Football-Inspired Coke Cake Pops

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I don't know how it happened, but this fall, I find myself a football fan.  AJ and his family have always supported our local teams, but my family wasn't always big into football (we're baseball people, actually).  But when AJ started following his beloved team through the off season, I knew we were in for the long haul, and with a ring on my finger, I was climbing aboard the football train.  

Truthfully, watching football has actually been really fun so far.  AJ even put me in his fantasy league, and my competitive side has been enjoying following my players and watching to see how they do every week.  As a girl who went to high school, college, and grad school all at schools that didn't have a football team, it's proven to be kind of exciting to catch the football bug.  Plus, my favorite part is gathering together with family to watch the game and cheer on our boys!

This past weekend, we headed to AJ's aunt and uncle's to watch some Sunday football after church.  AJ and I decided it might be fun to make some football-inspired Coke cake pops for our watch party, and they were a huge hit!  

We had heard of Coca-Cola cake before, and decided to try it out, and friends, it's delicious!  The addition of Coke in the recipe makes the cake so moist, which is awesome in cake pops!  We also wanted a clever way to display our cake pops, and AJ came up with the brilliant idea to create a football field out of a foam rectangle.  It was really fun to make and everyone at the party was really impressed!

Read on to get the recipe and full instructions for making these delicious desserts and our football field cake pop stand!

COCA-COLA CAKE POPS //

(This cake recipe adapted from the Duncan Hines website.  See original here.)

WHAT YOU NEED // 

Devil's Food Cake Mix

4 eggs

1 package of chocolate pudding mix

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 1/4 c of Coke (just less than 1 can)

HOW TO // 

Mix the cake mix, eggs, chocolate pudding mix, and oil with a hand mixer on medium until combined (the batter will be very thick).  Once these ingredients are combined, slowly add in the Coke.  Mix until smooth. 

Bake the cake at 350ºF for 30minutes in a greased 13x9" pan.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  

CREATING & DECORATING YOUR CAKE POPS // 

WHAT YOU NEED // 

1 can of icing (I used fluffy white)

Melting/Dipping Chocolate (I chose milk because it's my favorite, but you could do dark or white as well!)

White Icing (this cookie icing worked, but was a bit runny...maybe try a gel icing if it's available)

Sprinkles or colored sugar in your favorite team's color!

Lollipop Sticks

Wax Paper

HOW TO // 

Once your cake is cool (I broke mine up with a fork upon pulling it out of the oven to help it cool faster), crumble it into a large mixing bowl.  Then, add in your can of icing and mix well with your hands.  This will turn the cake into a play-dough-like consistency (and make your cake pops oh-so-fudgey and delicious).  

For the cake play-dough into balls (or footballs) and stick a lollipop stick into them in a drilling motion.  (You may want to first dip the end of the stick in icing before putting it into the ball.)  

Place the cake pops on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet (not touching) and then stick them into the freezer.  I left mine in overnight, but you just need to freeze them until they're firm and no longer malleable.  

Once your cake pops are frozen, melt your dipping chocolates.  Pull the cake pops out of the freezer and dip them individually into the melting chocolate.  Tap off the excess and then dust them with sprinkles or colored sugar.

FOOTBALL FIELD CAKE POP STAND //

WHAT YOU NEED // 

12x18" Green Foam Rectangle (available at your local craft store)

White Paint Pen

Yardstick

HOW TO // 

Making the Football field was pretty simple. First, I measured a half in in on every side and, using the paint pen and yardstick, created a border around the entire rectangle.  

Next, I measured halfway down the 18" side, and drew on my 50 yard line.  I labeled this line with "50" like on a football field. 

Then, from each end line, I measured 1.5" in towards the 50 yard line and I drew another line across.  This area became my end zone.  I wrote "TOUCHDOWN" in each end zone just for fun, but you could put your favorite team's name or mascot!

The next part was the trickiest.  I had to determine where to put the 10, 20, 30, & 40 yard lines on each side of the 50.  I determined that ever ten yards would be about 1 3/8 inches.  This would give me the most even markings.  I marked these intervals on each side of the 50 going towards each end zone.  Then, I drew lines straight across and marked each line with the appropriate yardage.  (These were a bit harder to read, but even the presence of some writing there looked better and more authentic than leaving it blank).  

Once all of that was done, my field was ready to hold my cake pops!  I stuck my cake pops around the field as I decorated them, and then was able to slide the whole "field" back into the freezer to help the cake pops set completely.  

To go along with our cake pops (and in them!), we picked up a pack of Coca-Cola at our local Sam's Club.  We love shopping at Sam's because it's basically a one-stop shop for all of your party needs, and they have really convenient and easy Order Online and Pick Up in-club features on their website, which makes shopping even easier.  We were able to pick up some snacks as well as our favorite soda and had plenty to share with everyone!  Sam's Club is also carrying a great 28-pk of Coke and Diet Coke, which is the perfect size for your next tailgate party!

HAVE YOU EVER MADE COCA-COLA CAKE?  

WHAT FOOTBALL WATCH PARTY ESSENTIALS DO YOU LOVE TO SNACK ON?