Angry Birds Cake Pops!

Don’t get mad, get…Angry Birds.

My husband sits on the sofa, glued to his phone.

Me: “Hey, I think I’m going to run out to the store. You need anything?”

Husband: No response.

Me: “Hello?”

Husband: (not looking up) “Yeah.”

Me: “Okay. You want me to pick you up some elephant poop? Maybe a circus animal or two? I’ll grab some on the way back from my romp with Javier, k? OK??”

Husband: (Still not looking up). “Sure. Sounds good.”

What, you ask, is keeping his undivided attention? Apparently, a group of very pissed-off birds. And, in honor of his birthday, I decided if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – hence, his “Angry Birds Cake Pops” birthday surprise. These guys were fun to make, and although a little time consuming, they were surprisingly pretty easy! And totally worth the look on his face when he saw them. The recipe is below if you want to give it a try! (*Note: you will want to make sure you have room in your freezer or fridge – it’s helpful to freeze the cake balls in between steps.)

You will need:

1 box cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Chocolate), plus ingredients on box (eggs and butter/crisco oil)

1 package lollipop sticks (Michael’s Craft Store)

Different colored chocolate candy melts (Michael’s Craft Store)

At least 3 foam blocks (to insert the cake balls into before decorating and while drying – also from Michael’s Craft Store)

White Taffy (for eyes and birds chests)

Large black or chocolate sprinkles, for mohawks and wings (you can use licorice, but since I’m not a licorice fan I opted for sprinkles)

Tube of chocolate frosting with spout at the end (to make eyeballs, some eyebrows)

Home made Vanilla Frosting (don’t let the “home made” scare you, this is very easy and makes a TOTAL difference in taste. Compliments of good ol’ Martha. Directions below.)

For Frosting:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese, butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until creamy, about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and increase mixer speed to medium. Blend until frosting is fluffy, about 1 minute.

Cake Pops Directions:

Bake cake according to directions. Allow it to cool. Once fully cooled, crumble the entire cake up into a crummy with your hands.

In a large bowl, combine cake mixture with vanilla frosting and mix with the back of a spoon until cake and frosting are totally blended. The mixture should be very moist. Now, roll into desired shapes for Angry Birds heads. Place in freezer for thirty minutes, or fridge overnight. While they are freezing…

Now would be a good time to prepare your decorations. Take some yellow candy melts, and with a knife, cut triangles for beaks and straight pieces for eyebrows (for some of them). Also, use bits of taffy to roll into eyeballs, and to flatten into chests for the birds.

Begin to melt your colored chocolates. Once the thirty minutes is up, it’s time to get your future bird heads onto the sticks. Dip lollipop sticks in chocolate just slightly and push inside the cake ball. (This helps secure the stick in the cake ball.) Now, dip and coat cake balls into the melted chocolate and tap stick against the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. As you go, stick them into the foam blocks to allow to dry. Once dry, it’s time to decorate your birds…

To secure the taffy eyeballs and chests onto the cake balls, put a small amount of melted chocolate onto the backs of them. Hold for a sec until dried. Do the same for the eyebrows. For the mohawks, add a drop of melted chocolate on the tops of the heads and stick the sprinkles into them standing straight up. Repeat the process until you have enough.

When finished, I took the entire foam block and put it into a small basket, and covered the foam block with Spanish moss (also from Michael’s). However you want to serve them would be fine. Be creative! Make them any way you like, and have fun with these guys 🙂

*Genius idea for putting cake on a stick came from: www.bakerella.com

*Special thanks to my cousin Gina, who coached me through this cake ball project – she is the master at these things! Also, thank you to my mother in law, Stella, and my sister in law, Kris, for helping to make these Angry Bird Balls! XO