Cake Bite Christmas Tree

 

This tree has to be one of the most elegant and awe-some desserts I have made!

I won’t lead you on, it was a bit time consuming. I would highly suggest breaking it up into a 2-3 day project. Make your cake pop mixture on day 1. Coat and decorate your cake pops the following day and construct the tree on the 3rd day. And if you’ve never made cake pops - start here.

This tree was approximately 18″ tall. You could certainly downsize and make a mini tree.

Let’s get started, we have a lot to cover here!

 

Cake Bite Christmas Tree
 
Author:

Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: yields (1) 8-9″ Tree
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
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This elegant Christmas tree is made completely out of cake bites!
Ingredients
  • 4 packages (16 oz) Vanilla CANDIQUIK® Candy Coating*
  • 2 boxes cake mix (plus ingredients for cake mix)*
  • 1 (16 oz) container frosting
  • Lollipop sticks
  • Styrofoam block (to set cake pops in while drying)
  • Styrofoam cone (can be found at your local craft store (ex: Michaels))
  • Pastry bag + extra coating for piping on designs (note: a plastic bag w/ one corner sniped off can be used to pipe)
  • Assorted sprinkles, pearl dust (optional)
  • Optional: Assorted food colorings (oil or powder based only)

Instructions
  1. Prepare and bake cake mixes as directed on box; cool completely.
  2. Crumble both cakes into a large bowl. Add frosting and mix thoroughly.
  3. Roll mixture into 1″ sized balls. Chill for approximately 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
  4. Melt CANDIQUIK® Coating in Melt and Make Microwaveable Tray™ according to directions on package.
  5. Insert a lollipop stick into each cake ball. Dip cake pops in CANDIQUIK®; allow excess coating to drip off. Place in Styrofoam block to set.
  6. Decorate cake pops as desired with candy coating and/or icing and sprinkles.
  7. Once completely dry, carefully remove the cake ball from the lollipop stick. Insert a toothpick in the Styrofoam cone and press the cake ball on the end of the toothpick. Repeat until entire cone is filled with cake balls. (By dipping the cake balls on a lollipop stick, this ensures the cake ball is perfectly round and will sit flush against the cone.)

Notes
*Note: Depending on the size of your Styrofoam cone, the number of cake balls required will vary. It will take approximately 4 cakes worth and 6 packages of CandiQuik Coating to fill the large (18″) Styrofoam cone (pictured).

 

You will need:

Yields (1) 9″ Tree

Ingredients:

· 4 packages (16 oz) Vanilla CANDIQUIK® Candy Coating*

· 2 boxes cake mix (plus ingredients for cake mix)*

· 1 (16 oz) container frosting

· Lollipop sticks

· Styrofoam block (to set cake pops in while drying)

· Styrofoam cone (can be found at your local craft store (ex: Michaels))

· Pastry bag + extra coating for piping on designs (note: a plastic bag w/ one corner sniped off works fine too!)

·  Assorted sprinkles and edible pearl dust (optional)

· Optional: Assorted food colorings (oil or powder based only)

 

Instructions:

1. Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on box. Trim the crisp edges off for a smoother cake ball mixture.

2. Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add frosting and mix thoroughly. It may be easier to use your hands to thoroughly mix.

3. Chill mixture approximately 2 hours in the refrigerator (you can speed this up by placing in the freezer).

4. Roll cake mixture into 1” sized balls (note: if you are using a smaller styrofoam cone for your tree, make the cake balls slightly smaller); place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Insert a lollipop stick into each cake ball. Chill for another 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

5. Melt CANDIQUIK® in tray according to the package directions.

6. Remove a few cake pops at a time from the fridge and dip in melted CANDIQUIK; allow excess coating to drip off and place in Styrofoam block until set. (Note: if decorating with sprinkles, apply while coating is still wet.)

7. Once completely dry, use a pastry bag filled with candy coating to pipe designs on the cake pops.

*Creative Edibles By Yuki offers a great video tutorial on piping!*

As you can see the cake bites have a shimmer to them!

Pixie dust a.k.a. edible shimmers. Pearl Dust to be exact.

This stuff rocks.

It’s like cake pop blush.  I felt like a make-up artist giving these pops a little shimmer.

