Candy Apples… minus the apples.
It’s back to school time already, so I thought I’d show you these super cute apple cake pops to celebrate. They are among some of the 50+ designs I’ve worked on so far. (I know, I know… I’ve lost it. But I just can’t stop.) I’ll try to showcase some new ones here and there in between baking other fun stuff.
Anyway, I thought these would be good today – and a great way to earn your kids brownie points right off the bat. Hmmm… brownie points with cake pops. I like it. They’re also a fun way to just say “Thanks, Teach!” You can save the idea for later and they’ll make great Teacher Appreciation gifts, too. You could even make tags for the lollipop sticks and they’ll be extra special. Or maybe I’ll make some for you that you can download. Wait, did I say that. Yikes. Okay, I’ll do it. But not today. Or tomorrow… Soon, though.
Okay, I think you all know the drill by now. We need red candy melts. White works too if you add red “candy” coloring. I used chocolate cake for these, but use any flavor you want. Apple even. Follow the basic cake pop instructions and instead of shaping the cake and frosting into round balls, make them a little wider at the top than the bottom. Then press in the center of the top and the bottom with your fingers a little bit to make subtle indentions. You can also use a lollipop stick to make a spot for the stem.
And for the stem, you’ll need pretzel sticks.
Not this many however … about 25 will do if you use the rounded ends. And if you don’t care about the ends being pretty and round, then you can break each stick down into several pieces and use less sticks. Each stem piece only needs to be about 1/2 inch at the most. While the candy coating is still wet, attach the pretzel piece and leaf and then place in a styrofoam block
to dry.
For the leaves, I used jumbo diamond sprinkles … the green ones. But, feel free to use anything you think will work. Check out the candy aisle for inspiration.
And voila… candy apples.
No… candy covered apple-shaped cakes.
Okay, how about just apple cake pops. Simple and cute.
But wait, something’s missing.
Let’s see what happens with a few large white confetti sprinkles …
and …
What do you think? Personality?
… or plain?
I say personality.
Just use a little bit of leftover red candy melts
. With a toothpick, dot on some of the coating and glue the eyes in place. Then, use the black edible ink pen
to bring them to life. When you use the pen, draw on the details with a very light touch to avoid candy residue clogging it up.
Now… Take a bite out of the little apple!
Ha. They’re so happy, they don’t even seem to mind their buddy being bitten.
Hey! You on the left. Wipe off that grin … you’re next!
Here’s what you need to decorate them:
red candy melts
lollipop sticks
jumbo diamond sprinkles
large confetti sprinkles
styrofoam block
black edible ink pen
pretzel sticks
And, here’s the basic cake pop how-to.
Enjoy!
I love love love this idea!
Great for teachers!
These are adorable! I might actually be making these this week =]
I have a question/suggestion. Have you ever tried making a cake from cake mix and a can of diet soda? I heard its supposed to taste basically the same and cuts down on a lot of calories, but I wanted to try that for the cake pops and I'm scared that it might not work LOL. You basically take any cake mix and any flavour diet soda (i hear diet vanilla coke works well, esp with chocolate cakes) and that's all you mix it with, and bake it as the directions say. I think I'm going to try it but I'm so scared its going to turn out badly!
I JUST LOVE THEM¡¡¡Tiny and cute.
I'm an apple fan.These lovely mini smiling apples…S U P E R ¡¡
Genius & delicious!
i love these cake apples!
I think they would also look adorable with just the edible writing pen for eyes, a la cakespy. Just the dots, and mouths…
Just cute!
I hope I have some students/parents who read yoru site :)
Cool! Love the idea!
Both but It's wonderful !
OMG!!! these are absolute perfection! They look way too good to eat…but of course you need to eat em! It
blows my mind how creative you are! Thanks for always sharing your wonderful treats with us!!
You are amazing!!!
Everything is just so interesting!!!
I'm not an american and i live very far away and i have a little problem. I would love to make candy pops, but we dont have any thing like candy melts. I wonder if there is something that i could use instead? Maybe regular chocalate with something? Help me please.. ))) I found sticks, it already amazing!
These are my favorites that you've made!! I want to go back to elementary school and make some for every teacher I ever had!!
All i can say is that you are ALL kinds of amazing. ENVIOUS!
