Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop Recipe
Ever since I released my ultra easy cake pop recipe (that now has over 19.7 MILLION views on social) I’ve been getting requests to make a Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop. This recipe for Starbucks cake pops is the perfect copycat and is SO easy.
Copycat Starbucks Cake Pop Recipe
Not to toot my own horn, but my popular method for making cake pops is insanely easy and this Starbucks cake pop recipe is no different. Here’s the secret: making homemade cake pops doesn’t have to be difficult to be beyond yummy! All you have to do is throw AN ENTIRE CAKE into your mixing bowl straight out of the oven. Mix it with your paddle attachment and add a little powdered sugar and vanilla to create the best dupe for the popular Starbucks cake pop you’ll find on the internet.
Starbucks Cake Pops Price
In the name of research, I bought two cake pops and it was over SEVEN DOLLARS. For two! So obviously, once I had perfected my Starbucks cake pop recipe, I calculated how much my homemade version cost. With this recipe, you can make 24 cake pops for only $8, which means each individual cake pop is ONLY $0.35 FOR EACH CAKE POP. And if we’re being honest, I liked my cake pops better.
Starbucks Cake Pop ingredients
- Vanilla cake mix – You’ll also need all of the ingredients on the back. Bake this as normal!
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Light pink color melts – You can choose a different color if you’d like, but to be the Starbucks dupe you need it to be pink.
- White nonpareils sprinkles – This is optional, but again, to stay true to Starbucks you’ll need these!
- Lollipop sticks
How to make Starbucks Cake Pops
- Prepare and bake the cake mix according to the boxed directions.
- Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, pour the hot cake into the bowl of a stand mixer. (Do not over cook the cake! if so, it will have a harder time coming together)
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until a dough forms that can be pressed together into a ball.
- Portion out the dough and press into a ball in the palm of your hands or with a cake pop press.
- Place the cake balls on a cookie sheet and then into the freezer to chill.
- Melt the colormelts.
- Once the chocolate coating is melted, remove the cake balls from the freezer.
- Dip each lollipop stick into the candy melt and then press the stick into the center of each cake ball. This will help avoid the cake pop falling off of the stick.
- Return to the fridge or freezer to help speed up the process of the stick and chocolate setting.
- Once the chocolate is set on the sucker sticks, pour the remaining melted candy melt into a tall, skinny jar or glass.
- Dip the cake pops one by one in the candy melt and gently shake the cake pop to remove any excess melted chocolate. Tip right side up and add sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the candy melt to set while the cake pop is right side up, you can poke holes into a cardboard box or foam block to help them stand up straight to dry, if desired.
- Serve as is or package up individually in bags with ribbon if desired.
- Enjoy! Store at room temp for up to 3 days.
How to store this Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop Recipe
Once your cake pops have set, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop FAQs
It is a delicious moist, tender, vanilla cake with a white chocolate candy melt coating.
The Starbucks cake pop is $3.75 a pop!
This recipe makes 24 cake pops out of one cake mix. That means each cake pop comes out to $0.35!
Other Copycats to Love
Birthday Cake Pop (Starbucks)
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix (plus the ingredients on the back)
- 1/4 cup (27g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz light pink color melts
- white nonpareils sprinkles
- 24 lollipop sticks
Instructions
- Prepare and bake the cake mix according to the boxed directions.1 box vanilla cake mix
- Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, pour the hot cake into the bowl of a stand mixer. (Do not over cook the cake! if so, it will have a harder time coming together)
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until a dough forms that can be pressed together into a ball.1/4 cup (27g) powdered sugar , 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Portion out the dough and press into a ball in the palm of your hands or with a cake pop press.
- Place the cake balls on a cookie sheet and then into the freezer to chill.
- Melt the colormelts.12 oz light pink color melts
- Once the chocolate coating is melted, remove the cake balls from the freezer.
- Dip each lollipop stick into the candy melt and then press the stick into the center of each cake ball. This will help avoid the cake pop falling off of the stick.24 lollipop sticks
- Return to the fridge or freezer to help speed up the process of the stick and chocolate setting.
- Once the chocolate is set on the sucker sticks, pour the remaining melted candy melt into a tall, skinny jar or glass.
- Dip the cake pops one by one in the candy melt and gently shake the cake pop to remove any excess melted chocolate. Tip right side up and add sprinkles, if desired.white nonpareils sprinkles
- Allow the candy melt to set while the cake pop is right side up, you can poke holes into a cardboard box or foam block to help them stand up straight to dry, if desired.
- Serve as is or package up individually in bags with ribbon if desired.
- Enjoy! Store at room temp for up to 3 days.
Literally delicious!!! ❤️❤️
10 out of 10. This was not only delicious but so much fun to make with the kids. We will definitely make them again. Thank you so much
the pop are so delicious 💯💯
I’m assuming this method would also work with a cake made from scratch? Are there any other frosting options you could recommend?
It should work with a cake made from scratch! I have a lot of frosting recipes- you can use the search bar and search ‘frosting’ to find what I have. 🙂
I have used vanilla icing with green food coloring and chocolate chips with mint extract dipped in dark/milk chocolate 😎💚
Hi Karli!
Thanks for the fun idea and such an easy method! I’m going to make a batch of these by using a simple home made sponge sheet cake.
Since I have never come accross these ‘color melts’ (I live in Northern Europe) I wanted to ask – would the taste profile of the colour melts match with a shell made from white chocolate+dried strawberry powder+coconut oil for example? Or would you recommend something else, like melting some strawberry candy to white chocolate?
I’m not a customer of Starbucks, so I don’t mind if the taste is not one-to-one, but I’m trying to find a close alternative to the recipe. A quick googling didn’t give me much info on the ingredient’s taste, hence asking you here.
Thank you in advance! ❤️
They taste just like white chocolate chips! 🙂
Hi! Color melts in America just taste like chocolate 😊 you could just use white chocolate with coconut oil, and food coloring if you like
Hi! What oil do you use for them?
could you use any cake mix with this too?!
Yes, you absolutely can!
Hello,
Is there something we can add to the cake dough if it’s not holding together that well? It didn’t seem overbaked – I baked it for the lowest amount of recommended time.
Hi Kate, I would make sure you’re dumping the cake in right when it comes out of the oven so it is hot and steam can help bind the cake together. If it’s not holding together, you can add a little bit more vanilla or powdered sugar and see if that helps.
What brand of vanilla cake mix do you use and what brand of candy melts?
I made these and used Betty Crocker yellow cake mix (like Starbucks) and it was so good!
These are both toddler and mom approved…my son gets one of these everytime we go to target and I 100% made them so I can give him these instead. I also froze some to see how they defrost so I can save them for later!
I’m so interested to know if they can be frozen. I want to try this for my son since he loves those pops and I can’t buy them every time. If you can please share to let us know how did they do after defrosting. Thank you.
You can freeze them! they take about 10 minutes to thaw sitting at room temperature.
Hi Karli! Would these be better frozen before or after dipping them? I want to make them in advance for a party. Thank you!
Either will work! I personally dip and then freeze for storage, but truly either will be great!
How were they from the freezer? did you freeze them uncoated or coated?
What brand of vanilla cake mix and what candy melts do you use? Love your other recipes!
Amazing!!!
I don’t have a standing mixer can I make these by smashing by hand tool?