(I used the silver dust on the blue tree and the gold dust on the red and red/green tree)

8. Once completely dry, carefully remove the the lollipop stick from the cake ball (slightly twist the stick and pull out).

Place your styrofoam cone on a cake tier or desired plate (much easier if you have to move)!

Insert a toothpick (broken in half) into the Styrofoam cone (pointing slightly up). Press the cake ball on the toothpick. Work from the base of the tree towards the top.

I can’t decide which one I like best. It might have to be the blue though. What do you think?!

TIPS:

  • Depending on the size of your Styrofoam cone, the number of cake balls required will vary. To create the large (18″) tree (as used in the pictures in this post), I used approximately 120-130 cake balls, or about 3 cakes worth, plus approximately 6 packages of CandiQuik.
  • If you plan on keeping the cake ball tree on display for more than a few days, I would suggest filling the hole (formed by pulling the lollipop stick out) with extra coating to “seal” the cake in better.
  • If cake balls become too soft or do not hold their shape while being dipped, return to the refrigerator for an additional 20-30 minutes.
  • If you need tips on cake pops be sure to visit my common cake pop issues & tutorial post!

 

 

Linked to: Kitchen Meets Girl’s Blog Hop

Time Friday, December 2nd, 2011, 1:31 pm   |   CategoryCake Balls, Pops, & Bites, Cakes, Cheesecakes & Pies, Christmas, Holidays  |  RssRSS feed |  CommentRespond  |  TrackbackTrackback

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43 Responses to “Cake Bite Christmas Tree”

    
  1. The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh
    Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 7:52 am

    New to the site and all I can say is WOW…I’m in trouble! ;-)

    Reply
  3. Kathy McGuirk
    Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    Beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial.

    Reply
  4. margaret young
    Monday, June 25, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    This is lovely! Do you have any pictures of assembling the cake tower with the toothpicks? Also, do you have to use the lollipop sticks or could you just dip and make cake balls without having to later pull the stick out? When people are ready to eat one, do they pull cake ball off of toothpick and leave toothpick on c
    one or does the toothpick come out with the cone

    I have heard some people cover the entire cone with chocolate – did you put any chocolate or any other type of wrap (cling wrap or paper) on the cone first? Thanks, M

    Reply
    • Sarah @ Candiquik
      Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 7:06 am

      Hi Margaret,

      I do not have photos of the process where inserting the toothpick. You could make the cake balls (vs pops) but it would not look as nice because cake pops are more rounded than cake balls (cake balls tend to have a “foot” and will not press as nice against the styrofoam cone). Also, usually when you pull the cake ball off, the toothpick stays in the styrofoam. I did not coat the styrofoam in chocolate as the chocolate would crack when you insert the toothpicks in. You could cover it in plastic wrap if you are worried about the styrofoam touching the cake balls. Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by! -Sarah

      Reply
  5. tracy
    Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 11:29 am

    I made this last year, i used the large styrofoam cone covered with blue and white cake balls then placed it on top of a two tier round cake, it was about 3 feet tall, everybody loved it.

    Reply
  6. CeeJay
    Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Simply Beautiful! Just curious as to how many 9 x 13 cakes it will take to complete the 18 inch tree. Thanx!

    Reply
  7. Julia | JuliasAlbum.com
    Monday, December 3, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    This is one spectacular cake! I am afraid it will take me forever to make it if I decide to make something like that.
    Julia | JuliasAlbum.com recently posted..Spiced up carrot and lentils soup, with toasted almonds on topMy Profile

    Reply
  8. cookingrookie
    Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 11:52 am

    wow, this is GORGEOUS! Cake pop heaven :-) . You never seize to amaze, Sarah!
    cookingrookie recently posted..Healthy Apple Oats Cheesecake BarsMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Lily
    Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    That is just stunning!!! Just wondering…how much would you sell that for? We have an order for a tree with 50 and we have no clue what to charge. Thanks for your help.

