Cake Pop Emergency Please Help!!!!

Baking By AnotherCreation Updated 6 Dec 2011 , 3:18pm by jgifford

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AnotherCreation Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 12:20am
post #1 of 22

ok so I made cake balls attached the sticks with melted chocolate, then I put them in the freezer, then I coated them in Almond Bark colored purple(with candy coloring). I put the cake pops standing on styrofoam to dry. They turned out so smooth. I was really impressed. Came back about 20 mins later and my beautiful cake pops were cracking??? icon_cry.gif What did I do wrong? I was wondering if perhaps I left them in the freezer to long before dipping? I am trying to make these for my daughter's sororiety sister for tomorrow!!!! I'm going to try and upload a pic. hopefully it will work

21 replies
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Marianna46 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 12:42am
post #2 of 22

I've had this problem, too. I find if you leave the cake balls/pops out for about 15-20 minutes before dipping them, it happens a lot less often and they still set up very nicely.

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AnotherCreation Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 12:53am
post #3 of 22

Thanks for the reply...So I'm not really doing anything wrong? This is the first time i have made the pops. I made 12 and all but 2 cracked.

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Marianna46 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 12:20pm
post #4 of 22

No, I don't think you're doing anything wrong - either that or we both are - but for some reason they just can't be TOO cold when they´re dipped.

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esq1031 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 12:50pm
post #5 of 22

Yeah, happens when they are too cold. But don't worry, just cover them with a topping or drizzle more chocolate over the areas that cracked and they look great!

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dulce925 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 1:45pm
post #6 of 22

I like taking mine out the freezer before I melt the chocolate so it's not too cold.The pops will crack if they're too cold and chocolate is too warm.

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loml001 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 1:45pm
post #7 of 22

I recently tried my hand at cake pops for Halloween and had the same problem. It was a combination of the pops being too cold (I didn't freeze them but they had been in fridge overnight) and the dipping chocolate too warm. I solved it by taking them out of fridge for at least 1/2 hour before dipping, and letting the chocolate cool to just about 100 degrees before dipping. I had to use an instant read thermometer to get the temp right. And then after dipping, I didn't rush them into the fridge. Dipped them all, put in styro then into the fridge. Good luck!

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Serena4016 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 2:43pm
post #8 of 22

I have made a ton of cakepops and always have some that crack. Last time almost all of them cracked. The cold cakepops expand as they warm up. That is why they crack the shell. Bakerella says to roll them loosely. Now, I feel that is easier said then done!! However it does help. I am actually making about 50 of them today and here is what I plan on doing to see if I can have ALL the finished cakeballs crack free. I am going to give them one coat while they are still cold ( if they warm up too much, they fall off the stick...in my experience...GRRR). Let them dry, expand and crack all they want. Then I'm going to dip them a second time and decorate them. I try different ways of making them all the time...They are tricky little buggers to get just right.

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Marianna46 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 4:13pm
post #9 of 22

Loml001, chocolate melts at under the temperature of the human body (that's why it always melts on your hands, not in your mouth!) so there's no reason to let it get to over 100 degrees in the first place - if you heat it too much it cooks or seizes or whatever you call it and becomes useless for anything other than hot chocolate. About 3 20-second bursts (stirring in between) is all it takes to melt about a pound of grated or finely-chopped chocolate. If you heat it less, there will be less of a temperature difference between the chocolate and the cooled cake balls. Serena4016, I'd never thought about those suckers expanding as they thawed. That explains a lot. By the way, did everybody see the turkey cake balls on Sharon Zambito's blog today? They're SO cute!

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Serena4016 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 5:01pm
post #10 of 22

Well, Disaster!! I tried to re-dip cakeballs a second time to go over the crack (as per my previous post here).....BAD IDEA (it wouldn't be my first bad idea) and the first coating melted from the heat of the second coat and then they fell off the sticks!! So...it's probably not a good idea for anyone to try that brilliant idea!!!!!! I don't understand why I used to do quite well, with very little cracking and now almost all of them crack. I'm not doing anything differently!! GRRRR!!!!

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Serena4016 Posted 15 Nov 2011 , 5:17pm
post #11 of 22

OMG...ME AGAIN...I was able to salvage them by putting the once coated cakepops in the freezer and then re dipping them. Still not happy with the way they look but at least they are crackless and still on the sticks!!

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AnotherCreation Posted 16 Nov 2011 , 4:35pm
post #12 of 22

Well on mine..... I did another dozen of them letting them rest out of the freezer for about 15 mins or so. They dipped well but a few still cracked but I used some white chocolate and drizzled over the cracks to "seal" them and it worked great and looked like that how i planned it all along. I am SOOOOO glad i'm not the only one having problems though icon_biggrin.gif

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Linda2010 Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 5:37am
post #13 of 22

Please I need help. I have the wilton candy melts, I tried the microwave sistem, the melts did not melt. I tried the doble boiler sistem, the same thing. There is only a dry ball, not liquid. I read several blogs to try to find an answer to my problem and some said that you can add some vegetable shortening, it does not say how much and I am afraid that if I add too much the melts wont harden.

I will appreciate your help

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AnotherCreation Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 12:02pm
post #14 of 22

I'm not 100 percent sure but it sounds like you put them in the microwave for too long. how long did you set the microwave for?

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Marianna46 Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 12:27pm
post #15 of 22

I agree with AnotherCreation. It sounds like they've been overcooked, and if that's the case, there's nothing you can do about them now. I generally microwave mine for 20 seconds at a time, stirring after each zap. It only takes 3 or 4 of these 20-second bursts to melt them, because they melt at several degrees below body temperature (it's why chocolate is always melting in your hands if you hold it for a while). I think you might have to get some more and try again, sorry to say.

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jamawoops Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 1:49pm
post #16 of 22

I heard that if you add the shortening while melting the candy melts it will help the chocolate not crack later. I think it was 1 tbsp per bag. Anyone know if this works?

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jgifford Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 2:52pm
post #17 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda2010

Please I need help. I have the wilton candy melts, I tried the microwave sistem, the melts did not melt. I tried the doble boiler sistem, the same thing. There is only a dry ball, not liquid. I read several blogs to try to find an answer to my problem and some said that you can add some vegetable shortening, it does not say how much and I am afraid that if I add too much the melts wont harden.

I will appreciate your help




It sounds like you might have gotten some moisture in your candy melts. They're usually pretty forgiving, but one drop of water will ruin an entire batch.

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Linda2010 Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 8:20pm
post #18 of 22

I followed the instructions on the bag. 30 seconds at the time at 50% power. But you know? I am thinking that some microwaves heat at higher temperature than others. I will try the 20 seconds sistem.

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jgifford Posted 5 Dec 2011 , 8:35pm
post #19 of 22

I must have a really wimpy microwave - - I do 30 seconds on high, then 3 minutes on half-power, then stir and another minute of half-power. Either that or I melt a lot more at one time than anyone else. icon_smile.gif

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designdiva22 Posted 6 Dec 2011 , 1:39am
post #20 of 22

I do them in 15 second bursts and add oil till the consistency is pouring thin.

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Linda2010 Posted 6 Dec 2011 , 4:40am
post #21 of 22

Ok I got a new package of Candy Melts, and melted down to a creamy consistency, not liquid yet. If I add enough shortening or oil or cocoa butter to make it thin, does it go back to a hard consitency or stays soft?
Sorry for asking so many questions but you are the experts icon_confused.gif

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jgifford Posted 6 Dec 2011 , 3:18pm
post #22 of 22

Start with 1/2 a teaspoon of shortening at a time. It should harden when it cools, even with added shortening.

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