As you all know by now, John’s favoriteSugaree’s Bakery cake was the Coconut Cake. And his love for it and the beautiful cakes inspired me to make something delicious and the perfect colors for spring. And of course, every single guy that saw them talked about my “beautiful” blue balls. I swear that men’s humor stops at 10 years old while us women in the world grow up and move beyond it.
Don’t get me wrong – I love a good ball joke sometimes. For instance, one of the guys I work with loves homemade desserts so I happily brought him a blue ball and a pink ball! He told me they were “delicious” but that I probably wouldn’t want him to return the favor with his balls and I said, nope, especially not if they’re blue. Okay – so maybe my humor is stuck at 10 years old, too! But the balls are worth it.
Coconut Cake Pops
Serves: 48 pops (24 people)
Cake*:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup skim milk
*This can be substituted with a yellow/butter cake mix.
Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
*This can be substituted for cream cheese frosting
Pops:
6 cups shredded coconut, divided**
12 ounces white chocolate, melted
Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar about 2 minutes, until light and foamy. Gradually pour in the butter and vanilla while mixing constantly. Slowly add half the dry ingredients stir until just combined. Add all of the milk mixing until just combined. Last, add the rest of the dry ingredients being careful not to overmix. Spoon the batter into a greased 13×9 baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.
Frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. Beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy.
Pops: In a food processor, combine cake, frosting, and 1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut. Process for 1-2 minutes, until well combined. By hand, form into 48 balls and place onto cookie sheets. Press a candy stick into each ball, if desired. Freeze for 2 hours or until firm.
When firm, dip the balls into melted chocolate and then roll in reserved shredded coconut. Place them back on a cookie sheet until the outer chocolate coat has hardened. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use or serve immediately.
**Coloring Coconut: Coloring coconut could not be easier. Simply split the coconut into different bowls, drop 3 drops of food coloring and mix well with a fork, being careful to break up coconut and coat evenly. Add additional food coloring only if needed.
Until the next time my oven is on…
