Toasted Coconut & Cherry Surprise Valentine Cake Pops

I hope you can’t get enough of cake pops because I’ve got several to show you and not all of them are making it into this post. Watch for more coming soon!

I’ve already shared with you how to make Cake Pops: Wilton Style so please refer to that post for more information, including directions for the pound cake version for your cake pop.

After you make the cake and let it cool (you must let it cool or it will get mushy!) take half of a 9×13 cake and crumble it.  With the extra you could simple freeze it for next time!

Add a 1/2 cup of frosting and mix well with your hands.  Shape into balls. I find using my cookie scoop makes the perfect size and I was able to get about 26 medium sized pops with one recipe.

I used the Wilton Chocolate Pro Melter which works wonders for this project and is perfect for fondue! Your chocolate stays the perfect temperature and allows you much more time in which to properly dip your pop! For the 26 pops it took almost a full bag of white Wilton Candy melts.  Be sure to add some shortening or vegetable/canola oil to your chocolate to keep it a smooth consistency for dipping. (Start out with about 1 teaspoon and work your way up.)

Dip the stick into the melted candy and dip the stick into the ball. Repeat with remaining cake balls and refrigerate.

After the candy has a chance to harden to the ball, dip it carefully into the chocolate and lightly tap it on the side of the melter (or double boiler or bowl) to remove excess. Be sure to do this away from a draft as to not create shadows on your pops. Chill then decorate.

Toasted Coconut Pops

To toast coconut, bake coconut in a single layer on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees. Bake, then stir, every 2 minutes until lightly browned. If you start to see any color at all you know you are close and check it every 30 seconds after that.

Immediately sprinkle toasted coconut on the cake pop after dipping it in chocolate. (Do not roll!) Chill then add additional decorations if desired.

Sprinkles can easily be layered by using a toothpick to place a small amount of melted chocolate to act like glue. While it will stick to the toasted coconut with melted chocolate,  it will lay flat if you leave a bit of open space when you sprinkle on your coconut.

To mix it up a bit I added maraschino cherries in the center of several cake pops. I made sure to rinse and thoroughly dry the cherries in order to keep the cherry juice from making my pop mushy.

To do this, after rolling my ball I gently split the ball in half with my fingers and added my cherry.

I then sealed them together by carefully pinching the seams together and then rolling the ball between my fingers to smooth it out.

The cherry does leave the pop a little more fragile so I highly recommend making sure your pops are very cold before dipping. I did lose a couple of the cherry filled pops when dipping but they worked great off the stick as well! The vanilla cake, white chocolate, toasted coconut and cherry center created a fabulous flavor combination!

I had to try out some shapes beyond the ball. I decided that toasted coconut would make great feathers and so I shaped a few of my cake pops into birds.

I had planned to call this a love bird but after Cat’s husband Jon commented that he liked my “chicken”, now I’m not so sure. 🙂

I think my favorite though is my Valentine’s Day Monster Cake Pop. The toasted coconut does a wonderful job of mimicking fur and this design is an easy way to get an adorable pop without a lot of work. Simply shape your cake into a square instead of a ball and add candy eyeballs and sprinkles to complete his sweet face. It would also be fun to add arms and legs!

Cake pops make a great Valentine’s Day treat. What better way to show someone you love them than with a furry little monster ready to give you a heart kiss?

Disclosure – As a Wilton Brand Ambassador I was provided with some of the products featured in this post. Opinions expressed are my 100% my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.