This might be the most unique wedding cake I've done to date. My first (and only so far) Cake Ball Wedding Cake.
When I was first asked about doing this cake, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. I loved the look of the cake the bride sent me as inspiration, but I had no idea how to bring it together.
And honestly? I didn't figure it all out until very late the night before.
We planned early on to have the "cake" underneath be dummy cakes, so I ordered the styrofoam dummies and the cake board and bought up lots of supplies to make cake balls.
A couple of days earlier in the week, I baked several cakes and made the cake balls (see how I make cake pops here - except minus the sticks and I didn't dip them yet). Then I stuck them in the frig to wait.
The day before, I made a few batches of homemade marshmallow fondant and covered the dummy cakes. I used piping gel as "glue" to make the stryofoam dummies sticky so the fondant would adhere to them.
Then the night before - I started dipping cake balls. But sadly, I could not get them to look pretty at.all.
I was freaking out! The cake balls were messy; puddling on the wax paper or having fork marks obvious on them where I tried to get them out of the chocolate. I tried a few different things and then I started to panic - with only 15 hours before I was supposed to deliver the cake - I had no idea what I was going to do.
Then I messaged my friend Kristen and she suggested I try using lollipop sticks. She said to just dip them like a cake pop, let them harden, and pull them off! So I did... and WOW, it worked like a charm! Praise the Lord for smart friends!!
Unfortunately, it still took much longer than I anticipated and probably 6+ hours later, I finished dipping the 400+ cake pops. And then I went to bed.
The next day, I knew I couldn't drive the 45 minutes to the venue with the cake balls attached to the cake (I had visions of them rolling all over my truck as we bumped down country roads), so I loaded up the covered cake dummy, the pans and pans of cake balls, and a thousand toothpicks (I didn't want to run out) and we headed out several hours ahead of wedding time to set up.
I normally don't go to weddings that early, but I didn't want to underestimate and not finish in time, so we erred on the side of caution and went very early!
Now here's the fun part... we took pictures of putting it together!
How to Make a Cake Pop Wedding Cake
We started out with the naked cake and the trays of cake pops...
Okay, so we had already put a few on when I thought to take pictures, but you get the idea 😉 Here are all the trays:
Anyway, so we went to work. "We" referring to me and my husband. He's a rock star cake assistant, by the way!
What we did is poke the toothpick into the cake/styrofoam, then push the cake ball onto the toothpick. We used the "hole" that was created by the lollipop stick the night before so that we didn't crack the chocolate coating.
It was pretty easy to space them and "eye ball" the distance - and we staggered the cake balls on each row so that they stacked closer together.
You can tell in that picture that I didn't stress at all over having the cakes perfectly covered underneath the cake balls. I knew it would all be covered up - especially the bottom seams.
You can also see the small indentions around the top edge of each tier. Once we had quite a few made the night before, we actually laid one row around the top side of each tier to "measure" and be sure we would have enough cake balls!
I had already done the math and had a fairly good idea - but I just wanted to be sure. I knew once we were on site, there would be no way to make up for a shortage.
Clearly - we had enough! Ha! This tray was left sitting next to the cake with probably almost a hundred extra cake balls!
Anywho - if you're wondering, it only took about an hour (give or take - I don't remember exactly), for me and my husband to attach the 300 (ish) cake balls to the cake.
It really was easy to "assemble" and the cake balls felt really secure on the cake (more than I expected). I wasn't sure what the plan was for the top of the cake, so at the end I used some toothpicks to put a few balls together as a topper - just to give it a finished look!
I snagged this pic from the bride on Facebook... they added some flowers on top and a few randomly placed between the cake balls... gorgeous!
I was really proud of it when all was said and done - and confident that if ever asked to do it again, I could do it with much less stress!!
PS - wanna see the groom's cake that I made for this wedding? I shared it here... go have a look at all those pics too!
Do you want to learn more? Craftsy has a FREE Creative Cake Pops Class (sign up here) and I have a few more cake pop posts up if you’d like to check them out:
I really hope this has helped for all of you that have asked me how to make cake
So what do you think of the Cake Ball Wedding Cake? I know it's not everybody's style, but it's very unique and I actually loved it! Leave me a (nice) comment - I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or questions!
athena
Love your work! And your honesty! It's fun to see the process and hear about the hard parts. It is truly awesome that your husband is supportive and even helps you. My husband is super supportive (he knows I wont cook for myself when making a cake so he does cooking on cake days and makes my plate!) but the only help I have enlisted from him is his opinion. Which he does a good job at giving and helping that way. Keep up the beautiful work. I always look forward to seeing more.