    Reply
    • Sarah @ Candiquik
      Monday, December 10, 2012 at 7:33 am

      Hi Lily,
      That is difficult to decide. I know most cake pop shops charge by the amount of detail and work involved. I’ve seen basic cake pops go anywhere from $1.50/each to $4/each; depending on detail, variety of flavors, design, etc. Being that the cone will cost money and these are fairly detailed, I would charge somewhere in the middle there. Hope this helps, sorry I’ve never sold any so…! Thanks for stopping by :)

      Reply
  11. Carrie
    Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 11:11 am

    That is so pretty. It’s a toss up between the two. Love the blue/white, but the green/red is so classic Christmas. Beautiful work!

    Reply
  12. Julie
    Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Stunning! Two questions: How did you adhere the star? Could you add some other chocolate such as Ghiradelli to the candiquick to better the taste?

    Thank you for sharing!!

    Reply
    • Sarah @ Candiquik
      Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm

      Hi Julie,
      I used a dab of coating to attach the star. And yes, you could add some melted Ghiradelli to the Candiquik. However it might ruin the smooth consistency, which in that case you could add Crisco (or any solid vegetable shortening) to thin it out. If you’ve ever tasted the Candiquik though, it does not have that “waxey” taste/texture that you get from many almond barks/coatings/wafers, etc. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  13. Anne
    Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    Why does the toothpick have to be broken in half?

    Reply
  14. Julie
    Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Thank you for your quick response! I thought of a couple more questions. First, I ended up w/Wilton candy melt. Do you think that will perform and taste all right? I don’t want to do all this work and it not taste good. Do you think the difference in taste is worth it to make homemade frosting? And last, w/the pearl dust did you mix it w/any kind of liquid or did you paint it on dry?

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Sarah @ Candiquik
      Friday, December 14, 2012 at 9:28 am

      Hi Julie,
      I haven’t had luck with the candy melts, melting smoothly – most people end up having to thin them out with Crisco (or paramount crystals) from what I hear. Also, you will notice a taste difference when compared with the Candiquik or a fine chocolate – but it can be used for the same applications! Also, for the homemade frosting in cake pops, I’ve found the taste difference is minor. However, I do prefer certain brands of frosting over others ;) . I’ve found buttercream to be my favorite with the pops – depending on the flavor of cake. Just don’t add too much frosting, 1/3 – 1/2 cup is fine! And with the pearl dust, I just brushed it on dry and it worked great (I’ve heard of others mixing theirs with vodka and painting it on). Good luck! :)

      Reply
  15. Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl
    Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 9:00 pm

    This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen–just gorgeous!! I am always so jealous when I see your super-smooth cake pops. I can never get mine looking that pretty. Love, love, LOVE these trees!!
    Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl recently posted..White Chocolate Spice Cookies Mix {and Pick Your Plum Giveaway}My Profile

    Reply
  16. andrew
    Friday, December 14, 2012 at 1:49 am

    beautiful to look at….but man, i HATE the texture of these things…its like eating sweet raw dough….i’d probably make them just as a centerpiece…but not to eat.

    Reply
    • Sarah @ Candiquik
      Friday, December 14, 2012 at 9:34 am

      Hi Andrew, thank you! Haha, yes – cake pops/bites/balls are kind of an acquired taste. I’ve found the less frosting I use, the better I like them. And I don’t like the ones you can buy at stores! Thanks for saying hi.
      Sarah

      Reply
  17. Anne
    Friday, December 14, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    Oh my gosh Sarah! I made the tree over to last two days, it was a lot of work but it turned out great! I got to say that candiquick is an amazing product and very pleasant to work with! It is delicious and a of very high quality. Because of it I made peace with cake pops! thank you so much!!

    Reply
  18. Tonya
    Friday, December 21, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    I love your creations! I made snowmen cake pops and small Christmas tree cakepops last year. They were good but I still working on perfecting them. Pretty is time consuming. I live in Saint Louis, MO and was wondering where I could purchase Candiquik from?

    Reply
  19. Maria
    Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    beautiful, thanks for sharing the how-to! Will putting the cake balls on toothpicks and having that little “hole” there make the balls “leak” the oil or cake like it sometimes does when it’s not completely covered in chocolate? Or does sitting them flush against the cone take care of that?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  20. Deb
    Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 6:01 am

    Thanks so much for this tutorial! I have been looking all over on how to get the cake balls to stick to Styrofoam. Your design is beautiful!

    Reply

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