Chocolate cake pops: our secret for creating these petite desserts — in their most luxurious form

Have you tried cake pops? If you haven’t heard of these adorable bites before, you’re in for a treat. Cake pops are a type of cake that looks like a lollipop. Given that they are made from cake crumbs moulded into a sphere before being covered with icing or chocolate, it will come as no surprise that you can create cake pops in a wide variety of flavours. If it can be a cake, it can be a cake pop. As cacao aficionados, we’ll be sharing our tips on using chocolate in your cake pop creations.

Read on for all you need to know about using chocolate instead of candy melts. We’ll also explore the best chocolate for dipping cake and show you how to coat cake pops in chocolate.

Can I use chocolate instead of candy melts for my cake pops?

Candy melts are a confectionery ingredient that’s often used in cake pop recipes as the pop’s outer layer. They are more common in the United States than in the UK, so if you have never heard of them, you won’t be alone.

Once melted down, you can dip your bare cake pops into the candy, covering your cake pop in a sweet seal. The candy melt then hardens, leaving you with a flavoured (and often brightly coloured) outer shell. This shell helps retain the moisture of the cake. You can even roll the cake pop in fun extras like sprinkles or chopped nuts while before the melt sets. Decorating can turn into a rather hilarious activity if the little ones are getting involved.

Candy melts usually contain palm oil or other vegetable oils in place of cacao butter. While this gives them a glossy look without the need to temper, it results in a less rich and nuanced taste when compared to real chocolate.

For a more grown-up and luxurious form of cake pop, you can use melted chocolate instead of candy melts. Using chocolate with a high cacao content will give your cake pops depth of flavour that’s not overruled by sweetness.

As chocolate does a great job of creating a shell around the cake pop, just like candy melts, your treats will still look the part. They’ll just be all the more delectable and coveted by any chocolate lovers you have in the house.

What’s the best chocolate for dipping cake?

When it comes to choosing the type of chocolate to use for coating your cake pops, it can be tempting to choose basic cooking chocolate from the supermarket. But we’re going to have to halt you there. Remember, the chocolate coating is going to be acting as one of two components of your cake pop. Everything you taste is coming from the cake base or the chocolate shell. If you’re serious about creating an utterly unforgettable treat, it’s wise to use the highest quality chocolate you can get your hands on.

Sadly, most baking or cooking chocolates contain a low cacao percentage, even if they are labelled as milk or dark chocolate. When you’re using chocolate as a key ingredient, you’ll want something that you can really taste. Something that puts cacao at the forefront, rather than sugar (there will be enough of that in the cake).

White, milk, or dark chocolate?

You can still choose your favourite type of chocolate (white, milk, or dark) for your cake pops . But by opting for a premium chocolate coating, you’ll be elevating your treats to a rather sophisticated level. Take a look at Slabs and Batons to find a cacao grade that’s up your street. These plain solid chocolates are the ideal Hotel Chocolat options for melting down and using in your baking.

Our chocolate Slabs and Batons melt wonderfully on their own. However, you can also add a small drop of vegetable oil to the chocolate as you melt it. This will give it a smoother, slightly thinner consistency that makes it great for dipping. Keep in mind that if you’d prefer a hard, pure chocolate shell, then this tip isn’t for you. The vegetable oil will mean the chocolate won’t set quite as hard as it would without it. There’s a trade-off — you have to choose between benefiting from a silky dipping consistency or achieving a hard, crisp shell.

How to coat cake pops in chocolate

You can coat your cake pops with chocolate in a way that’s very similar to using candy melts. Just melt down your chocolate (taking extra care to ensure it doesn’t burn) before coating your cake pops entirely, rolling them in any extra ingredients you fancy, and leaving them to set. (Putting them in the fridge will speed up the process).

You can melt your chocolate on the hob or in the microwave. Make sure you have read our article on melting chocolate without burning it to ensure the best results.

When leaving them to set, it can be beneficial to use a stand that can hold your cake pops upright in the fridge. You can lay them flat on a plate. However, your cake pops won’t come out with neat, perfectly smooth chocolate coatings. Though the chocolate is meant to stick to your cake pops, it will also set on the cold plate. This may tear some chocolate away from your cake pops when you try to remove them or give your treats flat edges.

For guidance on using melted chocolate in your baking, take a look at our articles on how to make chocolate dipped treats and different ways to use chocolate in your cake decoration.

Cacao-rich chocolate from Hotel Chocolat

While we have highlighted our plain chocolate Slabs and Batons as the ideal chocolates for making chocolate cake pops, you can use a wide variety of our more exciting chocolate flavours to add some extra flair to your creations.

If you’re a fan of chocolate-covered cake pops, we’re sure you’ll love some of our enrobed chocolate treats as well. Craving a chocolate-covered nibble but don’t have time to make cake pops? Try our Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts, Rum Soaked Sultanas, and Enrobed Cranberries.