Rose
Awww, thank you Athena!
Denise
What a gorgeous cake! I love it!! I also love that you tell us everything that happens so we can learn from it. I have a bunch of ideas running through my mind. I could see this cake in different colors to go with a party theme. I could see this cake with an ombre look. Or, all pink or blue for a baby shower. Of course, there are Christmas colors or pastels for Easter. Somebody stop me -- I just love it. Love your blog and, thanks for sharing.
Rose
Thank you so much! The possibilities really are endless, aren't they? And I'm always happy to help - when I started doing cakes, I googled non-stop to learn and I hope to help others by making their searches a little more fruitful and just maybe saving someone else some time with something I've learned! 🙂
Emily
Did you have problems getting the fondant to stick to the cake dummies? Looks great...and also like my worst nightmare. Not a fan of making cake pops. 🙂
Rose
OH - I forgot to mention that! I "painted" the dummies with homemade piping gel so that the fondant would stick!
Mona
Hi Rose,
just a quick question. If you "paint" the dummies with the piping gel, can you reuse the dummies afterwards again? Or will it turn bad?
Greetings from Germany
Rose
I tend to throw them away because the fondant tears at the styrofoam when pulling it off.
Sherry
If you use shortening instead just a small amount the fondant will stick and you can reuse it another time shortly after. But I don’t recomend keeping them long term to use again. I’m curious I have to do one of these in October 2018. What size dummies did you use? And how many cake balls where on the cake? I’m so nurvous to make one. But reading your post I feel better. They want baseball ones. Thanks for your time!
Rose
Hey Sherry - it's been a few years but I thin, they were 6", 9", 12" and 15" dummies.
Nelly
I have to make a cake like this .. how many cake pops fit in each dummie? TIA
Kathy
So pretty. I know how long it takes to make cake balls. Thanks for showing us how you put the cake together.
Rose
Thank you - always happy to help 🙂
Evelyn
I LOVE this cake!! Thank you for sharing the process. I've always wondered how to do this. Your transparency makes me feel like there is hope for me to become as fabulous as you - or die trying 🙂
Rose
🙂 There's always hope!!
Kathi
So glad I found your site! My daughter wants a cake-pop wedding cake, too. Thanks for sharing your experiences in attaching the balls. Two questions: What is "piping gel" and how do I make/buy it? And how did the bride and groom remove the cake balls from the finished cake to serve their guests?
Rose
You can easily buy it at Walmart or a hobby or baking store OR you can make it. I can't remember where I found the recipe but you can google it and find several. It's super easy to make and it's just a sweet "gel" that is clear, so you can color it blue and it looks like "water" on a cake or there are many other uses. I wasn't present for the wedding but I think they just let guests walk up and pull off cake balls to eat them!
Christina
Thanks for all the great info! Your cake turned out fabulous! I'm doing my first cake pop cake in a couple weeks and the attachment part has me stressed out the most!!
Could you tell me what size dummies you used for yours?
Rose
I used 6", 9", 12" and 16". 🙂 I hope it turns out great for you!
Emily
were they 3 in or 4 in tall cake dummies?
Rose Atwater
4" Dummies
marlena
How much may I ask would you charge for a wedding cake like this? Or better yet what would you charge for the cake balls each?
Rose
I charge $15/dozen for plain cake balls, but I also added on for the cost of the dummy cakes, fondant, cake board, delivery, assembly, etc.
marlena
Thank you Rose for your answer
Kim
Forget the cake....You and Richie are ADORABLE and an amazing team!!!
Rose
Thank you Kim!! xx
Peg G
That would also make a pretty Christmas or Winter cake with sparkles
Rose
Yes! That would be beautiful!
Antionette
How much do you charge for a cake like this?
Rose
I charged around $700 for this cake.
Melanie
When you dipped the balls with the popsicle sticks, did you dip the ends of the popsicle sticks into the melts before like you do with the pop sticks? Or not, because you were going to pull them out? I am thinking not since you want to be able to pull them out easily? Thank you! I am going to attempt this on a smaller scale for a wedding on Friday. I always have issues dipping my cake balls without the fork marks showing!!
Rose
No - you're right. I didn't dip the stick first on these. 🙂
Melanie
Thanks!!!
Christie
Thank you so much for posting this. I am making a cake ball wedding cake soon and you have made it look so easy. Were your dummies 3" or 4" tall?
