This column is about Starbucks, and no, I’m not writing a behind the times piece about their new logo. The logo is fine — they change all the time and neither a company facelift nor the blitz of media attention they garnered with it are bad things.
No, this column is about my love of Cake Pops. If this column has any loyal followers, then you know about my love of cute foods. Normally, I go for cupcakes, especially of the mini variety, and whole grain Goldfish, but a recent trip to Starbucks has my dietary cravings honing in on this new delectable treat.
I find myself making excuses to visit the corporate coffee shop, even though I much prefer buying the local fair trade fare of Kaldi’s or using my employee discount for medium non-fat mochas at McDonald’s.
This is American finger-food at it’s finest. Perhaps only fried Twinkies could be more gluttonous. These delicious cake pops are literally cake on a stick.
They come in Tiramisu, Birthday Cake and Rocky Road flavors. Weighing in between 170 and 180 calories per bite size pop and approximately one fourth of the day’s recommended saturated fat, these babies are obviously delicious and unhealthy. While I recommend buying the trio to try all three, perhaps after that, one per visit should suffice your sweet cravings.
The best part is the doughy texture. Starbuck’s cupcakes have a reputation for being too dry, but Cake Pops seem to avoid the overcooked Starbuck’s cake curse. Due to being a ball of cake batter, the inside is moist and not quite gooey, but far from dry. I think the thick layer of icing is the only thing keeping the cake and popsicle stick together.
Cake Pops are part of the Starbuck’s Petites collection, which also includes other adorable treats such at the Carrot Cake Mini Cupcake, Lemon Sweet Square, Peanut Butter Mini Cupcake, Red Velvet Whoopie Pie and Salted Caramel Sweet Square — all of which I have thankfully resisted, considering bathing suit season is just around the corner.
If you’re interested in making your own cake pops, I recommend reading Bakerella. The blog author also wrote the book “Cake Pops.” It has step by step instructions, complete with photos, so anyone of any skill level can create these mouthwatering desserts. The shop link on the site also offers a variety of other instruction booklets and links to all the tools you need to create festive baked goods and, of course, cake pops. For all those Gossip Girl fans, there’s a post complete with photos of Blake Lively enjoying cake pops.