Let’s talk cake pops, and how to make cake pops with the Babycakes Cake Pop maker!
Tips For Using The Babycakes Cake Pop Maker
When I make cakepops, more often than not I make them using the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker. I received this as a gift, and honestly my first thought was “gimmick”.
Well it turns out, it’s a great little machine and extremely useful. I LOVE the taste of cake pops made this way, compared to the cake and frosting method, and you can add a filling if you like.
Kohls often has it on sale and if you can catch it with a sale and a coupon, you can usually get a great price.
Getting Round Cake Pops
The question I get the most about the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker is how I get my cake pops round, with many people telling me that theirs come out flat or and odd shape. My immediate question is if they used a regular cake mix or a recipe from Babycakes.
They almost always reply that they used a regular cake mix.
Cake Pop Maker Recipes
Given that a regular mix still requires adding ingredients, measuring and mixing, it only takes a few more quick steps to make them from scratch using one of the Babycakes recipes. Making a recipe from scratch with the cake pop maker is still quicker than the original method of baking a cake, and then chopping it up and mixing it with frosting and shaping the balls by hand.
EDITED TO ADD: As of 2017, it looks like the recipes are no longer available on the website unfortunately. Never fear, I have a chocolate cake pop recipe at the end of this post, and you can find the VANILLA CAKE POP MAKER RECIPE here.
Babycakes has their instruction manual, with recipes (previously available on their website). I absolutely LOVE the vanilla cake pop recipe that is in the manual, and it’s my go to recipe for cake pops, it reminds me of pound cake. I’ve found each one that I’ve tried to be delicious and they work great with the machine. I am very excited that they have a brand new cookbook of cake pop recipes with 175 cake pop recipes. I can not wait to try them.
Cake Pop Mix Vs From Scratch Recipe
My take is that if you are going to use the machine, use one of their recipes. 
They’ve been developed for and tested in the Babycakes machine. The included instruction manual includes some great recipes.
I’m not saying cake mixes won’t work, I just think that it makes sense that you will get the best results following a recipe that was made specifically for this purpose. The Babycakes recipes seem to produce a much thicker batter, which certainly makes it easier to fill the wells of the machine.
The batter is so thick that put my batter into a Ziploc freezer bag and “pipe” it into the wells. I tried this with a cake mix and it was not fun, the cake mix was just too runny. I also saw a suggestion to use a Pancake Pen for the batter. This sounds like an excellent idea that I might have to try.
As of 2019, it appears that Babycakes no longer sells cake pop mixes. I’ve seen this cake pop mix on Amazon, but can’t speak to the results it produces.
Using A Cake Mix To Make Cake Pops
If you want to use a store bought mix, I recommend cutting back on the amount of liquid in the recipe. This is something that is likely going to be different with each brand and flavor, meaning there is no blanket “cut back x amount”. I would also recommend adding a bit more baking powder to the mix, even if just half a teaspoon.
Another fun thing about making your cake pops with the Babycakes machine is that you can easily add/inject a filling into the cake pops! We’ve only used frosting (because we love frosting) but I’m sure you could put lots of other yummy fillings in.
Also, check out this fantastic video from Ahh’s Cakes where she uses the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and goes through every step – it’s about ten minutes long and very helpful. She appears to be using one of the Pancake Pens to dispense her batter.
The Babycakes Cakepop Maker might take a bit of practice (though I have to say my very first batch turned out quite nicely), but I really think it’s worth figuring it out, especially if you need to make large batches of cake pops. It also makes some delicious donut holes. There are other cake pop makers and pans, such as cake pop pans. I haven’t tried it, so can’t speak for how it works.
Make sure to check out this post for tips, advice, idea and resources for dipping and decorating your cake pops and thoughts on some common cake pop challenges such as getting the chocolate smooth, preventing the chocolate from cracking and getting the cake pops to stay on their sticks.
CHOCOLATE CAKE POP MAKER RECIPE
Babycakes Chocolate Cake Pops
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup freshly brewed hot coffee
- Glaze or coating of choice
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla. Using a mixer, blend until smooth.
