Pop’s The Question

Cake pops burst onto the world scene on February 1, 2008 – now National Cake Pop Day (who decides these things?). They were invented by Angie Dudley, aka Bakerella who quickly and skillfully marketed her idea and then catapulted to fame and fortune. For the uninitiated, a cake pop is a bite of cake on a stick, kind of like a cake lollipop, only slightly less sticky. Cover it in chocolate, form it into different shapes, decorate it to look like a cartoon character, a vegetable, an item of furniture. You name it.

While the world instantly fell in love with cake pops, I lagged behind. It seemed like a really high cake to frosting ratio to me. Why settle for a cake pop when you could have an actual cake? They’re so small that your decorating canvas is seriously limited. It was a fad that would quickly go the way of New Coke and Crocs. (Although I do still own a pair of Crocs. Hmm.)

Clearly that did not happen. Cake pop books, accessories, websites and how-to videos abound. This is a fad that’s here to stay. So I buckled and took them on.

I will never say that they’re more fun to make than a cake but I will concede that they’re fun to eat. People love them, and they’re really quite perfect for a large party. Guests flow in and out and once you’ve cut a cake, nobody sees the beautiful perfection you’ve created. On the other hand, there will always be more cake pops on the tray to admire (but hopefully not too many at the end of the evening. Why did you go to all that trouble if nobody’s eating them?).

And now as public service, in case you’ve been wondering during this entire post how to get a national day declared, all you need to do is apply here. And it’s free! Good luck.