Starbucks Copycat Cake Pop Recipe

Slowly but surely, the cake pops trend has caught on. And Starbucks has certainly played a role in that with their cute and festive pink cake pops.

Angie Dudley, otherwise known as Bakerella, is credited as the first person to debut the idea of cake pops in 2008. But it sure didn't take long for Starbucks to jump on the cake-on-a-stick trend, debuting their own pretty in pink version in 2011. And since then, the portable sweet treat has been kept on the bakery menu with the classic pink Birthday Cake Pop, along with seasonal and flavor variations over time.

If you've even munched on one of these petite sweets, or even had your child beg you for one every time you enter the Starbucks parking lot, you know they have a certain appeal. It's the perfect balance of sweetness and vanilla flavoring. But what if you could replicate that at home? Cake pops take a few steps to make, but with this easy copycat recipe, you can certainly achieve it. With simple ingredients and a bit of patience, you can put together your own charming copycat Starbucks cake pops at home.

To get started on making your own copycat Starbucks Birthday Cake Pops, it's important to have all of the necessary ingredients on hand and ready before diving in on the process. Based on Starbucks' website description, these cake pops are a simple combination of vanilla cake with frosting, which is then dipped in a pink coating. Of course, white sprinkles top them off for a splash of celebration. But that simple combination also comes with plenty of hard-to-pronounce ingredients in the mix. We chose to skip that part.

For this copycat Starbucks cake pops recipe, you'll need a baked vanilla cake, vanilla frosting, pink candy melts for the coating, white nonpareil sprinkles, and lollipop sticks. You can use a store-bought vanilla cake mix paired with a tub of frosting, or you can make these entirely from scratch. If you can't find pink candy melts, vanilla almond bark with a few drops of red food coloring will work as well. As for equipment, don't forget the lollipop sticks!

For the cake, you'll need 1-¼ cups of sugar, half a cup of butter, two eggs, two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract, 1-¼ cups of flour, 1-¾ teaspoons of baking powder, half a teaspoon salt, and ¾ cup milk. For the vanilla frosting, you'll need an additional ¼ cup of butter, two cups of powdered sugar, an additional tablespoon of milk, and half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

To start prepping the cake for these copycat Starbucks cake pops, first, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to be sure it's hot and ready once your batter is done.

To make the batter for your cake, start by combining the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir. Then, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Cream until fluffy, and then add the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla extract and mix.

Next, with the mixer running, gradually add in a third of the flour mixture and then pour in half of the milk. Continue mixing while you add in another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the milk, and then the remaining third of the flour mixture. Mix until your batter forms without over-mixing. Pour the prepared batter into a greased cake pan, and then bake the cake for 18 to 20 minutes until the top is fully set. Once the cake is baked, set it aside to fully cool, or put it in the freezer to speed up the cooling process.

One of the crucial pieces of the puzzle for making these copycat Starbucks cake pops is the frosting. The frosting is essentially the glue that will hold the cake's form. There are plenty of options to switch up the frosting flavor for unique combinations, but Starbucks keeps their cake pops pretty simple. A vanilla frosting will be your best bet for this copycat cake pops recipe.

While waiting for the cake to fully cool, get started on making the frosting. You don't need much frosting for the cake pops, so this recipe has been cut in half to avoid having too much left over.

Start by adding ¼ a cup of softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start mixing the butter, and then add in a cup of powdered sugar. With the mixer running, add in a tablespoon of milk and half a teaspoon vanilla extract, and mix. Mix in the remaining cup of powdered sugar and continue mixing until the frosting forms.

Cake pops are formed by utilizing crumbled-up cake. This can be leftover vanilla cake you've already baked, or, of course, you can use the freshly baked cake directed in this recipe.

To make the filling for your copycat Starbucks cake pops, start by crumbling the cake into a large mixing bowl. Be sure the cake is completely cooled before beginning this step. Crumble up the cake with a large fork, or even use your hands. Just be sure it's broken down enough to avoid any large chunks from making their way into the mixture. Once crumbled, you should have four cups of cake crumbs in the bowl.

Once the cake is crumbled, add in three tablespoons of your prepared frosting. Use your hands to mix the cake crumbs and frosting together. Continue mixing until the cake crumbs and frosting come together to form a texture similar to dough.

Forming the cake balls for these copycat Starbucks cake pops is the next step. You'll want to be sure you're making balls of cake that are uniform in size. They shouldn't be too small or too large. Too small, and they won't be as fun to eat. Too large, and the cake may fall right off the lollipop stick. And nobody wants to be dropping their fun and festive cake pop on the floor. 

Start by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper to avoid the cake balls from sticking. Use a cookie dough scoop to scoop tablespoon-sized pieces of dough. If you don't have a cookie dough scoop with a quick release, a tablespoon will work fine as well.

Scoop the pieces of dough, and then roll each into a smooth ball with your hands. Once formed, place the ball of dough on the prepared baking sheet.

Once the cake balls for these copycat Starbucks cake pops are formed, it's time to add the lollipop sticks. But you'll want to have something to secure the sticks into the cake first. Don't just push the sticks into the cake balls. They're likely to fall off during the dipping process.

Start by melting the candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds. Stir the candy melts, return the bowl to the microwave, and continue heating in ten-second intervals. Be sure to stir in between each heating, and only heat until melted and smooth. Be sure not to overheat.

Once the candy melts are ready, dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted coating and push the stick into the cake ball. Avoid pushing the stick all the way through and piercing the other side of the cake ball. Continue this step until all of the cake balls have dipped sticks. Then, place the full baking sheet in the freezer on a flat surface and allow the candy melt coating to harden and set for at least 15 minutes.

After at least 15 minutes in the freezer, the lollipop sticks should be set into the cake balls. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer, and prepare a station for dipping.

Set up somewhere to prop the dipped copycat Starbucks cake pops to set. Using a glass with rice in it, or even a cardboard box, will work well to keep the dipped cake pops from touching while the candy coating sets.

While the cake pop is cold, dip it into the melted candy coating. Be sure to allow the excess candy coating to drip off the cake pop, or gently scrape it against the bowl or tap it to assist the process. Once dipped, sprinkle the cake pop with white nonpareil sprinkles, and then prop it up and set it aside to set. Let the cake pops sit for at least one hour to be sure the outer coating hardens.

Walking into Starbucks and seeing those cute little pink cake pops in the bakery display case evokes a certain emotion. It's fun! They're festive! And you can totally make these ahead of time to keep plenty on display at home for the same experience.

Since cake pops are just a mixture of cake crumbs and frosting dipped in a candy coating, they have quite a bit of sugar in them. Of course, that sugar gives them great flavor, but it also helps to preserve them in this case.

These copycat Starbucks cake pops can be kept at home at room temperature, in the fridge, or even in the freezer. At room temperature, be sure they're left away from anything that will heat them up and cause the candy coating to melt. Otherwise, they'll be good at room temperature for up to five days. Or, you can keep these cake pops on hand in the fridge for up to one week or in the freezer for up to one month. Just be sure to individually wrap each cake pop in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh in the fridge or freezer.