be drier than the rest of the cake, therefore it can cause the cake ball to fall apart.
- Carefully coat the pops- When you dip the cake pop into the candy coating, don’t swirl the cake pop around. Instead bring it straight down, dip, and slowly bring it back up, so it doesn’t break apart.
- Tap the pops after dipping- After the cake pops have been dipped into the melted candy, quickly tap the hand that’s holding the cake pop to help release any excess candy melt.
Nutrition
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Nenita Fisher-Cromer says
I have tried this recipe for the first time back at Easter time and after a few trial and error moments I think I have it down. Now the question I have is… can I make the cakes overnight and the next day make them. I have to make about 100 of these and would like to have that step down. They were a hit so now I have to make more. Thank you.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi, yes you can make the cake the night before. Just keep it in an air tight container at room temperature.
Diana says
Just made these and they came out perfect! They were VERY time consuming but worth it in the end. So I read your can store them up to three days at room temp. Sticking them in the fridge after that won’t harm them other than some condensation correct? Have you refrigerated then before?
simplyhomecooked says
I’m glad you enjoyed these Diana! I’ve refrigerated them before and they ended up with some condensation around the outer shell.
kathey says
Amazing! I used vanilla almond bark because that is what the store had. Didnt need to add crisco!
simplyhomecooked says
Yum! Thank you for the review Kathey 🙂
Dina says
These are not a quick process… you really need to let them sit and set after each step or you will get the falling apart and falling off the stick problems. If you do this, you won’t have any problems like that. Mine turned out FABULOUS! THANK YOU for this recipe!
simplyhomecooked says
You’re welcome Dina!
Lamn says
Hi again!,,,, the reason I asked is because I learned that it is a much more denser cake in comparison to others- almost like a brownie consistency but not as thick so you don’t really need as much frosting in the mixture at all. Just was wondering if you or anyone had known of this recipe (2-ingredient), it sounds pretty interesting & way fun to change up the kind of soda that you prefer!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Lamn! That’s is very interesting. I have never tried that before. I’ll look into to trying that! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Lamn says
Hi SHC-
I just wanted to know if you know if the “two-ingredient” cake recipe made with just the box cake mix and a can of soda will work just as perfectly as a regular cake mix formula does…have you or anyone out there ever tried it?
Trina S. says
Would adding crisco to the candy melt alter the taste of the coating And does the candy coating set up firmly over time giving cake pops a soft but yet a firm coating? I love this recipe being its easy to follow. Thank you so much. Looking forward to making these for “You’ve been booed” bags for My nieces and nephews for Halloween. Thank you.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Trina, I haven’t noticed any change in taste when adding the crisco. If you are really concerned, a few of my readers used coconut oil instead of Crisco and it seemed to work well. The candy coating sets firm but still soft enough to bite like a truffle. Hope that helps!
Jumarra Jones says
Does it matter if you use crisco? I dont have any?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Jumarra, I’ve heard coconut oil works well.
Jayme says
Thank you for the amazing recipe! I made about 70 of these this past weekend, they were a huge hit! I have been asked to make more for a gender reveal party and was curious if you have ever tried adding food coloring to the cake mix before forming them into the balls? Do you think this work cause any issues? If you think this would work, do you have a recommendation on how much to use? Thanks again!
simplyhomecooked says
Hey Jayme, I’m glad these cake pops were a hit 🙂 I’ve never tried adding food coloring but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I’m not sure how much to add though.
Susan says
Can you freeze these either before icing or after? I have to make 75 and not sure how long they will keep????
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Susan, I you can freeze them before dipping them into the candy melts. Just make sure they thaw for about 30 minutes before dipping them. The frozen pops might cause the candy coating to crack because of the extreme temperature difference.
