
For your next holiday festivities, you'll get anything but a frosty reception with these snowman cake pops. Decked out with a candy hat and scarf, these whimsical snowmen are certain to become the life of the party.
If cupcakes, melted chocolate and sprinkles are your thing, this better-than-a-snowflake recipe is for you! That's why we've broken down the steps of this cake pops recipe and made it easy to create an awesomely cute snowman of your very own.
Video of the Day
And if you're not exactly a Great British Baking Show type of patisserie chef, there are no worries here. You can make our Christmas cake pops with your fave store-bought cake mix, and the prep time isn't measured in hours. So, there's really no excuse not to get baking
Things You'll Need
Two boxes of vanilla cake mix
Canned vanilla frosting
1 1/4-inch cookie dough scoop
White candy melts
Vegetable shortening
6-inch treat sticks
Orange jelly beans
Edible ink marker, black
Peach ring candies
Gummy Life Savers
Candy sour belts like Rip Rolls
Put Together the Ingredients
1. Bake the cakes
Bake two cakes according to the package instructions, and allow them to cool in the cake pan or on a baking sheet for about an hour. The light color of vanilla cake works better than chocolate cake for the snowmen-style Christmas cake pops.
Tip
Do you have a fave family recipe? Go ahead and try grandma's famous white chocolate cake instead of using a store-bought brand.
2. Crumble the cakes
Scrape off the brown layer on the top, sides and bottom of the cakes. You can discard it, or better yet, snack on it while you're assembling the cake pops. Removing the browned portions will help the cake pops have an even color. Then, crumble the cake with your fingers into a mixing bowl until it has the consistency of moist bread crumbs.
3. Mix in the frosting
Gradually add vanilla frosting to the large bowl, kneading the mixture with your hands. How much frosting you will need depends on how moist your cake is. We used 6 heaping tablespoons of frosting.
Keep kneading until the mixture resembles a mound of cookie dough.
Tip
Not a fan of vanilla frosting? Try another snow white flavor, like coconut!
Fashion the Snowmen
1. Roll into balls
Use a cookie dough scoop with a 1 1/4-inch diameter to scoop portions of the cake mix and roll them between your hands to make ball shapes. To mimic a snowman shape, half the balls should be larger (for the body), and half should be smaller (for the snowman head). Scoop a more generous portion of cake mix to make the larger balls, and a smaller portion to make the other balls.
Place them in the freezer for about an hour to allow them to harden.
2. Melt the coating
Use white candy melts to make a faux snow candy coating. One 12-ounce package is enough to cover about 2 dozen snowmen. Melt the white candy melts according to package instructions, either in the microwave or double boiler. The mixture tends to be thick, so add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening to thin it, making it easier to coat your Christmas cake pops.
3. Insert the lollipop sticks
Dip 1/2 inch of the stick in the coating again, and insert the stick in one of the larger balls until the two cake balls make contact. The white chocolate candy coating acts like a glue, locking in the two parts of the snowman on the stick. Repeat for the rest of the snowmen, and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
4. Dip the snowman
Remove the snowmen cake pops from the freezer. Holding each snowman by the lollipop stick, dip it in the melted coating again, turning the snowman until it is coated on all sides.
Place the coated snowman on parchment paper with the stick facing up, holding it steady until it stays in position and doesn't tip over. While the coating is still wet, insert half an orange jelly bean or an orange candy in the middle of the head for the snowman's nose.
Tip
Add chocolate chips to the larger cake pop ball as buttons.
Add the Finishing Touches
1. Draw the face
Wait for the coating to dry completely and harden. Using a black edible ink marker, draw dots to make two eyes and a mouth.
2. Add a hat
Because the stick is coming out of the head, the elements we use to make the snowman's hat must have a hole in them to accommodate the stick. Fortunately, the perfect hat is easy to make. For the brim of the hat, slide a peach ring candy down the stick. Use a dab of the melted coating as glue to bond the peach ring to the head.
Finish the hat with a Gummy Lifesaver, sliding it down the stick until it rests on top of the peach ring. Place a dab of the melted coating between the candies to glue them together.
3. Add the scarf
To make sure our snowman is warm, let's give him a scarf. To make a scarf, we'll use sour belts like Rip Rolls. Sour belts are flat strips of candy that come in rolls. Cut off a 6-inch piece, and then cut that piece in half lengthwise to make it narrower. Drape it around the snowman's neck, gluing it to the body of the snowman with a few dabs of the melted coating.
4. Display the pops
When you've finished all your snowmen, display the cake pops on a platter of shredded coconut, and it will look like they're congregating in a winter wonderland.
Tip
Get ultra-crafty and add candy Christmas trees, candy cane accents or prop your cake pop snowmen up against a Christmas-time gingerbread house.
Oops! Did we forget the best part? Now it's time to curl up next to the Christmas tree and snack on your super-sweet snowman pops.