Cake pops oh cake pops why can't you be healthy???

Red velvet/cream cheese cake pop with pink butter cream icing

Have y'all been to Starbucks yet and tried their cake pops? I'm not overly intimidated by them and am convinced any seasoned cake pop maker would do better and do ;-)  But I say that the tiramisu flavored pop is amazing and I am going to find the closest version to it soon I MUST because it's haunting me lol
anyways cake pops are too much fun not to make and sometimes just too cute to eat! I have seen some amazing cake pops online and am amazed at all the diversity and talent! I am by no means a seasoned or talented cake maker let alone cake pop maker but I do enjoy trying ;-) it's usually hit or miss with mine these where a hit! I used candy coating this time instead of pure white chocolate and bought it from walmart (trying to cut costs a bit) but I was not overly impressed by it's quality. The flavor was way too strong and the coating was too thick for my taste leaving you with far to much coating in proportion to the cake.I don't really like a lot of icing on a cake so I guess it's just preference ;-) There are tons of different flavors you can mix together when making cake pops, I have my three favorite flavor combos; German chocolate/coconut pecan, lemon/cream cheese and of course red velvet/cream cheese (pictured below, oh and of course the addicting tiramisu...mmmm...one day very soon I promise I will have the recipe!). The concept of cake pops is actually really simple and the recipe easier still but the execution is a little elusive and it takes patience and time!
Some things I found useful when making these treats;

1. Make sure your temperature in the kitchen is pretty stable no humidity.
2. Coating your stick before sticking it into the cake ball helps.
3. Space...lots of space...
4. which goes with time...lots of time...
5. Make sure the coating and the cake pops don't differ too much in temperature or the coating will crack after dipping.
6. Have something ready to place the finished product in, I used a styrofoam block covered in foil.
7. If your candy coating is too thick add some shortening or paramount crystals to the candy coating.

You can find lots more info on these cute little treats at bakerella's site (she invented them and has the cutest collections and ideas ever! not to mention a great site, check it out!)
Click here for a link to bakerella's promo video for her cake pop book, she shows and explains how to make the cake pops. And I will add the recipe for the pops i made below the pictures ;-)
Well here are the pictures of our (my sister and I made these for our grandparents anniversary)

My tired little boy

Red velvet/cream cheese cake pop

A little hand coming in to steal the cake pop

the cake pop disappearing

yummy!

One of the lost boys

Mojito (yes that is his name lol)

Red Velvet Cake Pop's
Printable version 

Ingredients

1 (18.25 oz) box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
3/4th can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate,  didn't like the walmart brand but it's purely preference)
wax paper

Directions

1. Bake the cake according to package in a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. let cool completely.
2. Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. You should NOT see any big pieces (or hard pieces from the edge of the pan)
3. Add 3/4 of the container of frosting . Mix it into the crumbled cake, using the back of a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. (If you used the entire can of frosting your cake will be too moist)
4. The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on wax paper-covered sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours, or place in the freezer for 15min. You want the balls to be firm not frozen.
5. Place the candy coating in a deep microwave-safe bowl. melt the candy coating according to package. microwave on medium power for 30 sec intervals, stirring with a spoon in between.
6. Take a few cake balls at a time out of the refrigerator or freezer to work with.(place the cake pops from the freezer into the refrigerator while doing this step so they wont freeze)
7. One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, and then insert the lollipop stick straight into a cake ball, pushing it no further than halfway through.
8. Holding the lollipop stick with cake ball attached, dip the entire cake ball into the melted candy coating until it is completely covered, and remove it in one motion. DO NOT STIR the cake ball, this will cause the cake ball to loosen from the stick.
9. Hold the cake pop over the bowl  in your left hand while slowly tapping your left wrist with your right hand to loosen up the excess coating. (do not tap the cake pop in the bowl directly this will loosen the coating from the stick)
10. Place dipped cake pops in your prepared styrofoam block. 
11. Repeat with the remaining cake balls

Recipe courtesy of bakerella-from her book cake pops.

Hope you enjoyed them!