I'm having the same problem as lau080285. Mine smear and run really easily. I made baseballs for my sons team as their after game snack, and I was bummed when they smeared so easily.
These are definitely on my to-do list for the teachers on Teacher Appreciation day. Tomorrow is my sons first day and I don't have time, but I can't wait to do these later! So cute!
Fabulous!!! The personality ones are just too cute! You're a star!
love these soo cute! I have a question though…in the past I have used my edible ink pen on candy melts on my cake pops and other treats and the ink did not take well to the chocolate…any suggestions?? Thanks,
Lauren
EatMyTreats.blogspot.com
Love them!!!
I like them with the little faces painted on! SOOOOOO cute!
I love all your little cake pops!
I really must give them a go one day :)
Keep up all the fab work.
Love them! Should give them a go, we don't have anything like that available in London!
Very cute! I made these ones:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51911400@N00/3489823130/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51911400@N00/3489007935/
In April as a thank you to my cake decorating teacher and the class. They went over well. My leaves were gumpaste and I used cake sparkles.
LOVE 'em!!!
Very, very cute! My husband is a teacher, so we'll have to plan these as something special for his fellow teachers.
Wow!! Way too cute! I love them!
Just amazing. Before reading the post, I looked at the plain apples and thought about how complicated it would be to make the apples. I thought the leaf was made out of fondant or something time consuming. Of course, it was just a piece of candy! You are so creative and I am so greatful for your blog, because I can actually make some of this stuff!
SOOOO CUTE!!! I love them! The faces are adorable, but I think I actually prefer them plain. Thank you for sharing your talent with us!
Absolutely adorable! I can't wait to make them for back to school. LOVE LOVE LOVE your site and enjoy every single post!
I love it! As a teacher I would be tickled pink if a student brought me these!
I think the plain ones are the best.
You are too clever!! I am beyond impressed. If you run out of ideas (HA!), perhaps you can help me! I need to create individual little camera 'cakes' for my son's 4th birthday party where the theme is photography! Suggestions?!
Very sweet! That last photo is a little disturbing, though… I have to admit. :D
you are a goddess!! how do you keep them so neat?!
i think little pumpkins would be fabulous too! pumpkin spice cake pops?!? mmmmm… yum yum.
These are absolutely the cutest things I have ever seen. The end.
I really hope some of my students (or their parents!) are reading Bakerella! These are so cute, though, I may just have to make them for myself. Maybe I'll make some for our first in service day.
oh, how ABSOLUTELY fabulous! what a great idea. Kudos! Now all I can think of are different things to dunk in chocolate. ;-)
Awesome!! I love it!! Those just rock, and I love the faces!!
I like the idea of pumpkin pops from another note!!
These are great!! I've never made cake pops but want to try every time you do a post on them. I'm definitely doing these for my girls teachers!! I love your blog, by the way! I get so excited when I see you have a new post! :-)
I've been an avid baker for ages, but I only stumbled across your blog a few weeks ago. I've already read every post, and I've bookmarked some of your amazing recipes. These apple cake pops are cute as can be! Thanks for sharing them with us. :)
Too cute! Now I now what to give to my niece's teachers. Thanks for the great idea.
I love love love these! I think these will be the first cake pops that I actually try! I was a teacher and I'd love to give them on the first day to my daughter's teachers! How fun! Thank you for another great idea!!! :)
so stinkin cute I can hardly stand it!!!!!
Lauri
Adorable! I like both versions, but the plain apples seem like a classier gift.
You are way too creative!
You are amazing! love them. How do you get the chocolate to look so smooth?
I love them! Super ADORABLE!!! I cannot wait to try my hand at these. Every year I intend on making something nice for my son's teacher, but never actually execute. Maybe this year my children's teachers will get lucky! Thank you for sharing!
These are some of the cutest cake pops you've made yet! It makes "Back to School" on Wednesday just a little bit easier to swallow.
I would love any tips you have about the candy melts. I've made cake pops four times now and I have the hardest time getting the candy melts to truly melt. They are usually not melted enough or overly-melted and they become chalky. I then end up with maybe ten great cake pops that are easily covered with the candy melts, and about thirty that have giant candy blobs on them! (They still taste great but I certainly couldn't give them away…) Any tips or tecniques? Perhaps the brand of candy melts makes a difference?
