Gobble gobble! These adorable Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Pops are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner and party! Great to make in advance and a fun dessert!
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Recipe
I was just LOVING how cute these turkeys were turning out when I made them, and they have been a big hit at my Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving parties!
These cake bites do take some time to make, but they can be made in stages, and in advance, for a fun dessert perfect for celebrating the holiday.
Ingredients
You can use any flavor of cake and frosting as desired. I went with chocolate since we are coating them in chocolate and to keep with their color.
I have noticed that if you use a dark cake, the frosting color does not show up no matter what.
Helpful Tips and Information
With the constant shrinkflation, keep in mind that your yield might be different based on the exact brand and “version” of how much product is in one box that you are getting. You might need to adjust the frosting ratio based on this. If you need a certain number of turkey pops, you might want to buy extra cake just in case.
Make sure your fingers are clean when adding the eyes and beaks – otherwise they will be covered in chocolate!
If your turkey is not balancing on the feathers (which happened to me a few times), I put another broken piece of candy corn under the “butt” side to help hold it up and then broke it off after it dried. (See image above of all the ingredients and you will see a turkey drying this way!)
You are going to have lots of broken candy corn pieces – I still used ones that just had the tips broken since they are in the back and will not be seen easily.
When cutting the M&Ms, some will break and shatter weirdly and make some wedges unusable. Make sure you have extra candies handy!
More Thanksgiving Desserts
Fall Desserts
These desserts are perfect for fall and Thanksgiving dinner!
Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Pops
Equipment
- Fork
- Large Cooking Spoon like a large tablespoon
- Hand Mixer
- Small Bowls for melting candy melts
- Baking sheet for placement
Ingredients
- 1 batch boxed cake mix flavor of choice (see note 1)
- 1 cup frosting about half of a can, any flavor (or more as needed)
- 3 ½ cups chocolate (see note 2)
- 16 ounces candy corn (4-5 pieces per turkey)
- 72 candy eyes the small ones
- 10 yellow M&Ms you will be cutting them into fourths to make beaks, and some will crack and break incorrectly, so you will need extras
Instructions
- Make your cake as per the box directions. Let cool.1 batch boxed cake mix
- Crumble the cakes into a large bowl.
- Add 3/4 cup frosting to the large bowl. If you are using chocolate cake, any frosting color does not show up so feel free to use any flavors as desired of each.1 cup frosting
- Use an electric hand mixer to combine the frosting and cake. It should look somewhat like wet sand and not be smooth. Approximately 1 minute. If needed, add more frosting so that the cake sticks together well when pressed together.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cake mixture and shape into a ball. If needed, press it together by squeezing. Place each ball on a baking sheet.
- Chill the shaped cake 30 minutes for them to harden up some and to make them easier to coat.
- Melt your chocolate by heating in a small bowl in the microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. I heat approximately just 1 cup at a time as you will need to keep reheating as it sets up, and chocolate does not like to be heated too many times!3 ½ cups chocolate
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, place candy corns in an arc to resemble the feathers. Place 5 in a half circle, small points touching together. Repeat for all of your cake balls that you have.16 ounces candy corn
- Place a cake ball in the chocolate and use a spoon to coat completely. Lift the cake out of the chocolate with a fork and bang against the bowl rim to knock off the excess chocolate.
- Place the coated cake on top of a feather set so that the central point where all candies connect is being attached by the cake pop. If it is not balancing well, you can place another candy corn under the turkey's "butt" to hold it up that can be removed later once everything has set.
- Repeat with all cake pieces, melting more chocolate as needed.
- Add two candy eyes to each turkey. Make sure your hands are clean! If the chocolate has set too much, put a very small amount of melted chocolate on the back of each eye to adhere.72 candy eyes
- Cut the yellow M&Ms into quarters. Use some melted chocolate to adhere as a beak to each turkey.10 yellow M&Ms
- Let the cake balls completely set and harden.
- Store cake bites in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
- The yield will vary with the exact cake brand you use, plus the ongoing adjustment of smaller box sizes. If you need a specific number of treats, make sure to over estimate.
- 1 cup of candy melts is approximately 6 ounces in weight. You will get approximately 5 pops from 1/2 cup of chocolate depending on ball size and how much you leave on each piece. Plus you will need a little more for adhering all pieces.
