A sweet friend of mine is having a baby and I was excited that she chose me to do her gender reveal cupcakes! I had never made them before, but as soon as she asked, the ideas were already brewing in my head. Immediately, I thought of cake pop balls, the color of the gender, snuggled inside a yummy cupcake. She decided on white cake and buttercream frosting.
I decided to use my BabyCakes Cake Pop Maker instead of making the traditional cake balls with frosting, spooning out a hole and stuffing them in the cupcake. This way, I was able to bake the cake ball inside of the cupcake without doing an extra step. I was afraid the cake ball might get hard if I double baked it, but surprisingly, it worked out!
I set out on a mission to find ideas on how to make the cupcakes and I found there were a bunch of different ideas for them, so I just winged it and went with the method I used. Now I did forget to take "before" pictures, which is why I said it was a semi-tutorial. I don't have all the steps pictured, and I am sorry!
I made the cake balls with a box of Duncan Hines White Cake mix, added 1 small box of White chocolate Jell-o pudding, 3 egg whites, and 1 cup of milk, which was substituted for the water. I omitted the oil. This makes a moist, non-oily cake pop. I have the people on a discussion forum on the Babycakes website to thank for that recipe/idea! I put the batter in a disposable decorator bag with the tip snipped off for easier filling of the cake ball cups. Make sure to grease your cups (top and bottom) with a silicone pastry brush or a few thick bunched up paper towels. I didn't want to run the risk of mine sticking. I used regular vegetable oil for the greasing. Fill your cake pop cups just a smidge past the lip (it may leave a higher cone shape in the middle) but make sure not to overfill. Also, these balls do not have to be perfect if you are sticking them in a cupcake. No stress if it comes out shaped like a UFO! Leave in pop maker for 4 minutes and then pull them out. They may seem a bit soft, but that's okay. Don't forget, they will be baked again in the cupcake!
Once your cake pops are cooled, make your cupcake batter. I used 2 medium cookie scoops worth of batter in each cupcake liner, then placed a cake ball in the middle of each and pressed down. The ball will rise up after baking as shown below:
I baked these for 15 minutes versus the 18 they call for (yes, I used boxed cake mix, I am horrible!) and they baked just fine. I think the heat in the cake pops helps finish baking the core, but I could be totally wrong!
So that's how I made my cake ball cupcakes, swirled the buttercream on, and topped with 2 inch fondant circles. I have to admit I used Wilton fondant, though I usually make my own marshmallow fondant. Unfortunately I was a little short on time, which is how I find my days being lately.
If you have a different tried and true method, let me know in the comments! I would love to hear from you.
Thank you so much for looking! Now go bake something and spread some yum!
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