You continue to come up with the most darling ideas!!!
Fantastic!
Hi Bakerella! Those are SO darling! I had a question for you. How do you get your candy melts on all your cake pops so glossy and smooth? I love to make cake pops but my candy melt coating never turns out smooth and glossy. Any Ideas?? Thank you! Your Biggest Fan….Marianne!
I think these may be my favorite cake pops so far! A-dorable!
STOP IT!!! Seriously! These are TOO CUTE!!!
Again your creativity is simply adorable. These would make the cutest teacher gift.
oh my goodness, we were just working on these for a back to school treat and I was going to email it to you!! You beat me to it!!
We used red fruit roll ups for the
apple skin (I'm out of red candy melts and was too cheap to go get some more), a tootsie roll for the stem, and a piece of green Airheads candy for the leaf. I also used a vanilla cake mix so we could make a few of them look like they had a "bite" taken out. We also tried using the Airheads to make a couple worms but they didn't work as well.
Oh, so cute! I'm sure I would not be able to draw faces that cute!
Stop it right now missy! Like I don't have enough to do at the moment. Like I don't need another excuse to procrastinate with the countless things that await me. I need cute little apple cake pops that will make me friends with the parents and teachers at my son's new school like I need a hole in my head! What are you thinking.
*good thing I have red candy melts, chocolate cake mix and frosting in my cupboard right now or you'd really be in trouble! I mean I need pretzel sticks for school lunches anyway, right?
i love them!!! so cute!!!
XOxo
I love the personality apple pops! and your baking blog your so inspiring! thanks for making baking FUN !
Love those! I cant wait for an even to make some cake pops. I would make them at home but I know I'd eat them all!!
Oh my gosh, these are SO CUTE!! I am loving them! I can't wait to try them out! Thanks for another fun idea!
Sooooo cute!
WOW!! They are so adorable! I tried to make cake pops before with disastrous results, but I'll have to try them again! You are so talented. Thanks for sharing with us!
clever clever and yummy to thanks for the how to!
Wove them! I'm going to the cake shop to try my hand at these pops. All my friends are teachers.
I'm totally in love with these little edible faces !!! They're so cute !
This is so cute!!
LOL! I love how you always take a picture with a bite (or more than one) enjoyed. Love it!
The photo of the plain ones was stunning, but then when I saw the personality ones, I like them even more. Very cute! So fun. The pretzels make cute stems.
These are ridiculously cute!
Seriously, could your ideas get ANY cuter?!?!
I've only made cake balls a few times, and am still trying to get a good technique down…but I'm dying to try these!!
I like the plain, to be honest. But that's the minimalist in me speaking.
I found these Peanut Butter Candy melts in the store a few weeks ago, and made chocolate cake balls to use them with. Delicious. Everyone was telling me they were like reverse Funny Bones.
Oh, except of the cheesecake frosting I used the canned chocolate stuff. x3
these are yummie cute!!!!
These have 'teacher's pet' written all over them. Thumbs way up on the cutness factor!
Just when I think you can't top the Cuteness… You do!
I see Back-to-School perfect cake pops!
You are amazing!
Wow! So more than a year later, you're still totally blowing me away with all of the new and exciting – different – ways you can decorate these sweet treats! So adorable! Love them!
So, you need to make a book of all your cake pops!!
all this cake pop business seems like way too much work for such a small bite of cake . . .
Okay, you are just sick! This is just too freaky cute!!!!! OMG. I love it!
OMG, I love the ones with personality – they remind me of the Fisher Price Happy Apple I had as a kid!!
These apples are the CUTEST pops you have made yet.
I've already bought the supplies to make red, yellow, and blue cake ball lollipops for a back-to-school luncheon, otherwise I'd be making apples!
I think plain is cuter. I love them.
These are so so cute!
I like the plain, actually. So classic. I'm amazed at the incredible things you come up with!
ADORABLE!!!!!!!
Super adorable!!!
Those are so stinkin' cute!!
Very cute. You've got a veritable army of cake pop creatures!
These are REALLY cute! As a teacher, I'd love to get these from a student! :)
LOVE THEM! So adorable — I prefer the ones with "personality," but the plain ones are precious as well! My local craft store seems to have mainly pastel colors in the candy melts, so I think I may need to order the red online so I can try these!
