Raspberry Cheesecake Cake Pops

I love the idea of a bite sized dessert so I made these over the weekend.  I bought a cake bite book and cookie sticks recently and I was really excited to try a recipe.  These cake pops are really easy to make, the recipe calls for a box of cake mix.  This is a great recipe for people who do not like to bake or are baking beginners!

I was a little bit worried about using a cake mix, I think that boxed cake mix has a distinct flavor to it.  I considered making my own yellow cake but I just ran out of time.  Luckily, I found that the cake still tasted great.  When combined with the raspberries and the cream cheese, I couldn't even tell that it was from a mix.

The only other tricky part was coating the cake pops in chocolate.  I tried to melt white chocolate at first but it burnt easily and became lumpy.  Definitely not what I was looking for!  Luckily, I had milk chocolate on hand.  I put it in an aluminum bowl on top of a tea kettle.  I let the boiling water from the tea kettle melt the chocolate and I added 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.  By removing the chocolate from direct contact with the heat, it did not burn and maintained a smooth consistency. 

I used sticks to stick into the dough and to dip into chocolate, giving it more of a candy-like feel.  But you can also use a fork to dip the dough into chocolate and make these into cake bites!  And of course there are endless ways to decorate them!  I think that these are such a fun treat especially for any upcoming holiday parties!

Makes between 24-30 cake pops

1 box white or yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 box (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup fresh raspberries, mashed (or frozen raspberries, thawed and squeezed dry)
1 pound of white or milk chocolate
1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, eggs, and milk together and pour it in a baking pan.  Cook for 20-25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched.

3. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely.  Remove any brown or burnt spots and crumb the cake into small pieces and place them in a bowl.

4.  Add the raspberry cake cream cheese to the cake mixture and mix together until a thick dough forms.

5. Shape into evenly sized cake bites and cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

6.  Melt black or white chocolate over boiling water.  Mix in 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and keep the chocolate warm to maintain a smooth consistency.

7.  Insert the cake stick into the dough and dip it in chocolate.  Place the cake pops on parchment paper and chill in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.

Enjoy!

~Rona