- Add coffee and continue mixing until coffee is evenly incorporated into mixture.
- Fill each cooking reservoir with about 1 tablespoon of batter.
- Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cake pop comes out clean.
- Allow to cool and glaze or coat, as desired.
- Makes about 3½ dozen cake pops
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Want a vanilla cake pop recipe for the
Babycakes cake pop maker? I’ve got one here!
LO says
Christie! Did you buy and try the Babycakes Flip model? Is it worth the extra money?
———————
Amber says:
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012 AT 8:48 PM
I thinking of purchasing a Babycakes Cake Pop maker in the next day or so. I’ve heard many great things about the original CP-12 model, but there is also one that allows you flip the maker with a twist (see link): http://thebabycakesshop.com/cp-34r . Do any of you have this model, think it is worth the extra $10-15, or is the original the way to go?
I’d love to buy this to avoid spending $60+ to have a bakery make cake pops for a baby shower I’m helping host next week.
Christi says:
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 AT 6:13 AM
Amber, I just received the new flip over style. I will be trying it out this weekend and sharing my review next week.
Barbra says
Thank you sooo much for this. I purchased a cake pop maker last week and my daughter and I played with it that night, it was a nightmare. No where on the box did it say anything about not using cake mixes, so I did, and it was bad. The edges burned, and the middle wasn’t cooked. The instruction book said it was best to use pound cake of muffin mixes…..but there were also recipes in there too……so when I was done and everything was terrible, it went into the closet. Now, after reading your information, I will pull it out again tonight when I get home and try again!!!!! Thank you!!
Arielle says
Thank you so much for this post! I’ve been wanting to try the cake pop maker by Babycakes. I’ve tried making them by scratch with frosting and cake but they didn’t turn out that well and were not easy to make. I’m going out and buying a Babycakes maker today. I can’t wait to use the tips on this post to make cake pops!!!
Natalie says
Read all your posts and then tackled my new cake pop maker. I’d bought a pre-packaged (Duncan HInes) cupcake mix to give it a go and the results were great! I made it exactly as the box said to, without substituting anything. I put too much in the maker to start with, and I was a bit slow with a spoon so I’ll be trying the piping bag idea next time, but it was really easy. Kids loved them….in fact I think I have about a dozen left out of the four dozen the mix made…yesterday! Can’t wait to buy a book for lots more ideas and recipes.
Christi says
Natalie, glad that they turned out! Once you get it figured out, it’s really not that bad, but certainly can be challenging at first. 🙂
Karen says
Hi There…I just bought my BAbycakes Cake Pop and am wondering if anyone has a recipe to make cheesecake pops in it???
Karen:)
kim ayars says
hi i have bought the donut one as a present but i want a cake pop one..
would baked cheesecake work as cake pops preferabley gluten free. Could you please let me know if anyone has made these in this. thank you
k
Amaria says
Hi – has anyone tried Christy’s recipe (posted on February 20, 2012 at 9:20 pm)? When the cake box recipe calls for oil, should I use oil in the recipe, or leave it out?
Thanks for the help!!
adckam says
I made the cake balls, and they turned out great, but I had a problem with the frosting. I melted the Wilton Candy Melts, but when I dipped the balls into the melted chips the frosting was too thick, and the frosting didn’t go on with a nice film over the cake ball, it was too thick. Any suggestions?
lyam says
Use vegetable oil as shortening…be generous. itll come out less thick.
Amber says
I thinking of purchasing a Babycakes Cake Pop maker in the next day or so. I’ve heard many great things about the original CP-12 model, but there is also one that allows you flip the maker with a twist (see link): http://thebabycakesshop.com/cp-34r . Do any of you have this model, think it is worth the extra $10-15, or is the original the way to go?
I’d love to buy this to avoid spending $60+ to have a bakery make cake pops for a baby shower I’m helping host next week.
Christi says
Amber, I just received the new flip over style. I will be trying it out this weekend and sharing my review next week. 🙂
Hannah says
I just bought a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker yesterday after my kids kept begging for one. I was searching for how to do it correctly and found this blog post. Thank you!