Question for Bakerella and/or any of the commenters who make/serve cake pops frequently. How do you serve/present them when you make them? I've been getting the little mini cellophane bags and individually wrapping each one (and then displaying them in a pretty basket), but that adds extra time, not to mention creating more garbage to throw away. But I just don't know how to serve them otherwise — I worry that if they're not individually wrapped, then people's fingers will be touching several when they reach for one, KWIM? Any creative suggestions?
Definitely go for the "Personality" ones! You are so talented and creative! There WILL be a book coming out, right? :)
These are so cute..with personality……….or plain. What a great thing to make for teachers. And you know the kiddos will eat em all up if ya don't hide em. lolol
Hi, I like apples they are so cute and great idea for this back to school tahnks for the send
How adorable! Alot of work but adorable.
Oh my goodness, I have got to make some of these! School starts next week for us. I may have to take these in early when I go in to work on my schedule.
They are so cute! You have such an imagination.
These are great. I am so going to have to make them. I always get so excited every time you post something. Thanks for turning me to Retro Bakery.
WOWWW! im in love!
Personality all the way. Absolutely adorable!!
LOVE THEM!!!
What a great teacher treat.
Actually I might make them for my daugther's preschool class soon, their class is called "Amazing Apples"
Wonderful stuff as always!
I just ordered edible ink pens and will try my hand at some cake pops sometime in the very near future!
Love the humor in your posts! The apple pops are hilarious.
So cute!!! I love the faces.
O.K., I have always loved all of your cake pops, but have not made them yet…These I am making! My sister is a teacher, and my daughter is also a teacher, so…you get the picture:) Thanks for the adorable idea!
P.S. Still waiting for your book to be published! :)
These Are Just Too Cute For Words & I Can't Wait To Try And Make Some For My Kids To Take To School & Give To Thier Teachers & Classmates. They Make Me Wish I Was Back In School So I Could Take Some To My Teachers Too! Love Em'
SO cute. I love your play-by-play, too!
They're sooo cute! I prefer them plane but I'm sure that kids would prefer them with smiley faces :o)
It seems to me that you bake everyday….do you? :o)
OMG, they are so cute… would love to bite into one!
Someone brought cake balls to work today! That's always a pleasant way to ease into the week.
So freakin' darling!
God Bless your hands !!
Best Regards !!
Patricia
THESE ARE TOTALLY CUTE!!! MY SONS 1ST BDAY IS COMING SO INSTEAD OF A BIG CAKE I WILL GET A SMALLER ONE FOR THE ADULTS AND MAKE CAKE POP BASEBALLS FOR THE BABIES
DARN CUTE! I love your blog! Thanks for sharing. I am sure taking all of the photos and posting all the details gets time consuming, but WE LOVE IT!
oh stop. that is the cutest thing. Bakerella. we both need 'cuteness' counseling – you because you're so dang cute. And me, well, because I'm addicted to your cuteness! And am causing all my friends to be addicted as well :)
Oh my! So cute! You never cease to amaze me! :)
Love it!
These are too cute! I think I'll have to give them a try. My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in a couple more weeks and these would be the perfect treat to celebrate! :o)
How cute are those??!!! Those are great! Thanks for the idea :)
You have ESP!
I was so hoping you would teach me how to make apple pops.
I am thinking of doing red, green and yellow ones.
What do you think?
Thank you, thank you. I needed your vision!!
Those are so sweet! Thanks for always making me smile, such wonderful creations.
I wish your kids were in MY class – this would make going back a little easier to take!
How cute! These almost make me want school to start!
Oh goodness, these are beyond adorable!
I'm a teacher and I would love to get these from a student! So cute!
Those are ABSOLUTELY THE CUTEST little things I have ever seen in my life!!!
You simply AMAZE ME!!!
Those are quite possibly the most adorable ones yet. I may just have to make some for my kids' teachers. Happy back to school everyone!
OMG, Adorable! As a teacher, I approve. :)
this is great, we are starting back our MNO's for this fall and we will be using Apples oF Gold bible study. I am so doing this for our first night, but in a gold color! THANKS!