Rose
They were 4" dummies! I'm so sorry I missed your comment before!
Alisha
Hi, I too am wondering if you used 3" or 4" tall dummies. My nephew wants a cake pop cake. Yours is beautiful.
Rose
I used 4" dummies 🙂
Alisha
Thanks for the quick response!
Katie Joy
Dear Rose,
I want to thank you for this blog post. I just made a purple hombre cake ball cake for a friend's wedding, and this blog was SO helpful!! My cake balls really turned a corner when I read your tip about using lollipop sticks to dip them. With the help of your blog and some friends who gave of their time, my cake turned out great! We also used edible glitter for some extra shine. Thanks for sharing your experiences here for others to benefit from!
Katie Joy
Rose
That's SO great! I'd love to see a pic if you can email it to rose@rosebakes.com 🙂
Viktoria
Dear Rose,
can you tell me if I have an 8 inch cake dummy (4 in high) how many cake pop needed to cover it, just on the side, as how you did it above.
Thanks a lot, have a nice day!
Viktoria from Greece
Rose
It really depends on the size of your cake balls, but I'd guess at least 60-75. I'd probably do 100 just to have extras, account for those that crack, etc.
Viktoria
Thanks a lot for the quick reply 😀
Brianna
Hello! This cake is perfect! I'm eager to attempt to make this cake for a banquet and was wondering if you have any tips about getting the right brand or consistency for the candy melts? I struggle to keep the temperature even and to coat each ball perfectly.
Rose
For white, I love to use almond bark and it always has a great consistency. If you're using candy melts, check out my post here: How to Thin Wilton Candy Melts for Perfect Cake Pops
Jeanne
I love your cake ball cake and would like to know how you got the little swirl on the top of each cake ball. I also love your blog - it's more helpful than any I've read. Thank you!
Rose
Thank you Jeanne!! I wish I knew how to explain it in words, but I'll try. I had the balls on sticks, so I dipped them upside down into the chocolate, then held them sideways over the bowl, and tapped and turned the sticks as the extra chocolate dipped off. That (unintentionally) left the little swirl on top!
elvira
I love this idea and will be doing this soon. Hopefully I can do it. Can I ask what is the size of your cake pops?? Thank you.
Rose
Around 1.25 inches.
carol osantoski
I loved your cakeball wedding cake and all the great info. Do you think it possible to do a 4 tier cake with bottom layer covered with balls , 2nd layer a regular cake 3rd layer covered with balls and top layer a regular cake?
Rose
I think it would work - you'd just have to take into consideration the sizes of the tiers and how much width the cake balls will add to keep it proportional.
Joanna
This is so helpful! I am making this for this weekend. 2 questions - 1. Did you have issues with the balls falling off the lollipop sticks when you dipped them since they weren't dipped in chocolate first? 2. Did you refrigerate the balls at all after dipping or just leave them at room temp? Thanks!
Rose Atwater
I didn't have any trouble with them falling off and I did not refrigerate them because I did them the night before!
Joanna
Great, thanks!
Jajaira Lermas
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, last summer I made a cake ball cake as well, it was so stressful the night before as well so I can totally relate, for being my first ever I also made a 300 or so cake ball cake so it was a bit hectic. I wish I would of taken pictures of the process because now I am asked to make a small one with about 50 cake balls and I have no idea what size dummies I would need, what do you recommend? do you remember how many would fit on each dummie?
Thanks in advance!!
Rose Atwater
I honestly don't remember. But you can measure your cake balls and determine approximately how many will go around each size tier with a little math. That's how I got my guesstimate the first time!
Sandie Adam
At the request of my son and his bride-to-be I will be making this for their August 8 wedding. Your directions are very helpful -- one question however: did you use anything to stabilize the cake dummies. Such as a dowel or did they just rest on top of each other?
Rose Atwater
I used a little blog of melted chocolate to "glue" them together but that's it. 🙂
Sandie Adam
Thanks for your quick response.
Lily Douglas
Hi, your cake is gorgeous! Thank you for posting the step by step process. I have been requested to make a cake ball cake but they want the tiers to be made of cake. Have you ever tried that? Thanks again.
Rose Atwater
I haven't. I would recommend doing a small trial run to see how it holds up or search online for a tutorial that uses real cake 🙂 It looks like this one might: http://www.thepartydress.net/2011/09/diy-tutorial-cake-ball-cake/ Good Luck!
courtney
This is awesome! I was wondering if you had any idea around how much chocolate it took you to make all those cake balls (lbs)? Thanks!
