Decorating Cake Pops with Fondant - Ladybug Cake Pops

PREFACE: Before you begin to follow this tutorial for making ladybug cake pops using fondant, you need make cake pops. Perform steps 1-8 of my tutorial on making cake pops which are listed HERE. Once you have completed my steps or your own method to make cake pops and your pops are ready to be coated and decorated, proceed with instructions below to create Ladybug Cake Pops using Fondant.

INGREDIENTS/MATERIALS

• 
  
• Basic Ingredients to Make Cake Pops (can be found in my tutorial on making cake ball pops HERE.) 
• For Cake Pops coating in the picture, you will need Peanut Butter Candy Melts or White Almond Bark and Brown Icing Dye. 
• Pre-Rolled Fondant in white. (Ready to use fondant comes in all sorts of colors. I stick to white so I can dye it any color.) 

• Red Icing Dye

• Sprinkles or Candy for white Ladybug tracks.
• Black Edible Marker or Food Writer

A. PREPARE/DYE FONDANT

1. Cut Off a Piece of Fondant from Block - You probably only need the equivalent size of one cake ball of fondant. The rest can be saved for another project. Keep it airtight and do not refrigerate. 

2. Dye Fondant - Use red dye. Check out tutorial below for dying Fondant.



B: MAKE LADYBUG SHAPES
Take small pieces of fondant from colored ball and roll into small balls. Then flatten and shape,  with a clay tool or butter knife, the edges of the pieces of fondant so they resemble a "fluffy" triangle/ladybug shape.



C: DRAW LADYBUG DETAIL ONTO FONDANT PIECES
Use edible Food Writers.

Crafty Gal Tip: Fondant will naturally start to harden and very quickly so you will most likely be able to decorate with your finished Fondant ladybugs right away. But if they are still "doughy", put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes and they'll be ready to stick and retain shape.

D: PREPARE YOUR WORK SPACE FOR DIPPING/DECORATING

• Foam Board in Freezer - You will need your foam board close or in your freezer. You will be dipping, decorating and setting one cake pop in the foam to dry/set all in the matter of about fifteen seconds so your space will need to be arranged for efficiency. 
• Dough Shapes Near Microwave
• Aluminum Foil Covering Counter Tops - I have my foam board in the freezer, my dough balls on a pan next to my microwave, and aluminum foil covering my counter where I coat and sprinkle/decorate the cake balls. 
• Decorations - Have your fondant ladybugs and sprinkles set-up with easy access at your "decorating station".

Crafty Gal Tip: Why I Prefer the Microwave to Heat Cake Pop Coating and How to Avoid Burning When Melting and Bubbles or Bleeding from your Final Design...Because I work with different colors and flavors of almond bark/candy coating for one batch of cake balls, I prefer using the microwave over a double boiler/melting pot so I can use multiple microwave safe containers instead of all the scraping, cleaning and reheating that goes along with the one-pot-process. If you have tried and failed with the microwave before, please read on (and view the YouTube tutorial by TastyCakePops). I feel your frustration. I've lived it. I think I've come out on the other side though. 

E: MELT/DYE COATING
1. Melt Coating forLadybug Cake Pops - So you have your dough pops ready for dipping... Grab a handful of Wiltons peanut butter candy melts and put into a microwave safe container. I've trial/error'd every type of container, mug, bowl, etc. you can think of and it's the small ZipLock containers that are perfect in size as well as conducting and distributing the heat from the microwave evenly so your coating doesn't burn when melting. Fill the container about halfway with candy melts and microwave on half power for 30 seconds. Stir contents though not much melting has begun. Microwave in 30 second intervals while stirring in between until melting has taken over about half of the melts. 

2. Thin Coating with Vegetable Shortening - DON'T BE CRAZY AND SKIP THIS STEP. If you forgot to get shortening, go to the grocery now and save yourself a couple hairs that you would be pulling out of your head should you proceed without it. Add shortening by the tablespoon, stirring then microwaving in 30 second intervals. You may need to add bark/melts to attain a consistency adequate for flawless coating and have enough in your container to be able to dip and engulf the cake ball. 

(Tasty Cake Pops on YouTube has the best video tutorial on heating candy melts for coating cake balls or cake pops. Her 7 part video series is below.)

3. Dye Coating - If you are using candy melts or almond bark that need to be dyed, in between heating and thinning your cake pop coating you will need to add food coloring or icing dye. To color white almond bark or candy melts, you want to add food dye the same way you add the shortening, in intervals and in between heatings, stirring until the desired result is achieved. 

F: COAT CAKE POPS
1. Dip Cake Pops into Warm Colored Coating - Once your coating is warm and smooth, you can start dipping the cake pops. Cover the dough shape entirely with the coating, then let excess drip by holding the pop sideways or ball down. Tapping the stick on the side of the melting container while spinning it slowly helps remove excess coating so your coating finish is flawless in texture. 

E: DECORATE FRESHLY COATED CAKE POPS IMMEDIATELY!
After the excess coating has dripped off the cake pop and the texture is smooth but still warm, add your Fondant ladybug and ladybug tracks by simply placing the decorations onto the cake ball, gently tapping them into place with your finger tip.

F: FREEZE TO SET
After each completed cake pop, place into foam boar in freezer. 10 to twenty minutes will set the cake pops so you can lay them down while they keep in the refrigerator. Do not store in freezer. You risk cracking of the coating.

G: ENJOY

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