You just continue to amaze me with your talent and terrific ideas. Thanks so much for all of your inspiration.
So cute! I love the faces!
You're amazing.
That's all I have to say!
I actually tried to make one or two of these last weekend when I make cupcake pops. The red just didn't look apple colored and had white spots in it once dry. Disappointing, but I will be trying again. LOVE the faces!!!
Those are just adorable!!! I love cake pops :) But I do have one question. It seems that no matter what I do when I dip them in the chocolate I get bits of the cake in their. I freeze the pops for a long time so it's not like they're not hard enough. Any tips??
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cute! This will be great to make for my young nieces to take to school. Thanks again for your time and talents. You make me look good!
:)
Ansa
Very cute! Would be cute with a happy little worm coming out too!
These are adorable! Any teacher would love to get these! You are so clever and always finding cute new way to make pops!
Who said that only cheez whiz adds personality?! I love the faces! Yet another clever idea Bakerella! I am a teacher, and for those of you making these for your child's teacher, you will score major brownie points! Happy baking!
Oh My God they are so cute!
I WANT ONE!!!
=-)
you are amazing!
I love these…you always inspire me!
These are the greatest! I will be selfish and I wish that we could search by Holiday, or Celebration to find all these wonderful 50+ designs. Either way, these are fantastic and can't wait to try them.
I LOVE the personality ones!! I think I'm going to try these for back to school. I'm a teacher and I would love to bring in something those first few days that gets everyone smiling!
Oh those are darling and yummy looking!
In reference to the Smiling Apples…
"L, is for the way you look at me, O is for the only ONE I seeeee, V, is very very extra-ordinary, E, is EDIBLE!!!!!"
This almost makes me look forward to when my son goes to school…which won't happen for another four years ;-)
Too cute!
Wow Bakerella, you just keep out-doing yourself! I wish I had some kids (still a few years off) who had teachers I could make these for. Maybe I'll make them for all my teacher friends. Thanks for the baking inspiration!
Stinkin' cute! My boys start school on Wednesday. Woohoo! (Not that I'm excited or anything!)
Awww those apples are super cute! You're so creative!!
Génial ! Quelle imagination !
These are fantastic – I love them.
Well you did it again. These are just too cute
I'm starting a full time teaching internship in an elementary classroom in two weeks. These would be so cute for my kids!!!
Yet again, I am blown away by your creativity. Thanks for sharing your ideas with us. I love them!
So cute! Definitely love them with personality! There so fun!!!
These are just way too cute!! I need to try them soon!! (oh, I tried the pie pops and they were great! I tried the mini cupcake bites with oero truffle fopr the middle–they are my favorite so far!
You are such an inspiration!!! Thank you!!)
Oh, they are juts SO cute. You're very creative!
I love those! I will definitely be attempting these this fall.
These are too cute! I start school today (ugh because I have to get up early) and this brightened my day up! Personally, I would prefer a bigger apple to eat! Thanks for thinking of teachers.
There you go again! Proving your fabulousness! Love the little apples! I wish it wasn't the first day of school TODAY. I would make these up if I didn't lack the time… Oh, well. Perhaps at Christmas. Or anytime! Thanks again!
oh.my.goodness.
I love personality, too. And the last captions had me in stitches!
Thanks for sharing.
These are so cute! I will have to try them out for sure :)
These are so cute!
You always come up with something adorable! When you said "brownie points" I thought perhaps you had used brownies instead of cake…something I might try.
Thanks for all the inspiration!
-Maria
http://www.madventuresinbaking.wordpress.com
I did the same post today! Now, mine are terrible compared to yours! I had trouble with the chocolate setting up! Can you help? check out my post today if you can….
http://www.simplycreativeinsanity.blgospot.com
When you said something was missing I was waiting for a WORM!
Sorry…glass half empty here!
These are adorable…as always coming from your kitchen
Wow! These are amazing! I have never heard of coloured melts before, so I am glad I have come across your blog, and edibile ink pens?! That's amazing and shows how little i know:) Looking forward to seeing more of what u do:)
OMG! these are so adorable! GREAT job.
Hilariously adorable!
