Carrot Cake Pops

Course Dessert

Servings 40 1-inch carrots

One 9-inch carrot cake (see "Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese" section below)
1 – 1½ cups (125-225g) cream cheese frosting (see "Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese" section below)
2 bags (24oz/680g) Orange Candy Melts or another candy coating (like Ghirardelli) with candy food coloring
1 bag (12oz/340g) Green Candy Melts or another candy coating (like Ghirardelli) with candy food coloring

Start by making a carrot cake recipe. I baked a half recipe of my favorite Carrot Cake recipe. You can find the recipe here. I added the pecans like the recipe states, but it I were make these again, I would probably leave the nuts out because they made it a little harder to get clean carrot shapes.
You will also need a batch of cream cheese frosting. I used the cream cheese frosting in my Chocolate Cream Cheese recipe before I added the cocoa powder. You can find the recipe for my cream cheese frosting here.

When coloring candy coating (as well as chocolate), it’s very Important to only use candy food coloring rather than liquid or gel food coloring. Candy food coloring consists of oil-based colors while liquid and gel food coloring is water-based. This difference is significant when working with candy coating and chocolate products because the presence of water and water-based food coloring will make the candy coating seize (i.e., it will transform from melted, liquid chocolate to a lumpy and grainy solid mass). Most food coloring that you can find in grocery stores and craft stores will be water-based food coloring. Find the oil-based food coloring you need online or in the candy-making aisle of craft stores.
Add a small amount of coloring to the melted candy coating and mix until thoroughly combined. Continue adding coloring until you have reached the desired shade. I have found that oil-based food coloring does not typically result in the same vibrant colors as candy melts unless you use A LOT of food coloring.

Crumble the cake into a large bowl and use your fingers to break up the clumps until you are left with only cake crumbs. Add the frosting to the cake crumbs in small amounts and mix until incorporated. You can mix the frosting in by hand or with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer. Continue adding frosting until the mixture is able to hold its shape when rolled into a ball. The carrot cake is pretty moist, so you shouldn’t need too much frosting.
Begin shaping the carrot cake mixture into rounded triangle shapes (i.e., a carrot shape). I made my carrots about an inch on all sides (although they were all slightly different sizes). This will make about 40 carrots. I wanted these to be relatively small so I could put them into my Carrot Garden Patch cupcakes. It is also a good idea to keep them small because cake pops are very sweet and large pops can be too rich for one sitting.
Place the shaped Carrot Cake Pops on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a few hours until firm.

For coating the bottom, place approximately 1 cup of candy coating discs in a shallow, microwave-safe bowl and follow the instructions on the package to melt the candy coating. Generally, the bag will specify to microwave on medium power for 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring thoroughly after each interval (even if they still look solid). Please note, that candy coating can be overheated and scorched which will result in a seized mixture. When there just a few small pieces left in the bowl, remove it from the microwave and let the residual heat melt the small pieces.
If you find the melted candy coating to be too thick, add a small amount (e.g., ½ tsp) of vegetable shortening (e.g., Crisco) or solid vegetable fat (e.g., coconut oil) and stir to combine. Continue adding vegetable shortening until the candy coating is thin and glossy. Do not add other fats like butter or liquid vegetable oil because that will make the candy coating seize due to the presence of water.

Set up a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside. Following the instructions above, melt a small amount of green candy coating and place it in a piping bag. Cut off the tip of the bag to make a small, round hole and pipe 3 tear drop shapes next to each other on the parchment paper. There should be 2 smaller tear drops on either side and a larger one in the middle. All tear drops should all be touching. Make a bunch of carrot tops (enough for each cake pop and a few extras in case of breakage) and leave at room temperature to solidify. Remove them from the parchment paper by using your fingers to gently peel them off the paper.

The Carrot Cake Pops will be covered in 2 steps. The first step is to coat the bottom. The second step is to cover the top and sides.
Remove a few cake pops from the fridge at a time. Leave the rest in the fridge while you are working because they soften quickly when at room temperature. Dip the bottom of each carrot in the melted candy coating. Gently shake off the extra candy coating and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to dry and harden. Continue this process for all of the cake pops. Return the tray to the fridge to firm up again.
Place 1-2 cake pops on a wire rack that is placed over a sheet of parchment paper. Melt more candy coating and pour it over each cake pop to cover it completely. Before the coating has a chance to set up, push one green carrot top into the top of each carrot. I needed to use a toothpick at the bottom top of the carrot to provide a little resistance so I could push the top in.
Immediately remove the carrot from the wire rack and place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper for the candy coating to harden. If you let the carrot harden on the rack, it will be very difficult to remove it and you will likely lose some of the coating on the sides, which will make the carrots look less pretty. Continue this process for all of the cake pops.

At this point, the carrots will already look cute. If you want to add some extra details, pour some melted orange candy coating into a piping bag, snip off the tip of the bag to make a small hole, and drizzle the candy coating back and forth over each carrot to make a cute design.
Serve these on a decorative platter or push them into the top of a Carrot Garden Patch cupcake.

Cake pops can be kept at room temperature for up to 4 hours or stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to one week. These Carrot Cake Pops need to be refrigerated due to the cream cheese frosting. If you make these with a different frosting, they can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week. You can also freeze them up to one month in an airtight container.