Fun inside and out: Candy-coated Red Velvet Brownie Pops

Red velvet cake is delicious and its vivid good looks are definitely part of the appeal. That bright red makes these bold, candy-covered cake pops that much more fun. Make these for any happy event, for adults and kids alike.

See how this recipe fits into a complete Kids’ Party Dessert Table here!

Red Velvet Brownie Pops

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cake:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups white sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tbsp canola/grapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ tsp red food colouring
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ½ cup heavy cream

Cream Cheese Icing:

• ¾ cup cream cheese, softened
• ½ tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
• ¾ cup powdered sugar

For assembly:

• 24 lollipop sticks
• 2 12 oz bags of candy melts, various colours
• Sprinkles or edible glitter
• Cake pop stand

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake tin with butter and set aside. In a large bowl cream together the unsalted butter and white sugar. Add one egg at a time and mix well until combined. In a small bowl combine the oil, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, food colouring and white vinegar. When smooth, add it to the creamed sugar and stir to combine.  Add the salt and 1 cup of the flour, and combine. Add the last ¼ cup of flour and the heavy cream and combine. Pour the batter into the greased cake tin and spread evenly. Transfer to the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

In a large bowl blend the cream cheese, yogurt and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the powdered sugar ¼ a cup at a time and mix until smooth.

Put a piece of wax paper on a baking sheet that will fit into your freezer. Break the red velvet cake into large pieces and place in a large bowl. Use your hands to crumble the cake into a sandy texture. Add half of the cream cheese icing to the broken-up cake and use your hands to mix everything together. Use a tablespoon to scoop up some of the mix and start to roll it between your hands to create a sphere the size of a golf ball. Place the formed red velvet brownie ball on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all batter has been formed into 24 balls. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer to chill for a minimum of 1 hour.

Remove the red velvet brownie balls from the freezer and insert a lollipop stick into each one. Be careful not to pierce the lollipop stick through the brownie ball or to wiggle the stick around too much. Follow the directions on the candy melt packaging and dip the brownie balls gently into the melted candy spinning the brownie ball lightly to coat the entire thing. Stand the coated brownie ball up on the cake pop stand and sprinkle them with sprinkles or edible glitter. Repeat until all of the pops are decorated. Allow them to sit for 15 minutes until the candy melt has hardened.