Today, I am thrilled to share a delightful recipe that will surely elevate your dessert game, with rather minimal efforts. These Salted Caramel Apple Cake Pops coated in luscious. These bite-sized treats are not only easy to make, but also combine two made-for-each-other dessert flavors into one hand-held treat.. So, roll up your sleeves, preheat that oven, and let’s dive into the world of irresistible sweetness!
Special Tools and Ingredients Needed
Before we embark on this delicious journey, let’s gather our special tools and ingredients. Trust me; these are the secret weapons that will make your apple cake pops truly extraordinary and make your life less stressful. The full list of ingredients can be found below.
Special Ingredients:
Apple Pie Filling from a Can:
This is what gives your cake pops their delicious apple flavor. You could definitely make your own apple pie filling from scratch if you wanted to! I, however, am very lazy, and wanted the convenience of the apple pie filling from a can. I only used one can for this recipe, and I blended it up in my bullet blender.
You could use apple sauce if you wanted a healthier option, but I think the apple pie filling has a sweeter, richer flavor. Plus, it usually comes seasoned with cinnamon, which is always a nice touch. Also, apple pie filling from a can is a little thicker than applesauce, and you don’t want watery cake pops!
Salted Caramel Candy Melts:
These are the crowning jewel for these cake pops! I highly recommend you use these rather than chocolate candy melts if you want “salted caramel” apple cake pops. I get mine at Michael’s and I love them. They have a rich salted caramel flavor, and I plan to make so many more recipes with these! I already made these super easy Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake Pops.
However, if you don’t have a Michael’s near you, or you can’t find these and you wanted to make chocolate covered apple cake pops, I am sure you could! You really can’t go wrong with chocolate and apples in a dessert!
Special Tools:
Cake Pop Sticks, or Lollipop Sticks:
You can get these at most craft stores. I usually get mine from Michael’s. These will hold your cake pops up. I normally dry and decorate my cake pops by letting them stand upright in a styrofoam block. However, for these cake pops, I wanted them to look more like dipped caramel apples from the candy store, so I went for letting the cake pops rest flat on a plate with the sticks sticking upward.
Blender:
This is to blend your apple pie filling for the cake pops. You want the filling to be nice and smooth so your cake pops aren’t lumpy. I just used my bullet blender, because you only need about 1 and ¼ cups for this whole recipe, but you could use any blender.
Now that we have our tools and ingredients ready, let the baking magic begin!
How to Construct Cake Pops
Creating the perfect cake pop is an art, and here’s a step-by-step guide to help you master it. These are just the basic steps for general cake pop-making; More details on this recipe are coming! You can skip below if you already know basic cake pop steps.
Prep work:
Bake the Cake: Start by preparing the butter golden cake batter according to the package instructions mostly. Enhance the apple flavor by replacing any water your cake mix calls for with pureed apple pie filling from a can. More on that below!
Crumble up the Cake: I place my cake into a food processor to make this part easy. You want to crumble up your baked cake into very fine crumbs so you have smooth cake pops.
Forming the Cake Balls: Take a small amount of frosting and mix it with the cake crumbs. I use an electric mixer to make it easier. Keep adding more frosting until you get the consistency you want.Your cake ball “dough” should be about the consistency of Play Dough. It needs to be able to hold its shape if you roll it into a ball.
Roll your cake pop “dough” into balls, and place them on a flat cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment paper. Chill your cake pops in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Decorating and Finishing Touches
Inserting Cake Pop Sticks: Melt your salted caramel candy coating according to the package instructions and dip the tip of each cake pop stick into it. Gently insert the sticks into the cake balls, about halfway through. The melted candy coating acts like glue to hold the cake pop on the stick.
Coat the Cake Pops: Coat your entire cake pop in candy coating, and allow them to dry. If you are decorating your cake pops with edible glitter or sprinkles, do this while the candy coating is still wet.
That’s basically it! Once you get used to these basic steps, you can make all kinds of cake pop!
How to Make Salted Caramel Apple Cake Pops
Now comes the exciting part – giving our apple cake pops a mouthwatering makeover with decadent salted caramel coating.
Apple Cake Ingredients:
– 1 box butter golden cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
– Apple pie filling from a can, pureed in blender, 1 cup
– melted butter (7 tbsp, or whatever your cake mix calls for)
– 3 eggs (or whatever your cake mix calls for)
Apple Frosting Ingredients:
-½ Softened butter
-2 cups Powdered sugar
-1/4 cup blended apple pie filling
Salted Caramel Coating Ingredients:
-Salted Caramel candy melts
-Coconut oil
-Red candy melts (Optional, for decorating)
-Sprinkles or edible glitter (Optional, for decorating)
Instructions:
Form Apple Cake Pops
1. Preheat your oven to the temperature specified on your cake mix box.
2. Blend your apple pie filling until it resembles applesauce.
3. Prepare your cake mix according to the box instructions but replace any water with the apple pie filling you just blended. For example, my cake mix called for 1 cup of water, so I used 1 cup of pureed apple pie filling, on top of all the other ingredients.