Rose Atwater
I really don't remember, sorry. I think I bought 10-12 packages but I can't remember if we used them all.
Paula
Rose, I am making a cake ball cake in 2 days for a birthday. Would it have been easier to insert the sticks straight into the styrofoam or did you use toothpicks for the appearance of what the cake would look like after they were taken off of the cake dummies? My customer wants me to make a bigger hole and leave the sticks on so the people eating them can use the sticks to hold them. I think it will just be a big mess so I'm not quite sure what to do. By the way - thanks for the tutorial. I love it and it is so helpful. 🙂
holly
what did you end up doing? I have to make one coming up and trying to decide. Also, people will be grabbing them by the cake ball and not the stick. I don't know what to think about it if their touching them. Any info would help Thanks!!
Paula
Holly, I pretty much followed Rose's instructions on the assembly of the cake. I did use toothpicks because the wedding was on a boat and they could not have lollipop sticks. Mine was also 3 tiered and I used marshmallow fondant but applied it to the styrofoam (cheaper at hobby lobby) with canned frosting. It worked great! I had 3 different flavors - chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. On the very top tier was a large cupcake that was pink so what I did is swirled my cake ball colors around the cake and made sure pink swirled to the top towards the pink cupcake was facing forward. I also used edible glitter on the pink and just fancied the others with swirls. No one really minded using their fingers- unless it's outside and super humid, but that's what napkins are for. Also if you can keep someone around to refill the toothpicks that would be nice.
At Christmas I used a styrofoam cone and used basically the same concept and made a very pretty deep royal blue and white Christmas tree. Good luck!
Paula
Holly, I made about 200 cake balls for about 80 people . If I remember correctly I could fit about 80 on the display. My feeling was that was enough for 2 per person. There were plenty. Plus they also had finger food and alcohol. I would have only made 2 flavors but the bride wanted 3.
HOLLY
Thank you for the fast reply! I am trying to decide how many extra to bake , as I know some will crack or expand due to weather in April.
How many did you make per person. I figure each will want 1 maybe 2 but if you have 3 flavors.. people will want to try all 3. I don't want to short anyone but also I don't want to make 600 for 100 people if it's not necessaey.
Rose
Hi Holly - I discussed the number with the bride extensively. I never want to be "at fault" if anybody runs out of cake. I recommended 3 per person and I think that's what she ended up going with but I told her that there was no guarantee that that would be the right number - she might run out or she might have a pile leftover. Ultimately, it was up to her though.
Alicia
I did this years ago! It was super cool! Definitely the most unique! But it was actually truffles instead of cake balls! But the same exact idea and same process! So fun! I love how concentrated all the balls are!
Rose Atwater
Thanks so much!
Julie
Thanks sooooo much for posting this in easy to follow steps! I've had someone request one of these and I've never done it before. Could you share how you price something this labor intensive? I believe this wedding will not take place in my town so I will have to travel an hour away, something I haven't done with my standard cake pop orders. How do I charge for that, as well? Again, thanks very much for your tutorial and your time and guidance with my questions.
Rose Atwater
It's been a couple of years since I made it, but I think I added up the cost of the materials (dummy cakes and board) plus the fondant and ingredients (as usual), then I charged per cake pop like I'd normally charge ($1.25 or $1.50 each). It ended up being around $650 plus delivery/set-up.
Amber
Hi Rose! This is beautiful!! I love your blog...I've used several of your recipes and tips in my home baking business. 🙂
I make cake balls quite often so I thought I would share how I do them. I drop my cake ball into the melted chocolate or bark, and then I use two spoons to lift it out and then transfer it back and forth between the spoons to get the excess off. Then I put it on wax paper to dry and run a toothpick along the bottom edge if it still pools. This eliminates that fork mark and the bottom of the cake ball is left uncoated (great for when you need to stick toothpicks in). The pop stick works like a charm, but I've found this way is much faster for me. Thanks again for this post! I would love if one of my brides asked me to do this cake!!! 🙂
Rose Atwater
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your tip! 🙂
C.cruz
Beautiful, simple but elegant . What are the sizes of the tiers ?
Rose Atwater
It's been awhile but I think they were 6", 8", 10" and 12" dummies. Thank you!
C. C.
LOVE your cake and the "step by step" tutorial. Cake pops and/or balls always make me nervous as they seem to be finicky depending on our Oklahoma humidity or lack of. A tip I use to be able to assemble ahead of time is to wrap each layer snugly but not too tight with wax paper after you position the cake balls. I use tape to hold the paper in place until delivery to the venue. I've had good luck with this method when attaching edible jewelry and brooches, too, and each design survived every Oklahoma pot hole. Again, Sooo pretty.
