Cake.
Mixed with salted caramel.
Dipped in white chocolate.
Then, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt.
Interested? I thought you might be.
It’s all pretty easy, too. Just a bit time consuming.
I’ve made just a couple of minor tweaks since I first made these this past spring:
First, I’ve left off the pop sticks – the cakes were so dense they kept falling off ’em.
I cut out the last caramel dip, because, well, they are already just so-o-o-o rich.
And, finally, instead of relying on Trader Joe’s (very good) salted caramel sauce, I opted to use my home made sea salt dulce de leche.
No one I tested on seemed to mind the changes. At all.
INGREDIENTS
Dulce de leche:
•1 can sweetened condensed milk
•1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
•1 tbsp brandy or bourbon (optional)
Cake Pan Coating:
•1 tbsp shortening (Crisco)
•1 tbsp flour
•1 tbsp veggie oil
Cake:
•1 Yellow cake mix – I use Betty Crocker Super Moist
Cake Pop Moistener:
•1/4 stick (2 tbsp) butter, softened
•1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1/4 tsp vanilla
•1/3 cup dulce de leche
•Coarse sea salt
Glazes:
•1 (11 oz) bag white chocolate chips
•1 tbsp solid shortening (Crisco)
•1 (11 oz) bag dark chocolate chips
•1 tbsp butter
•Coarse sea salt
First things first; make the dulce de leche the day before you plan on making the pops by emptying a can of sweetened condensed milk into a canning jar, then stirring in the sea salt and brandy or bourbon, if using. Screw the lid on the jar, place it in your slow cooker and cover with water.
Cook on low for eight hours, then remove, allow to cool, and stash in the fridge until needed.
Prepare the cake pan coating by mashing together the solid shortening, the flour, and the veggie oil with a fork in a small bowl, then brush over your baking pan of choice to cover – I used a 13×9 glass pan.
Note: this cake pan coating is the only stuff I use, and all cakes – even wicked complex bundt pan creations – come out of their respective cake pans cleanly and easily.
Prepare your oven and the cake mix according to package directions, then bake and cool completely.
Blend the brown sugar, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla into the softened butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
Cut up the cake and blend in to the creamed butter mixture.
Add the dulce de leche and continue to mix until the cake pops are evenly blended and hold together when scooped into a ball.
Using a two tablespoon scoop, I ended up with twenty cake balls, after making 19 kinda huge ones, then picking a bit from 
each of the balls made and adding to the remainders in the mixing bowl to get that one, last, still nicely sized, bit.
Arrange the balls on a parchment lined baking pan, sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then stash in the fridge for an hour.
Make the white chocolate glaze by placing the white chocolate chips in a ‘wave safe bowl with one teaspoon of the shortening and heating for one minute at 50% power.
Stir until smooth, even if there are a few bits of chips holding together. Add another teaspoon of shortening and ‘wave for another minute. Stir again until smooth, adding a last teaspoon of shortening and ‘waving for another 30 seconds if needs be.
Dip half of each cake ball in the smooth, melted white chocolate and return to the parchment lined pan.
Stash back in the fridge for an hour.
Prepare the chocolate glaze by placing the dark chips and the tablespoon of butter in a ‘wave safe bowl and hitting 30 seconds on the key pad.
Remove the bowl, stir, return to the ‘wave and cook in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until the chocolate is glossy and smooth and creamy and oh! so good.
Dip the other side of the cake balls in the dark chocolate, return to the parchment lined sheet, and sprinkle with one last dusting of coarse sea salt.
Back into the fridge for an hour, then serve, or, transfer the balls to a covered container and keep in the fridge until needed.
Mebbe serve ’em with an extra dollop of ducle de leche on top.