Haelyn says
Hey! I’m about to try this recipe for a party. Looking on another website, I saw that it had the same amount of cake mix but 1 whole can of frosting. Do you know why that would be the case? Is exactly 2 tablespoons enough? Thank you!!
simplyhomecooked says
Hey Haelyn, I’ve tried using more frosting and the cake pop ended up being too moist and fell right off the stick. Hope that helps!
Amanda says
So I am going to make these for my daughter’s 7 year birthday party and I am wondering if you have any suggestions on the candy coat. Myself and my daughter are not very fond of the taste of those melting wafers. Is there something else we can use? I know melting white chocolate can be tricky sometimes. Do you know of any white chocolate that is good for melting and would work of these or do you have any other suggestions?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Amanda, in regards to white chocolate, I’ve had the best luck with Guittard white chocolate. I’ve never tried using them on cake pops though so I can’t say how it will turn out.
Jennifer Zepeda says
Best cake pop recipe. Cake pop taste like Starbucks cakepops
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Jennifer!
Kalungka says
I tried this about 3 weeks ago and wasn’t confident that it would stand being that we didnt have a ball former and some pops were large so we opted to put them all upside down on mini cupcake liners. We added more frosting as needed, some fell off the stick while dipping but they were fine. We used a champagne flute/wine glass to hold the chocolate for dipping, it worked well. Looking forward to doing this again.
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you for the review Kalungka!
Trina says
Hello, I’ve been making cake pops for years. You should try making them homemade. It’s not sxpensive and it taste better
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Trina, I will definitely give it a try 🙂
Debbi says
Have you had any issues with oil leaking from them? We made a batch according to your recipe…the only difference was we used the funfetti cake mix and we had to add about 3 tblsp of frosting. Only some did this, so I was hoping you might have some pointers?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Debbi, I’ve had a few of my cake pops leak oil too. I’ve noticed that if the crisco isn’t melted well enough it tends to leak a little. Try melting the crisco alone before adding it to the melted candy. Hope that helps! Good luck 🙂
Debbi says
Thank you so much! Do you think using the egg white recipe on the box would make any difference?
simplyhomecooked says
I’m not too sure Debbi, that’s something I’ll have to try in the future.
Lauren says
I also shaped the balls by hand, didn’t have enough time to order a ball shaper. Once they’re dipped and decorated, it’s barely noticeable they might be slightly different:)
Lauren says
Thank you so much for the amazing step by step recipe! I made 75 pops for my friend’s baby shower, and they were such a hit! I’ve been asked by a few more people to make them:) I wish I could include photos because they were so cute.
I used vegetable oil instead of crisco, that’s what I had on hand. Worked perfectly. Also, instead of sprinkles, I melted coloured candy wafers and put in a baggie with the tiniest hole cut in the corner to decorate. Some were polka dots, some swirls, whatever design came to mind.
I’ve made them 4 times now, all in deferent ways as far as cooking, freezing etc.
The balls can definitely be frozen after you put the sticks in them. I suggest transferring either to the fridge overnight before dipping, or leaving on the counter for half hour if they’re right out of the freezer.
Thanks again for the great recipe!!!
simplyhomecooked says
Wow Lauren that’s awesome! It brings me so much joy when I see such wonderful reviews like this! You’re so sweet for taking the time to write such a kind review 🙂
Darniece says
Thanks
Darniece says
Has anyone substituted your recipe with vegetable oil instead of the Crisco and gave a good review? By the way it’s amazing that you are still keeping up with the feedback almost two years later. Can’t wait to try this myself.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Darniece, I haven’t tried it with vegetable oil, but some people have tried it with coconut oil and had pretty good results. I hope it works out for you! 🙂
CakenGifts.in Noida says
Ver very Veryyy nice recipe Thankyou so muchhhhh.
simplyhomecooked says
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed them!
Lynn says
Hi I am trying out these cake pops right now!!???? I wanted to know if you have to use a cake ball press?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Lynn, you don’t have to use a press if you don’t want to. My biggest reason for using the press is to get the perfect ball shape ????