Rose Atwater
Very cool!
Maureen
How much fondant did you use to cover the dummies?
Rose Atwater
I really don't remember, but if I had to guess, I'd say around 15 pounds.
Rose
Or maybe 6", 10", 14" and 18"?
Terry Brooks
This is helpful for me your cake is beautiful. Can I buy the fondant? I'm not a baker so this looks hard. I do cake pops but I use box cake mix.
Rose Atwater
You can buy fondant at Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc. and some grocery stores. You can also order it online at Amazon or other retailers.
Jaybe
Rose, this cake is so beautiful that I'd want your autograph if I ever got the chance to meet you! Thank you for sharing your story (or should I say, the saga of) the Cake Ball Wedding Cake. Very impressive! Can you share any information about the beautiful cake stand in your pictures, such as its size and where it can be purchased? Love the cake and love the stand! They complement each other so beautifully.
Rose Atwater
Awww, you're so sweet Jaybe! I'm not sure about that exact stand, but I have similar ones that I've purchased on Amazon here.
Sarah Corcoran
Do you have any advice on pricing? Ive been asked to make one for a wedding? I normally charge $15 a dozen, but idk what to charge for the assembly/delivery/fondant/etc. Looking forward to your advice!
Rose Atwater
I have a whole post about pricing here: http://rosebakes.com/how-to-charge-for-cakes/
Sarah Corcoran
I had an issue with the cake pops leaking out the hole from where the stick was removed. Any advice? Thanks!
Rose
Hmmm - I didn't have that issue. I'm not sure!?
Sandra L Garth
Kudos to you girl this was quite a feat! I've often wondered how a cake like this would turn out and you answered by question beautifully.
A Narrow-Minded Woman
What a fun idea!
Sarah
Absolutely spectacular cake!
Sarah https://www.enrichmentality.com
Shirley Wood
Such a gorgeous wedding cake and so unique with all the cake balls. #merrymonday
Debra
That looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing with us at Funtastic Friday!
Sam
Hi I was wondering how you stored your cake pops after you dipped them over night?? I've made cake pops before but I've been asked to do a wedding cake for a friend and never really had to make ahead of time
Thanks Sam
Rose
I store the at room temp in cake boxes.
Kiran Rana
Love this cake! It has that simple yet elegant feeling. Do you have any tips that would bypass the fondant step? Would you suggest something else could work in its place to cover the back?
Rose
You could use modeling chocolate or even buttercream if you like!
Kiran
I read your fondant post and it doesn't look too bad to attempt to make it and cover the cake. How far in advance can one place fondant on the dummies?
KAREN SHOOK
Hi Rose! The cake is beautiful! I am going to attempt to do one for by best friends wedding in August, first one by the way, so everything I have read has been very helpful! Two questions though, with using the pop stick to dip, did it not leave too big of a hole for the tooth pick? And will my wedding cake icing stick to the dummies? Thanks!
Rose
The holes were bigger than the toothpics, but they still held on just fine. I covered my dummies in fondant, but frosting would work too.
Linda
Rosebakes: I really enjoyed the story on the cake ball cake. You said that you used styrofoam for the cake so what did you cover it with? Enjoyed it.
Rose
The cake dummies were covered with homemade marshmallow fondant.
Jamie Lee
Hey there! Was wondering what size dummies you used for this cake and did you have a rod through the center to stabilize or no? How much chocolate did you end up using for this huge amount of cake balls? I'm making a similar cake, but it will have a small 4" cutting cake on top.
Rose
The dummies were 6", 9", 12" and 15". I covered them in fondant, stacked them and doweled them at home so I could transport that part of the "cake" fully assembled. Sadly, since this was more than 5 years ago, I can't remember how much white chocolate I used. I actually used white almond bark though and I do remember doing a trial run with a batch of cake balls to see how many ounces of melted almond bark it would take to cover them, then multiplying it out to get a close estimate when shopping. If only I'd written that down... sorry!
Sadie
Hi there!
First of all thankyou so much for this step by step guide!
I have been requested to make this cake but out of fudge! And i was struggling with how we would put it together so this as massively helped.
I was wondering if you could possibly help me with the size of cake pop moulds you have used?
Do you have a diameter size of the moulds?
Thanks
Rose
I think they were 1.25".