Hello Kitty Cake Pops with Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of an 11 x 17 pan with parchment paper and cover with cooking spray.

Place finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot coffee over it. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plastic and stir until smooth.

Sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.

Using your stand mixer, beat eggs for a few minutes until they become a pale yellow. Beat in oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly add the chocolate. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until the batter is just incorporated. Pour batter into the lined pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely–at least 2 hours.

Cover a large baking sheet with wax paper.

In a large bowl, thoroughly crumble the cake. Add frosting and mix together with your hands. Be sure to use enough frosting so that the cake binds well together and can hold shape. If it’s too crumbly, add more frosting. Using a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop, scoop/roll/mold an oval shape for kitty’s head. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into some of the melted chocolate and insert into the bottom of kitty’s head. Place the heads on the covered baking sheet and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Once chilled, take two white chocolate chips and dip the bottoms in the melted chocolate. Place/glue them on the top of the head as kitty’s ears. Stand them up in a styrofoam block to dry. When the ears are firmly attached to the head, dip the cake pop in a bowl of melted white chocolate. Then remove and gently tap off any extra coating. Stand them up in a styrofoam block to dry. When the heads are completely dry, apply the hearts and sprinkles to make a bow and the yellow rainbow chips to make a nose. Use toothpicks to assist in this process. Once everything is completely dry, draw eyes and whiskers with edible pen or paint on with food coloring.