What is it about cake pops that leads to profanity, tears, and alcohol consumption?
For anyone who has been living on another planet, cake pops are little mashups of cake crumbs and frosting that are placed on sticks, dipped in chocolate or candy melts, and decorated. Rumor has it they were invented to use up cake scraps. The idea was soon picked up by bloggers, perhaps the most notable being Bakerella, whose cake pops book earned her a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for six weeks.
And once Pinterest found cake pops, there was no turning back.
Now we see cake pops everywhere. Couples have started using them in place of wedding cakes. They go perfectly with the dessert table trend. Basically, cake pops are the new cupcake (or are cupcakes the new cake pops? or is that the cronut? anyway, you get it!).
So what is the controversy? Customers seem to love them, so why do so many bakers recoil at the thought of them?
Well, for one thing, they can be a nightmare to make. Take a look at Pfoinkle’s tale to see why some bakers’ attempts at cake pop creation end in frustration and beer. I’m sure she could sympathize with ColleenBlooms from BlogHer, whose cake pop endeavor was so hellish it made her husband, a pastor, start cursing.
In fact, so many things go wrong with cake pops that there are entire troubleshooting guides and forums dedicated to fixing them. Blogger Ninerbakes’ Cake Pops 101 is full of good information to prevent cake pop mishaps, but the sheer number of things that can make cake pops fail is astounding.
And plenty of foodies think cake pops are, to put it bluntly, crap on a stick. Kristenaiken summed up lots of caker’s feelings in this tweet: “Cake pops are to cake what SPAM is to ham. They take a really good thing and mash it up into something gross.”
OK, that’s a little harsh. Lots of folks love Spam! But CakeMade’s Facebook fans seem to agree; when we recently polled them on the subject, the vast majority chose “hate ’em” over “love ’em.”
Don’t worry cake pop haters. No doubt some clever caker is inventing the next big thing in cake as we speak. And in the meantime, want to sound off about cake pops? Share your tales of woe? Teach us your cake pop wisdom? Share in the comments below!
