A bunch of shimmer cake pops in a cup with a puffy white ribbon surrounding the cup. The cake pops are decorated with a filigree design and dusted with gold, pink, and blue luster dust to make them shine.

I made these delicious shimmer cake pops a couple of months ago for my daughter’s teacher who was leaving for a new job. Usually I would make cookies, but I had all the supplies on hand so I thought I’d give it a go! And it doesn’t hurt to have some extras around to snack on 🙂

Watch the video tutorial and get the supply list below!

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This post from Miss Candiquik has great tips on making cake pops including how to prevent cracking.

The luster dust that I used is TruColor brand and it’s made with natural food coloring. I noticed that the pink and blue faded over the few hours that I had these out on the counter.

I think if I had kept them away from the sunlight they would not have faded so quickly. So just keep that in mind when you make these cake pops.

Here’s what I used to make these shimmer cake pops

Download the full supply list with clickable links and printable instructions from my Ko-Fi Shop.

9×13″ baked yellow cake (I used a boxed cake mix but this homemade yellow cake mix recipe from I Am Baker is my favorite cake recipe to use when I bake it from scratch)
Buttercream (the recipe is below)
Wilton chocolate candy melts
Cake pop stand (I made my own by cutting X shapes into a cardboard box)
12″ tipless decorating bag
Luster dust (I used TruColor brand – it looks like the pink and blue are sold out, but other good brands to use are Crystal Colors from sugarpaste.com and Roxy & Rich)
Brush to apply the luster dust
Gloves

A cake pop with a bite taken out of it. In the background are a bunch of shimmer cake pops in a cup with a puffy white ribbon surrounding the cup. The cake pops are decorated with a filigree design and dusted with gold, pink, and blue luster dust to make them shine.

Buttercream Frosting Recipe for Cake Pops

This recipe makes 3 cups. Save the extra in the freezer for up to 3 months.

1 cup (226 grams) of unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (500 grams) confectioners sugar
1 TBS (15mL) vanilla extract
1 tsp (1 gram) kosher salt
2 TBS (30mL) whole milk

In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time. Add the vanilla, salt, and milk and mix on medium speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.

How To Make Shimmer Cake Pops Instructions

Step 1 Start out by crumbling a baked cake into a large bowl.

Step 2 Add ½ cup of frosting to the cake and mix the frosting into the cake by hand.

A glass bowl of crumbled baked cake and a scoop of buttercream frosting being added by a green spatula. There is a metal measuring cup partially filled with frosting at the bottom of the frame.

Step 3 Take a piece of the mixture and make sure it holds together. If it’s not holding together, you can add more frosting.

A pink gloved hand holding a ball of the cake pop mixture. The rest of the mixture is in a glass bowl. The other pink gloved hand is resting on the edge of the bowl

If you don’t have a cake pop holder, make your own by cutting “x” shapes in a cardboard box.

A pink gloved hand is using a craft knife to cut X shapes into a cardboard box to be used as a cake pop stand.

Step 4 Melt a bag of chocolate candy melts.

Step 5 Use a tablespoon to measure the cake pop mixture. Roll 1 tablespoon at a time. Dip a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and insert it into the cake pop.

Pink gloved hands are inserting a lollipop stick that has been dipped in melted chocolate into a ball of the cake pop mixture. The rest of the cake pop mixture is in a glass bowl. There are lollipop sticks to the left of the bowl and a glass measuring cup full of melted chocolate above the bowl. There is a parchment lined baking sheet to the right of the bowl.

Step 6 Dip the cake pops into the melted chocolate. Place the pops into the cake pop holder and allow the chocolate to set.

I kept mine out at room temperature to set, but if it’s very hot where you are, you’ll need to put them in the fridge for a few minutes. This is where you have to be careful about your cake pops cracking. Take a look at this post from Miss Candiquik for tips on preventing this.

A cake popped being dipped into melted chocolate.

A chocolate coated cake pop being lifted out of a measuring cup full of melted chocolate. There is a parchment lined baking sheet to the right of the measuring cup and there are un-dipped cake pops lined up on the tray.

Step 7 Pour the remaining melted chocolate into a piping bag.

Step 8 Pipe a filigree design on the cake pop with the melted chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set.

If you’re not comfortable piping filigree, you can certainly skip this step. These cake pops would still be very pretty with the luster dust on a smooth surface.