Spinning a dreidel is a fun Hanukkah tradition, and making these dreidel cake pops could be the newest tradition in your family. Resembling dreidels with their four sides, each with a different Hebrew letter, you can actually play with the cake pops. However, everyone will much prefer eating them.
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Things You'll Need
White or yellow cake
Knife
Vanilla frosting
1-inch scoop
Blue candy melts
Vegetable shortening
6-inch treat sticks
White fondant
Fondant roller
Knife
Blue candy decorating pen
Edible adhesive
Small paintbrush
Tip
If you keep kosher, there are many brands like Wilton, Satin Ice and Betty Crocker that offer kosher choices.
Step 1: Prepare the Cake
Bake a cake either from scratch or with a box mix. I used a yellow cake box mix. After it has cooled, take a knife and cut out the sides and top sections that have browned. (You can nibble on them while you're making the cake pops.) Your cake pops will be more uniform in look and texture by using just the inside part of the cake.
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Step 2: Crumble the Cake
Use your fingers to crumble the cake into small pieces in a bowl.
Step 3: Mix With Frosting
Add two heaping tablespoons of vanilla frosting to the crumbled cake. For convenience, I used a tub of frosting from the store rather than making my own.
Mix the frosting and cake until it has the consistency of cookie dough. If you need to add more frosting as you mix, do so in small one-teaspoon increments. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to make it more firm.
Step 4: Shape the Mixture
Scoop out some of the cake mixture with a 1-inch scoop. Using a scoop will help you make all your dreidels the same size.
Shape the mixture into a rectangular prism using your fingers, leveling the sides on the tabletop.
Pinch one end to make it pointy like the bottom of a dreidel.
Place the dreidels on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Step 5: Prepare the Candy Melts
While the dreidels are chilling in the refrigerator, pour a bag of blue candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl.
Heat the candy melts in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each round in the microwave. Also mix two teaspoons of vegetable shortening with the candy melts to thin it out. You want the candy melts to drip from a spoon that's dipped into it.
Step 6: Prepare the Handle
Dip a 6-inch treat stick about a half inch into the candy melts.
Remove the dreidels from the refrigerator. Insert the dipped treat stick into the top of a dreidel. The candy around the stick will solidify when cooled and lock in the treat stick.
Poke the end of the treat stick into a piece of styrofoam to allow the cake pops to stand upright.
Step 7: Coat the Dreidels
Dip the dreidels in the candy melts, turning them to coat all four sides and the top.
Tap the stick against the rim of the bowl to shake off excess melted candy. Rotate the stick as you tap it so an equal amount of melted candy is removed from all four sides.
Tip
Now, while the candy melts are still liquid, would be a good time to add sprinkles if you want to give the cake pops some "bling." I ultimately decided against sprinkles because it became too ungapatchka, my favorite Yiddish term, meaning too over-decorated.
Let the cake pops stand upright in the styrofoam to allow the candy coating to harden.
Step 8: Roll the Fondant
Knead a ball of white fondant to soften it, and place it on a piece of parchment paper.
Flatten it with a fondant roller, making it as thin as possible. If your fondant roller has guides, use the guide for the thinnest depth.
Step 9: Cut Fondant
Measure the size of your dreidels. Cut squares of fondant using a knife, making them smaller than one side of a dreidel. The ones in this example were about 3/4 inches.
Tip
Let the fondant air dry for about 15 minutes before cutting them. Dried fondant is easier to handle without stretching.
You'll need four squares of fondant for each dreidel.
Step 10: Draw Hebrew Letters
A dreidel has four Hebrew letters on the four sides — נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hei), and ש (shin). Draw one letter on each of the fondant squares with a blue candy decorating pen.
Step 11: Glue Fondant to Dreidel
Squeeze some edible adhesive onto a plate. Dip a small paintbrush in the adhesive, and apply a thin coating of the adhesive onto the back of the fondant.
Position the fondant squares on each of the four sides of the dreidel, making sure to have a different Hebrew letter on each side. The white rectangles help delineate the shape of the dreidels and stand out nicely from the blue background.
Be sure to make a big batch of these dreidel cake pops. If they last more than eight nights, it really will be a Hanukkah miracle.
