# What You'll Need:
→ Cake
01 - 1 box (15 oz) vanilla or chocolate cake mix, plus required box ingredients (eggs, oil, water)
02 - or 1 homemade 9-inch cake, fully cooled
→ Frosting
03 - 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting
→ Coating & Decoration
04 - 12 oz candy melts in school colors, or white chocolate with colored food coloring
05 - 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (optional, for thinning chocolate)
06 - Sprinkles, edible glitter, or colored sugar in coordinating colors
07 - 24 lollipop sticks
08 - 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
09 - Fondant in school colors (optional, for cap decorations)
# Method:
01 - Bake cake according to package or recipe instructions, ensuring it is fully cooked and cooled.
02 - Crumble the cooled cake into fine crumbs using your hands in a large mixing bowl.
03 - Mix cake crumbs with frosting using a spatula or clean hands until the mixture binds together. Add frosting gradually until mixture just holds when pressed.
04 - Portion out tablespoon-sized scoops and roll into 24 even balls. Place on a lined baking sheet.
05 - Cover and refrigerate the cake balls for at least 1 hour or freeze for 20 minutes to firm up.
06 - In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy melts or chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Add vegetable shortening as needed for thinning.
07 - Dip tip of each lollipop stick into melted coating, then insert halfway into each chilled cake ball.
08 - Submerge each cake pop in the melted coating, softly tap off excess coating.
09 - While coating is still wet, decorate with sprinkles, glitter, or colored sugar. For graduation cap design, press a fondant square atop each pop and attach a mini chocolate chip tassel with a dab of melted coating.
10 - Stand cake pops upright in a styrofoam block or cake pop stand. Allow coating to harden fully before serving.