I always find it morbidly entertaining when you show them with a bite taken out. :)
Very cute with personality..but I prefer plain:D
(~~)
Julie
Adorable as always!! I wasn't as brave as you with the apples, but I did make some for the start of school last week. I made them in the 8 basic crayola colors. Even went to Cake Art to get all my supplies! :-) here's some pics of them http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=293941&id=649310234&saved#/photo.php?pid=8257389&id=649310234 pictures aren't too great but you get the idea. I just want to say Thank You for your endless well of sharing. There aren't too many people in the world today as generous as you have been with your creativity!
Sweet, as always. : )
There is a book coming, right??
These are adorable. My girls would love these. I just do not know if I could make them. LOL.
I can attempt.
Where do you find sucker sticks, anyway?
So cute! I absolutely love all of your cake pops. For Easter I tried to make the little chickies. My family thought they turned out well, but I had a problem. About 6 of them went to waste b/c they fell right off the sticks…what can I do to prevent this from happening – I thought the batter was thick enough to hold them, do I need to make it thicker? And will a thicker batter still be as edible?
Mini cakes on a stick – put a petit four on a stick – there you go!
I hope you are seriously working on a book of all these designs – I would buy it in a second. (you are — but you can't tell us right?)
a perfect back to school treat! Adorable!!!
These are amazing!!! SO cute!!!!! Perfect for back to school!
These are adorable! I am planning a back to school party for our neighborhood and I found what I'm serving for dessert! Thanks for the great idea!
Oh Bakerella, I wasn't even thinking of cake until I saw those tiny little fellas. Now they are all I can think about! Funny how it inspired a cake craving not an apple one, damnit.
Personality! I am a teacher and I can tell you that I would love to get these as a gift – they are adorable! Especially if I knew the child helped in anyway (if old enough :)), I would appreciate it even more. Nothing says thank you like something someone spent a lot of time on! CUTE!!!
Perfect for back to school… what a great idea! Personally, I like the personality apples too.
I love these…actually I love all your stuff! I just discovered your blog on the weekend and I'm hooked!! I sat down last night and browsed each of your blog entries! I can't wait to try my hand at making your cake pops…but which design should I tackle first…oh the possibilities!! You are one talented women!
Marianne (Sydney, Australia)
OMG….
this so simply adorable..
love it…
SO cute!!! you are so inovative everytime I go on your blog im blown away!!!!
i love these apple cake pops. i made very similar ones for the staff at my son's school a few months ago. it was a great end of the year treat.
here are some pics:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1397010
Your right they are super cute!
I don't know how you keep coming up with such fantastic ideas!
Well done!
the cutest things ive seen…
Here we go again! To see the ones with no make-up was cute enough…but when you see the little faces OMG!!! I laughed out loud! Perfecto!!! Thanks for sharing your creative mine with us.
So cute! I'm waiting to see mini cakes on sticks. Probably a little too complicated though, huh?
I like them plain, too – they are awesome!
I prefer them plain (: So cute!
OMGoodness!!!!
Such a cute idea!!! I just love it! Fabulous!!!
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
These absolutely made my day!!! Thank you for the apples with personality and for the smiles they brought.
These are so cute! I wish we had candy melts in something other than white/milk or dark…I must try out the candy colouring you mentioned. Hope your day is wonderful, Vanessa x
it was only a matter of time :D great teacher's gift!
when they said and apple a day they didnt bother to mention what kind!! I love love love the personality apples thanks Bakerella!!!
So cute!! I think the faces are a plus!
Really cute. You should have made some horror stricken faces, you know, for when they get eaten ;)
Just so cute they made me chuckle. Fantastic job.
You are so amazing! Can you do pumpkin pops next? Or jack o lantern pops??? Pretty please???? My twins are having thier first birthday party in October and I'd love to do pumpkin pops. However, I'm nowhere near as creative as you and would be lost without your direction!
Elle
Definitely like the ones with personality. Cute!
Haha, I love how the other apples were eyeballing the one getting eaten! You are so creative, great job (^.^*)
Aww what a fun idea!
The apples are so cute! Love the faces :)
So freakin' cute! And I love the apple cake idea.
…you are so C_L_E_V_E_R !!!
I LOVE them. It'll be great to make for all of my teacher friends.
A D O R A B L E!!!! I will have to do these for the teachers this first week of school! Perfect as I have thirty to make for another event!Thanks!