How Long Does It Really Take to Make Cake Pops?

I think one thing I hear the most when people try to make cake pops for the first time is: "I had no idea how long those things take!"
This is true. Cake pops are not a quick endeavour. They take a minimum, I'd say of 4-5 hours, and more like 5-6 hours when you factor in all of the waiting, decorating, wrapping etc.

True Story: to make the turtle cake pops seen here, I spent 30-45 minutes just decorating each one. You can understand why I only made about 6 of them!

I've created this post to help you understand how long it really takes to make cake pops. That way, when you tackle them the first time, you'll give yourself enough time to make them just perfect!

Here is my timeline, supposing I need a few dozen cake pops for a Saturday morning.

Thursday morning:

(2-3 hours) Bake the cake and let it cool at least 2 hours.
(20 minutes) While the cake cools, make your icing. I prefer Cream Cheese Frosting.

Thursday afternoon:

(30-60 minutes) Make cake balls.
(3 hours to overnight) Refrigerate cake balls.
*Note: If you need to save time, this is where you can shave some time off. Refrigerating the cake balls is  really the best way to make them. However, if you are in a time crunch, you can put them in the freezer for ONLY 30 minutes, then into the refrigerator.

Friday:

(1 Hour or more) Dip & Decorate Cake Pops. This will take you a good hour at the very least. For more intricate cake pops like the turtles or my beach ball cake pops, plan on a few hours.

(30-60 minutes) Individually wrap cake pops, if necessary.

Saturday:
Enjoy!

Now, if you aren't doing anything too fancy with them, you could bake and ball them Friday and decorate them Saturday morning, but I always hate leaving anything until the last minute or same day because I get stressed out and mess them up, and then get really mad when they're not just right. So, I try to make myself feel better by making them in advance.
However, my rule is 5 days from baked to eaten. I throw out anything older than 5 days old. There's no scientific reason for this, it's just my own baking rule.

Click the Links Below to See:
How to Make Cake Pops
Cake Pop Decorating Ideas
Cake Decorating Basics

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