Heart Cake Pops

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I spent last weekend baking up a storm. These cake pops, plus heart shaped sugar cookies and some special flourless cupcakes with pink frosting are all coming your way.

Each time I make cake pops, I find more ways to make them more easily and quickly (I’ll have to compile all my tips into a post soon). These heart shape cake pops are even easier to make than they seem. After I combined the cake and frosting together, I pushed it flat into the bottom of a casserole dish. Then I just used cookie cutter to cut the cake pops into hearts (see photo in the recipe below).

So easy and much faster than shaping each heart by hand!

Then you can either push the lollipop sticks in to make them standing up (above) or flat on a dish (below). I like making them like the ones below because you don’t need anything to hold them up.

Are you making anything special for Valentine’s Day?

Recipe:

Heart Cake Pops

Makes around 40 cake pops

Vanilla Cake

Adapted from King Arthur’s Flour

Makes 1 9″x13″ cake

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
  • 1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Add butter to the dry ingredients and mix at low speed until the mixture looks sandy.
  4. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine milk and vanilla. Add to sand-like mixture and mix for a couple of minutes at low speed.
  5. Turn mixer to low speed and add 1 egg while it’s running. Increase speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Repeat method 3 more times with each egg.
  6. If needed, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for at medium-high speed for 30 more seconds.
  7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for around 27 minutes. Cake will be golden brown and just beginning to pull away from edges of pan when done. You can also test it by inserting a toothpick, which should come out clean.
Vanilla Frosting
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons of milk
  1. In a large bowl, cream butter and vanilla until combined.
  2. Adding 1 cup of sugar at a time, mix into butter until thoroughly combined.
  3. Mix in milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Assembling the cake pops:

  • Chocolate or red or pink candy melts for coating
  • 6″ lollipop sticks
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter
  • Optional: white chocolate or red candy melts to drizzle on top
  1. Once cake is completely cooled, cut into 6 pieces. Using your hands, crumble each piece into a large bowl (or you could use a food processor instead).
  2. Add frosting to bowl and mix with the back of a spoon or your clean, dry hands until thoroughly combined. Press into a large dish so it’s about 1″ thick. Use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut cake pops out and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper.
  3. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator or for 15 minutes in the freezer. (If you chill them in the fridge, put them in the freezer for 10 minutes right before you coat them.)
  4. In a double boiler or in a microwave, melt the chocolate or candy melts, stirring until all lumps are gone. Once melted, remove from heat and pour into a cup. Let cool for a few minutes.
  5. Remove cake pops from freezer. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick in melted coating and push straight into the cake pop.
  6. Holding the lollipop stick, dip the cake pop in to the coating until it’s completely covered, then quickly remove. Hold over cup while excess drips off (if needed, tap your wrist with the opposite hand to help the process).
  7. Place on wax paper or into a syrofoam block to dry.
  8. Optional: melt white chocolate or red candy melts. Using a piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off, drizzle over cake pops.
  9. Store covered in fridge until ready to serve.

43 Comments on Heart Cake Pops

  1. Shannon @ Family Bites
    February 1, 2012 at 11:29 am (12 years ago)

    Oh wow! I love the idea of pressing the mixed cake into a pan and cutting out the shapes. I’m going to have to try that one! Your heart cake pops are so cute!
    Shannon @ Family Bites recently posted Sweetheart Jamwich Cookies

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 1, 2012 at 3:33 pm (12 years ago)

      @Shannon – thank you! I want to try making more cake pop shapes using cookie cutters – it’s a lot easier and faster than shaping each one by hand.

  2. Living The Sweet Life
    February 1, 2012 at 3:25 pm (12 years ago)

    What a co-incidence, Angie aka Bakerella deemed today Cakepop day !! Talk about excellent timing. These are adorable 🙂 whoever receives these for valentines sure is one lucky duck!!
    Living The Sweet Life recently posted Baby Tomato Antipasto Salad

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 1, 2012 at 3:34 pm (12 years ago)

      @Living the Sweet Life – thanks for the heads-up! I don’t subscribe to Bakerella so I missed that announcement. What a funny coincidence! Happy Official Unofficial Cake Pop Day 🙂

  3. Becky Higgins
    February 1, 2012 at 5:47 pm (12 years ago)

    Stephanie,
    These cake pops are too cute. What a great idea to cut out shapes. It would be much faster than forming the balls.
    Becky Higgins recently posted Coconut Cream Pie

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 1, 2012 at 5:49 pm (12 years ago)

      @Becky – thanks! Yes, much faster. My one pet peeve about cake pops is how much time they take. This method helped that issue a little!

