Whether you’re hosting a 4th of July get-together and serving up burgers and hotdogs or a playful patriotic clambake party, these spectacular treats are guaranteed to make it a sweet celebration.
Looking for some Patriotic inspiration? Bored and in need of a spectacular yet easy dessert that will keep the crowd coming back for more? Whether you’re hosting a 4th of July get-together and serving up burgers and hotdogs or hosting a playful patriotic clambake party, these spectacular red, white and blue treats are guaranteed to make your party a sweet as well as a spectacular celebration.
Now, we’ve made this recipe to be as SIMPLE and EASY as possible to make. Using candy melts and your favorite cake mix, you can focus on the decoration of the cake pops instead of perfecting the cake recipe – but if you want to make these with fancy chocolate and natural dyes, be my guest. They’ll of course be delicious!
How to Make Red White and Blue Patriotic Cake Pops
Prepare the Cake
- Bake the Cake: Follow the instructions on the cake mix box or your from-scratch recipe to bake the cake. Let it cool completely.
- Break into Crumbs: Once the cake is cool, crumble it into a large bowl using your hands.
Form the Cake Balls
- Mix with Frosting: Add 3/4 can of cream cheese frosting to the cake crumbs. Mix until well blended.
- Roll into Balls: Roll the cake mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on waxed paper.
Insert Sticks
- Melt Chocolate: Melt a small amount of chocolate melts as directed on the package or in a melting pot.
- Insert Sticks: Dip one end of a lollipop stick about ½ inch into the melted chocolate and insert the stick into the center of a cake ball. Repeat for all cake balls.
- Chill: Place the cake pops in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, to firm up.
Dip the Cake Pops
- Melt Remaining Chocolate: Melt the remaining chocolate melts as directed.
- Dip Cake Pops: Remove the cake pops from the fridge/freezer. Dip each one into the melted chocolate, allowing the excess chocolate to drip off.
- Create Stars and Stripes:
- For the “stars” pops, use blue candy melts and add white sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.
- For the “stripes” pops, use red candy melts. After the chocolate hardens, drizzle with white chocolate.
Set the Pops
- Prop Up Pops: Prop up the cake pops, cake side down, on waxed paper. Let the chocolate harden completely.
- Arrange for Display: Line up the pops on a tray to create a Stars & Stripes pattern.
Recipe Notes
- Chocolate Melts: Wilton brand is preferred for smooth melting, but other brands will also work.
- Cake Mix or Homemade: Either a boxed cake mix or a homemade cake recipe can be used. Ensure the cake is completely cool before crumbling.
- Decorating Tips: Use a toothpick to touch up any imperfections in the chocolate coating before it hardens.
Red, White, and Blue Patriotic Cake Pops
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 50 1x
Description
These fun and colorful cake pops are made with your favorite cake mix or homemade cake recipe and decorated with red, white, and blue candy melts to resemble the American flag. They are easy to make and a hit at any party!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 box of your favorite cake mix (plus ingredients needed as listed on the box) or your favorite from-scratch cake recipe
- 3/4 can prepared cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz (227g) white or blue chocolate melts (I prefer to use the Wilton brand)
- 8 oz (227g) red chocolate melts (I prefer to use the Wilton brand)
- 1/4 cup (50g) white sprinkles (the ones that look like little balls)
- Supplies:
- Waxed paper
- 50 lollipop sticks
Instructions
Prepare the Cake
- Bake the Cake: Follow the instructions on the cake mix box or your from-scratch recipe to bake the cake. Let it cool completely.
- Break into Crumbs: Once the cake is cool, crumble it into a large bowl using your hands.
Form the Cake Balls
- Mix with Frosting: Add 3/4 can of cream cheese frosting to the cake crumbs. Mix until well blended.
- Roll into Balls: Roll the cake mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on waxed paper.
Insert Sticks
- Melt Chocolate: Melt a small amount of chocolate melts as directed on the package or in a melting pot.
- Insert Sticks: Dip one end of a lollipop stick about ½ inch into the melted chocolate and insert the stick into the center of a cake ball. Repeat for all cake balls.