4. Bake your cake mix according to the box instructions. It doesn’t matter what kind of pan you use, because you will be crumbling up the cake, anyway.
5. Let your cake cool completely. You can even make it a day ahead to make sure it cools.
6. Once your cake is completely cool, crumble it up into fine crumbs. You can put the cake in the food processor to make this easier. Put all your cake crumbs in a large mixing bowl. I mean large, too! This recipe made me about 50 cake pops.
7. Then, whip up your frosting. Put all of the frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix at a low speed at first, then move to a higher speed. You want everything to be smooth, with no lumps of sugar or butter.
8. Add about half your frosting to the cake crumbs, and mix with an electric or stand mixer. Add more frosting slowly, until your cake crumbs and frosting form a dough that holds its shape when formed into a ball. You might not use all the frosting, but I came pretty close!
9. Line a cookie sheet or flat plate with parchment paper. Roll your cake pop dough into balls and place on your cookie sheets or plate. Chill cake pop balls in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Coat Apple Cake Pops in Salted Caramel
10. After your cake pops have chilled, melt your salted caramel candy melts according to the package instructions. Tip: I like to add a little bit of coconut oil to my candy melts to make the texture just a bit thinner. Then, the excess caramel easily drips off.
11. Dip the tip of your lollipop sticks into the melted caramel, and insert the stick into the cake pop balls, sticking straight up. You can do all the sticks at once before moving on to coat the cake pops if you want to.
12. Then, coat your cake pops in salted caramel candy melt. Place them back on the cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment paper to dry.
13. If you want to decorate your cake pops with sprinkles or edible glitter, do this while the candy coating on the outside is still wet. I melted some red candy melts and put them in a small icing bottle, and then drizzled the outside of mine.
Congratulations, you’ve just created a batch of irresistible Salted Caramel Apple Cake Pops! These little treats are perfect for parties, gifts, or just satisfying your sweet tooth. Happy baking!
Salted Caramel Apple Cake Pops
Equipment
- 48 Lollipop or cake pop sticks
Ingredients
For Apple Cake
- 1 box of butter golden cake mix I used Duncan Hines
- 1 can pureed apple pie filling from a can Replace any water your cake mix calls for with pureed apple pie filling
- 7 Tbsp melted butter Or whatever your cake mix calls for
- 3 eggs Or whatever your cake mix calls for
Apple Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1//4 cup pureed apple pie filling from a can
Salted Caramel Coating
- 24 oz salted caramel flavored candy melts approximately
- coconut oil optional, to make your salted caramel coating a little thinner and easier to work with
Instructions
Bake Apple Cake
- Preheat your oven to the temperature specified on your cake mix box
- Blend your apple pie filling from a can until it is a fine puree that resembles applesauce
- Prepare your cake mix according to the instructions but replace any water with pureed apple pie filling. For example, the Duncan Hines mix called for 1 cup of water, so I used 1 cup of pureed apple pie filling.
- Bake your cake mix according to the box instructions.
- Let baked cake cool completely before making cake pops
Make Apple Frosting and Form Cake Balls
- Place all of your frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat on a low speed, and then increase speed slowly until your frosting has a smooth, consistent texture.
- Crumble up your baked and cooled apple cake into fine crumbs. I use a food processor to make this quicker. Put all your cake crumbs into a very large mixing bowl.
- Add about half of your apple frosting to your cake crumbs and carefully mix. Keep adding frosting little by little, until your cake crumbs and frosting form a dough themselves. You want the dough to be able to hold its shape when you form it into a ball, almost like Play Dough.
- Line a cookie sheet or flat tray with parchment paper.
- Form your cake pop dough into balls a little bigger than one inch in diameter and place them on the lined cookie sheet.
- Chill your cake pops in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Coat and Decorated Salted Caramel Apple Cake Pops
- Melt your salted caramel candy melts according to the package instructions. If you think your melted candy is too thick, you can add a little coconut oil to it to make it slightly thinner. This will help the excess caramel fall off the cake pops so they don't get too heavy.
- Dip the end of a lollipop stick in some melted caramel. Stick the stick straight down into the middle of a chilled cake pop sitting on the cookie sheet. You can do this to all of your cake pops before moving on to the next step.
- Pick your cake pop up by the stick and carefully coat it in salted caramel candy. I like to stick mine into the bowl of melted candy, and then use a spoon to gently cover the rest of it.
- Stick your coated cake pop back on some parchment paper to set. If you are going to use sprinkles or edible glitter to decorate your cake pops, do that before the candy coating sets.
- Store in the fridge to keep them fresh, and enjoy!
