Conversation heart cake pops for Valentine's Day

In today’s post: Show someone you love them on Valentine’s Day with these adorable conversation heart cake pops!

I still remember how much fun it was to get a box of conversation hearts on Valentine’s Day. I’d look through them and read the sayings on each one and wonder if any of the boys in my class actually thought I was “too cute”. Of course, conversation hearts taste pretty terrible, right? What they really need is to be make of CAKE, because cake is always better. Hence today’s project: conversation heart cake pops.

Most cake pops start with a mixture of cake crumbs and frosting which has been rolled into a ball or other shape. These conversation heart cake pops are a little different; they’re made with pound cake which has been cut into a heart shape and then covered in candy melt coating. They’re cute and yummy!

Ok, since I believe in full honestly here I will tell you that these conversation heart cake pops are just a bit fiddly to make, mostly because you have to prep the heart on the stick and then freeze them completely hard before dipping. If you’ve never made pops before you might want to start with Oreo pops instead. But if you’re used to dipping pops and want a cute new idea, go ahead and give these a try.

How to make conversation heart cake pops

yield: about 20

Watch this video to see how to make the heart cake pops, then read the full instructions below:

Supplies:

pound cake: I used the Sara Lee brand All Butter Pound Cake that you buy frozen
candy melts: you’ll probably want two 12oz bags to be sure you have enough
sucker sticks
small heart cookie cutter, about 2.25 inches across works great

Let the frozen pound cake thaw for about 5 minutes at room temperature so you can slice it (it will still be mostly frozen). Using a sharp knife, cut off each end, then slice cake into 10-12 slices, about 3/4 of an inch thick. Use the heart cookie cutter to cut 2 hearts out of each slice of cake.

Place all the hearts on a cookie sheet or cutting board that’s been covered with wax paper. Melt a small amount of candy melts. Dip a sucker stick into the candy melts, then gently push it into the bottom of each heart, taking care not to break the hearts.

Place hearts into freezer until completely frozen hard (time will depend on your freezer but could be 2-3 hours). If they hearts are not completely frozen they will break when you try to dip them!

Follow the directions on the package of candy melts to melt them (melt one package at a time). It’s easiest to dip the pops if you melt the candy in a cup or jar that is just a little wider than the hearts. I stir about one tablespoon of vegetable shortening (Crisco) into the candy after it’s melted to thin it up a bit.

Remove one or two hearts from the freezer at a time. Holding the stick, dip each heart into the candy, making sure to cover it completely. Gently tap the stick on the edge of the cup to shake off excess candy coating, then set the heart onto wax paper.

Repeat with the rest of the hearts. You may need to reheat the candy as you work. Allow the hearts to cool completely.

Place a few candy melts into a ziplock baggie and microwave to melt. Snip just a tiny bit off one corner of the bag to create a “piping bag.” Pipe words onto the each heart cake pop and allow to set up (5 minutes or so). It’s a good idea to practice piping a few words onto wax paper first so you get an idea of how big they’ll end up.

The dipping process will be easier if you stick to one color of candy, but if you happen to keep a variety of candy melts on hand, it’s fun to make a few different colors. I made the pink conversation heart cake pops using pink candy melts. The orange ones were made with a mix of orange and white melts. For the yellow ones, I added yellow gel food coloring to white melts, which worked just fine. And I used red candy melts for the words because the text on conversation hearts is generally red.