- Chill: Place the cake pops in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, to firm up.
Dip the Cake Pops
- Melt Remaining Chocolate: Melt the remaining chocolate melts as directed.
- Dip Cake Pops: Remove the cake pops from the fridge/freezer. Dip each one into the melted chocolate, allowing the excess chocolate to drip off.
- Create Stars and Stripes:
- For the “stars” pops, use blue candy melts and add white sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.
- For the “stripes” pops, use red candy melts. After the chocolate hardens, drizzle with white chocolate.
Set the Pops
- Prop Up Pops: Prop up the cake pops, cake side down, on waxed paper. Let the chocolate harden completely.
- Arrange for Display: Line up the pops on a tray to create a Stars & Stripes pattern.
Notes
- Chocolate Melts: Wilton brand is preferred for smooth melting, but other brands will also work.
- Cake Mix or Homemade: Either a boxed cake mix or a homemade cake recipe can be used. Ensure the cake is completely cool before crumbling.
- Decorating Tips: Use a toothpick to touch up any imperfections in the chocolate coating before it hardens.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Chilling Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cake pop
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 90mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
There is a person on Facebook using your image as her own work. It is the exact same photo. The Facebook page is Janet’s Tasty Treats.
Could not dip in the melted chocolate. Chocolate didn’t pour smooth. If I dipped it the cake would come off. Messy and I won’t do it again Didn’t turn out like the picture at all.
I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe and they turned out amazing. Love the red, white, and blue theme!
So cute, making for 4th!!
Gorgeous!!
These look great!
I made these for a school event and they were gone in minutes. Definitely making them again!
So cool, and it’s delicious, but mine certainly didn’t look as good!
So, I made this and it took me 4 hours of constant work. I wound up changing it a bit as I did not want to use dyed chocolates (which are not actual chocolates). I also made my own frosting as I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup. This was very difficult to make. I had a friend help me and the results are… well… I just hope that it tastes good. If you like I can send you a picture of what my attempt yielded. Also, the sum cost of ingredients for this was not kind on the wallet. Great idea, but not great for the novice.
Yeah, we made this recipe to be as easy as possible – so you wouldn’t have to slave for 4 hours – but I certainly applaud your dedication to the craft Kristi! Hope it tasted great!
I have a special pan I bought from Hobby lobby that makes round cake pops don’t have to crumble them like this, and it turned out super well!
Yum
I used 3/4 a can of frosting like the recipe said and that literally ruined the whole thing for me. They fells apart, there wasnt enough cake to make 50 pops, they were all very small. And since there wasnt enough frosting, the cake fell off the sticks into the chocolate. I had to throw all of it away. 2 hours of wasted time.
Mine turned out delicious! Made with these exact ingredients and it was just perfect!
Making these for Labor Day tomorrow! Can’t wait to share the delicious treats with my family!
I am by no means a person that cooks or bakes anything. NO JOKE. I was looking for something cute and easy and it looked like like this fit my needs. Thanks for the post. And hell yeah, it did!
Made these for an early 4th party last year. Everybody LOVED them! My nephew had a party to attend the following day. He called me later to ask for the recipe! Oh so cute and Yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Can you store these in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve?
Yes, you can store them in the fridge or the freezer – but make sure to bring them back to room temperature before serving.
2 very nice thank you
Unlike the previous replies, I am making these because they are cute and not because of “health” reasons!
Such a creative way to celebrate the 4th. My family loved them!
This is a very cute idea in theory. But with the abundance of summer berries, doesn’t it make more sense to present a recipe for a fun and patriotic red white and blue dessert using more natural ingredients and not all that food dye, especially on a site called “Honest” cooking?
Hi Jenni,
I agree with you about the abundance of summer berries and how they would make a very nice patriotic presentation. Cake pops are a thing of the present, a treat that is enjoyed by adults and kids alike at all sorts of events and get togethers. It would be such a shame not to treat your guest to something they would definitely enjoy.
To the trained pastry chef using chocolate melts is a crime higher then murder, and tempering chocolate (white chocolate in this case) would be as easy as pie. So go for it!
Geez karen, are you the cake pop police?!