I'm trying to make some of bakerella's minnie mouse cake pops, and I tried making them for practice last night. I had a couple issues that I need some advice on.
1) the chocolate on some of the ears dried a lighter brown than the rest of the cake pop. What would cause that? does it have to do with how I melted the chocolate? (I used the microwave, it has a button for melting chocolate)
2) the chocolate was really thick.. I think I read that I can just add crisco or vegetable oil to the chocolate to make it thinner. Does that really work or is there something else I can try?
3) when I dipped the pops in the chocolate, there were a couple that had a small spot around where the stick was inserted that didn't get covered with chocolate... when the pops were drying, the cakeball stuff was sort of squishing out of the hole. is that normal? I think I had a bit too much frosting in the cakeballs, so that might be the cause... not sure - anyone know what would cause that?
I plan to practice one more time before making the real ones.
Thanks, in advance for your help!

U can use vegetable shorting to thin the chocolate. Add a little at a time. What kind of chocolate r u using. Also ur cake balls r to cold when u dip them. This is y its coming out the chocolate.

Paramount Crystals will thin your chocolate out. If you use chips, you may get bloom, using candy melts prevents this. I agree with cakeman, your cake ball may be too cold when you dip them. Bakerella speaks on that in her book, I think. They should be chilled enough to stick together, not frozen. Also, too much frosting will make a difference....I learned from experience. Add frosting just a little at a time until they form a dough like textrue.

You might be able to re-bake the cake balls if they are too soft/squishy.
I baked mine for 10 min @ 250 ? or maybe it was 350?

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try those. I was using candy melts, but not the Wilton brand - drawing a blank on the name. They were more expensive than the wilton brand, so I was thinking they would be a better quality... perhaps that's why its thicker. I've used the Wilton ones before to make candies for my kids in the molds... and wasn't super thrilled with it, which is why I tried this other brand.
So I won't leave them in the freezer as long and will try not using as much frosting..and will add the oil to thin it out some... wish me luck

Did you ever watch her video? In case you haven't, here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811876373/?tag=cakecentral-20

I've been making these since Oct, 2011 and the original recipe around is to add quite a bit of frosting to the crumbs. In reality after you crumble the cake start with a tablespoon of frosting, or any "binder" i.e., caramel, chocolate syrup, peanut butter, fluff, anything to make a ball in your hand without dry crumbs. I also haven't chilled the balls after forming. I use Make'n Mold melts and Merkens melts and only if the humidity is high does the melt seem to stay thick- then I'd add Paramount Crystals sparingly. Veg oil has been suggested but the melts do not dry hard. Crisco shortening would be my next choice. Make sure you cover all the area with melts, if you see a bubble-pop it with a toothpick otherwise you'll have either cake oozing out or oil dripping out of any weak spot.