How to Store Cake Pops (Before or After Dipping)

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Cake pops are a perfect addition to any dessert tables, an ideal party favor and a treat that everyone just loves- who wouldn’t want to eat cake covered in chocolate on a convenient stick?!

Cake pops can be made to fit into any theme, crafted in any color or shape imaginable, and you can easily make them ahead of time, giving you time later on to focus on your event.

Keep reading to find out various ways to easily store cake pops to ensure they are fresh, delicious and look great for your party.

How to Make Cake Pops

There are two main ways to make cake pops and both are definitely something that you can easily do at home.

The first way is to take baked cake or any flavor and mash it together with a small amount of buttercream frosting. The cake will be the texture of cookie dough at which point you will mold it into any shape you like.

Roll the cake mix into balls for a basic cake pop or get creative, shaping it into something fun to fit into your party theme. Once the cake pop centers are shaped, they are cooled in the fridge or freezer and then you will add a lollipop stick and dip the pops into melted chocolate or candy melts. Easy enough!

The other way to make cake pops is to use a specially designed cake pop maker or mold. This is essentially just a pan where you will cook cake batter so that the baked cake is in the shape of a round cake pop.

When you use a cake pop pan or cake pop maker, you will get nice, fluffy balls of baked cake that you do not need to form into your desired shape- it’s already done for you!

The baked cake pops will still have a lollipop stick added and then be dipped in melted chocolate to give you a beautiful finished product. This options sounds pretty easy as well!

How to Store the Cake Pop Centers

After you have shaped your cake pop centers from a mix of baked cake and buttercream or after you have baked cake pop centers in a cake pop pan, you can store them at this point. Place the pre-made cake pop shapes in an airtight container and place them in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month.

When you are ready to finish the cake pops, adding the lollipop stick and dipping them in the melted chocolate, simply take them out of the container and start dipping!

If you do freeze the cake pop centers, you will want to move them to the fridge about a day in advance to let them thaw. If you dip frozen pops, there is a good chance moisture will seep through the chocolate coating as the center chills. The chocolate may also crack as the center thaws and expands.

However, it is easiest to dip the centers when they are cold from the fridge as they will not lose their shape in the warm chocolate and the chocolate will also harden right away on the cool pop.

So, store the pop centers in the freezer to keep them good for about a month then move them to the fridge the day before you are ready to dip.

How to Store Dipped Cake Pops

If you have already made your cake pops completely, dipping them in chocolate or candy melts and decorating them exactly as you envisioned, you can still store them successfully for several days!

The best way to store pre made cake pops is to place them in an airtight container with a paper towel lining the bottom of the container.

Place the cake pops on top of the paper towel in a single layer then cover and store the cake pops in the fridge for five to seven days. Take them out of the fridge about an hour or two before you’d like to serve them so that they can come to room temperature (cake tastes best when served warm!).

Storing Cake Pops at Room Temperature

After you have made your cake pops completely, dipping and decorating them to perfection, you can simply leave them at room temperature for 1-2 days.

Cake pops will actually look the best (with no chance of condensation forming on the chocolate) when they are kept at room temp. Be sure to keep the dipped cake pops out of the sunlight or high heat where the chocolate has the potential to melt.

If you do plan to store your cake pops at room temp, be sure that the flavor you choose supports this as well. For example, basic flavors like vanilla and chocolate are perfect for storing at room temp.

However, if any ingredient in the pop would need refrigeration (a cake pop made with lemon curd, for example), then you should not store the pop at room temp and, instead, see the instructions above for keeping  cake pops in the fridge.

How to Prevent Cake Pops from Cracking

After you have dipped the cake pops and have a nice finished product, avoid storing them in the freezer. The cake center will shrink in the freezer and, when brought back to room temperature, the pop will expand again, causing the candy coating exterior to crack.

In addition, the moisture from the frozen cake will likely cause the chocolate pop to get wet and ruin your beautiful pop. Skip the freezer after the cake pops have been dipped and store them only in the fridge or at room temperature.

You definitely do not need to wait until the last minute to make perfect cake pops for your next big party or event. You can get baking now!

Make your cake pop centers far in advance, dip them in chocolate a few days before your event and feel good knowing that you have beautiful, homemade cake pops ready to enjoy!

Happy baking!

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