Cake pops are a fun and delicious treat that are great for any occasion! They are a kid-friendly confection that can be decorated in any number of ways. These turkey cake pops are both adorable and utilize some leftover candy corn from Halloween, so that is another bonus for these cute little sweets. They will not only be a great addition to the dessert table at Thanksgiving, but they are also quite easy to make!
Step 1: Mix Cake Pop Dough
Crumble the cake, approximately 4 cups, into a large mixing bowl. Add buttercream, ¾ cup, to the mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Add more buttercream as needed until the mixture can keep its shape when rolled into a ball. Make sure not to add too much buttercream because that will make the mixture too soft, will be harder to shape, and will not stay on the popsicle stick as well.
Step 2: Scoop and Shape Cake Pop
Use a medium scoop to scoop out balls from the cake pop mixture. These cake pops are going to be slightly bigger, so once all the cake pop dough is scooped out, break some of the scoops in half and add them to the other full scoops of cake pop dough. Gently roll the cake pop in your hands to form a smooth ball. Place a popsicle stick into each of the cake balls. Place the cake pops in the refrigerator (NOT the freezer) for approximately 30 minutes – 1 hour. Note: Do not dip the popsicle stick in candy melts before placing it into the cake ball as we want to easily remove the stick after the cake pops are covered in the candy melts.
Step 3: Make the Tail
Add one cup of the chocolate candy melts in a microwave safe bowl, and heat in the microwave in short increments, approximately 15-30 seconds at a time. Do not burn the candy melts because you will have to start over. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to thin the melting candy. Note: You want the candy to just run smoothly off of a spoon, so you may have to adjust the ratio of oil to candy melts; however, I have found that a 1 cup candy melt to 1 tablespoon vegetable oil ratio is great for coating cake pops.
Place a candy melt onto a piece of parchment paper. Dip the tip of a piece of candy corn into the chocolate and place onto the candy melt. Arrange four total candy corns in a half circle on the candy melt piece. Next, add three more candy corns to make a second layer that fills in the gaps created by the first candy corn layer. Once all the candy corn is “glued” together using the melted chocolate, set the tail aside and move on to making the other tails. Set the tails aside while you move on to Step 4.
Step 4: Cover the Cake Pops
Using the same melted chocolate from Step 3, dip a cake pop into the candy melts. Shake off as much excess chocolate as possible, and then place the cake pop onto the parchment paper. After the melting candy hardens, approximately 1-2 minutes, remove the sticks from the cake pops by twisting the stick to loosen it and then pulling it out. Dab a little of the melted chocolate on top to cover up the hole left by the stick. Repeat this process until all the cake pops are coated in chocolate.
Step 5: Make the Head
Add some of the melted chocolate candy melts, approximately the size of a dime or nickel, to the parchment paper. Use the back of a spoon to swipe the chocolate. Immediately add two small eyeball sprinkles to the chocolate because the candy melts will quickly harden.
Add some yellow candy melts to a microwave safe bowl, less than one quarter cup will be more than enough. Use the same melting procedure used to melt the chocolate candy melts. Add a little vegetable oil to thin the candy melts. Add the yellow candy melts to a piping bag and pipe a small triangle onto the chocolate. Repeat this process with red candy melts and pipe red along the top and down one side of the beak.
Step 6: Assemble the Cake Pops
Add some of the chocolate candy melts to the middle of a tail and place it on the side of a cake pop. Using either your fingers or food tweezers (highly recommended because the heat from your hand may melt the chocolate) to pick up a turkey head, dip the back of the turkey neck in the melted chocolate, and place it on the cake pop. Note: you may have to hold the head in place for 5-10 seconds before it adheres to the cake pop. Repeat this process until all your turkey cake pops are complete. Finally, enjoy!
Thank you so much for checking out this cake pop post! I hope that you give them a try and enjoy them with family and friends this Thanksgiving season!
