Like other people, I’m addicted and attracted to cake pops. I even have a cake pop board on Pinterest with all the cake pops I want to try for my kids when I have the time (yeah, right). Cake pops are everywhere. If you’ve never heard of them, they are those sweet little treats made of crumbled cake and frosting dipped in candy coating that are decorated in fanciful shapes or fun figures. And if you think they are complex and difficult, think again. Two books out there make them approachable to anyone wanting to tackle a cake pop.

Cake Pops by Bakerella (Chronicle, ISBN 9780811876377) and Crazy for Cake Pops (Molly Bakes, Ulysses Press, ISBN 9781612430447 – Note: it is Cake Pops in the UK) are two great books to turn to if you are new to the sport of cake pops. Bakerella (AKA Angie Dudley) is the original cake pop diva here in the States, and Molly Bakes (AKA Maria Michaelides) is the cake pop guru in the UK.

Bakerella – Picture Perfect Cake Pops

Cake Pops by Bakerella is a good first book to turn to if you are just starting out. Not only does it have cake and frosting recipes to try, but is shows how to do them using boxed mixes and canned frosting. It shows you literally baby-step by baby-step on how to roll or form standard cake balls, basic cake pops, and cupcake pops and balls. The spiral binding makes turning pages and staying on a page easy, and the design team did an awesome job with color pictures and colored accents throughout the book.

Crazy for Cake Pops – Unique Designs

This is another cake pop cookbook filled with color photos, and this one has unique ideas for favorite holidays. The book I bought has perfect binding, and it was smaller making it easier to tote around with me. The one thing this book has over the other one is a better variety of recipes: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, peanut butter, toffee and lemon cake are the tasty ones included, and the frosting recipes are unique as well (the toffee frosting includes decadent dulce de leche). When baking I prefer the metric system over imperial measurements, and this book had both.

It is a good thing I don’t have to choose which I like better or which to get, as they are now both sitting in my home library. If you are looking specifically for UK suppliers and ingredients, then Cake Pops – the UK version of Crazy for Cake Pops would be the one for you. Bakerella’s Cake Pops is geared toward the US market.

Cake pops can be made ahead of time and stored until ready to decorate, and make a much more festive sweet than a typical plain cake for any celebration. Since they are individual treats, they can be customized for any event or holiday. There are so many designs between the two books, the hard part is simply choosing which to try first.

For more information about either of these two cake artists:

• Bakerella – Website with all her cake pop ideas
• Molly Bakes – Website and event calendar (even Lady Gaga enjoys her treats)

Book Information:

• Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats; Bakerella
• Chronicle Books, 2010
• ISBN13: 9780811876377
• Hardcover, spiral bound, 160 pages

• Crazy for Cake Pops: 50 All-New Delicious and Adorable Creations; Molly Bakes
• Ulysses Press (US version); 2011
• ISBN13: 9781612430447
• Softcover, 162 pages

Disclosure: These books were purchased by the author and any opinions are her own.