Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Pops

5 from 1 vote

These cute Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Pops are a perfect fall sweet treat for the holiday! Cake bites are decorated with chocolate and candy for a fun finger food dessert.

Prep Time45

Cook Time15

Chilling Time30

Total Time1 30

Cuisine: American

Course: Dessert

Servings: pieces

Calories: 169kcal

Equipment

Cookie Scoop
Fork
Large Cooking Spoon like a large tablespoon
Medium Bowl
Hand Mixer
Small Bowls for melting candy melts
Baking sheet for placement
Parchment paper

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

If you want the cake pops on a stick, make sure to also grab some cake pop sticks

The quantity will vary with exactly how large of a scoop you use.

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.

The time for this recipe does not include baking the cake. This process takes a little while so I recommend working ahead (ie: bake and/or shape the balls the day before decorating). The cake pops can be kept in an airtight container up to 1 week.

This takes some time to assemble since there are so many pieces. I completed coating and decorating 3 in 10 minutes.

Nutrition