  4. MaryO
    February 2, 2012 at 3:27 am (12 years ago)

    These are adorable! They will be perfect for school moms and for my Grandchildren when they come over! Thank you for the idea and the beautiful pic. BTW Happy Valentine!
    MaryO recently posted Feb 2, Chocolate Pancake Recipe

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 2, 2012 at 8:07 pm (12 years ago)

      @MaryO – thanks! Happy Valentine’s Day!

    • Stephanie
      February 6, 2012 at 10:13 pm (12 years ago)

      @Roxana GreenGirl – thanks! I love how they turned out. Using a cookie cutter is so much easier and faster than shaping them by hand. I love cake pops but they can be so tedious!

  5. hlundy
    February 3, 2012 at 2:40 pm (12 years ago)

    These DO sound tasty and I love the idea about pressing them into the pan to cut out! I got a cake pop maker and molds so my kids could take part though…. I was on a budget though and got my cake pop molds from cakepopmolds.info or www cakpopmolds info

    It was a fun little cooking activity for my family and they are hard to mess up! 🙂

    Reply
  6. jo
    February 8, 2012 at 2:49 am (12 years ago)

    Hi! Can I insert the stick on the bottom of the heart instead?

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 8, 2012 at 7:20 am (12 years ago)

      @jo – yes, you can insert the stick anywhere you want. If you look at the third photo in the post, I put some sticks in the bottom of the hearts so they stood up.

  7. diabetic snacker
    February 10, 2012 at 6:05 pm (12 years ago)

    oooh so adorable I’m going to have to try making these. I’m glad you gave the tip about pressing them out with a cookie cutter. I’ve been putting them off because I didn’t want to mix them by hand looked so messy and hard. Thanks! I might coat some with powdered sugar and sprinkles sounds good.
    diabetic snacker recently posted Blu-ray Review THE DOUBLE Dvd Movie Car Chases Killing Action Drama & Suspense Around The Corner With Richard Gere

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 11, 2012 at 5:02 pm (12 years ago)

      @diabetic snacker – I’m so glad you found this post so you can try them out! Powdered sugar and sprinkles would be good. FYI, if you put the powdered sugar directly on top of the cake pop (without a coating of candy melts or chocolate), it will probably melt into the pops and disappear after a few hours.

  8. jo
    February 11, 2012 at 2:55 pm (12 years ago)

    Hi! its me again. i forgot to ask if i can substitute plain chocolate with the candy melts. will that make a difference?

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      February 11, 2012 at 4:17 pm (12 years ago)

      @jo – absolutely. You can use either candy melts or chocolate to coat cake pops.

  9. jo
    February 11, 2012 at 6:16 pm (12 years ago)

    ohh. thank you!

    Reply
  10. Trader Joes Recipes
    March 12, 2012 at 9:56 am (12 years ago)

    Your cake pops are adorable. My kids will go crazy over these!

    Reply
  11. maura
    September 22, 2012 at 10:45 pm (11 years ago)

    how much frosting do you add when mixing the cake to make th cake pops?

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      September 23, 2012 at 9:47 am (11 years ago)

      @maura – I add all of it. If you’re not sure, add most of it and mix it in. Then add more until you reach the consistency you want.

  12. Holly
    December 1, 2012 at 4:30 pm (11 years ago)

    Adorable cake pops!
    what’s a healthy substitution for the candy melts??? Just chocolate? Have you come across anything with fun color that is all natural and doesn’t contain hydrogenated fats? Thanks for any guidance! 🙂

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 2, 2012 at 7:51 am (11 years ago)

      Holly, I just use chocolate, and thin it out with a little canola oil if needed.

  13. Irish Lola
    February 9, 2013 at 8:50 am (11 years ago)

    I found that if you roll out the cake mixture in between wax paper on a small cookie sheet and put in the freezer for a few minutes before using a cookie cutter works good also. I just started making cake pops and I love it!!! Every time I make them I get new ideas for something else!! Thanks for all the tips, recipes and inspiration!!!

    Reply
  14. Gavin MacRoberts
    August 11, 2013 at 8:06 am (11 years ago)

    I love this idea. I think I will make them for my wife the next V-day, I will make the stick look like an arrow shot through the heart.

    Reply
  15. CakenGifts.in Ghaziabad
    September 1, 2017 at 5:07 am (7 years ago)

    Our whole family would like to thankyou for given this amazing awesome recipe. It was marvelous!!!!!

    Reply

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