Holstein Housewares Cake Pop Maker, Lavender – Makes 12 Cake Pops, Non-Stick Coating, Perfect for Birthday and Holiday Parties

Quick and easy once you realize how much to put in each pocketI absolutely love this! With having kids in the house my time is limited, plus little kids like to help cook so this is the best of both worlds for us. The hardest part was figuring out how much to put in each pocket. I found it easiest to put my cake batter in a piping bag and squeeze a nice size dollar into each pocket. Keep in mind, cake batter does swell so you don’t want to fill it completely up. I worked pretty quick to get my battery put into each socket so I can close the lid and everything cooked evenly. I also sprayed the appliance with cooking spray so nothing would stick.

Difficult and Time ConsumingAfter researching cake pops and reading several of the reviews for this appliance I decided to buy it. I was excited to receive this pop cake appliance and use it for upcoming events that I was planning. After reading the instructions, cleaning the unit and applying vegetable oil to the molds, I opened a box of Betty Crocker Delights Rainbow Chip Cake Mix and prepared the mix according to the instructions on the box. I then transferred some of the batter to a plastic squeeze bottle which created a big mess. I thought it would help get the batter in the molds easier, faster and more accurately which it did but still was a big time consuming mess getting the batter in the container. I plugged in the appliance and patiently waited for it to heat up. After the green light came on I began filling the molds which was more difficult than I imagined. The area where the molds are is so small it is a challenge to maneuver around. By time I had batter in all of the molds, the first ones I filled were already rising and spilling out of the molds. I quickly closed the lid, set the timer and all of a sudden I see batter oozing out of the sides of the appliances. It was a small amount oozing out the sides, but still not what should have happened. Within 7 minutes I opened the lid to be surprised that the batter had run out of most molds and created a crust that connected them all together. Now I use a wooden spatula to get them out of the molds, not too hard because most of them were all connected by the baked batter that ran out of the molds. I had to begin pulling off the excess cake that connected them together and while I did that I had to unplug the appliance because it it not to run for more than 15 minutes at a time!! So after I finished with the excess removal of the overrun batter that connected the cake pops, I plugged the appliance back in and again patiently waited for it to warm up and the green light to come on. I again filled the molds but this time did not fill it to the top, but the same thing happened with the cake beginning to rise before I could get all the molds filled. I quickly closed the lid and this time held it down for a few minutes hoping to keep the batter from spilling out of the mold and running down the outside of the appliance. It helped, but the cake pops were not completely round because I put less batter in. Also the batter ran out of the molds on the side of the appliances that I started filling the molds. So the 3rd attempt I had someone help me fill the molds so I could go twice as fast hoping that the batter would not begin rising and spilling out before I could complete the filling of the molds. It helped but the space where the molds is located is so small our hands kept getting in each others way. So again, I held down the lid so that the batter would not spill over (each time I made sure not to over fill the molds and each time after a batch was completed I had to unplug the appliance because of the 15 minute rule.) So the final results were just not worth all the headache!! Having to have a second person there to help fill the molds, hold down the lid, remove excess cake that overran the mold, unplug and re-plug appliance for 5 times, oh and not to mention the messy filling of the plastic bottles with cake batter and and the clean up of the batter that ran down the sides of the appliance is way too much effort! In addition, please note that if you are using a cake mix you will probable have enough mix to make at least 5+ dozen cake pops, so that means turning the appliance on and off 5 times! So after I cleaned up the big mess that I made on the kitchen counter I decided to taste these cute morsels and yes they were yummy and moist, but still not worth all the mess and work. I will leave pops to the professionals and stick with making cupcakes!

Loved itEasy to use

No time to fill 35 but clean the mess need 30mins at leastI don’t know how could any others fill these 35 batter in time. I couldn’t. The 1st time I followed the guide let it warm then pour the batter in the bakery cup carefully, but when I filled the second line 3rd ball the first batter ball already rinsed out of the hole. I covered the cap in a hurry and waited few mins to get 10 balls, but the balls were hard to get out, although I wiped the oil on the mold before I operated it. Between few balls, there were crusts. I had to use silicone small spoon to take them out of mold but still there were some crusts stick on the mold, wet wipe them spent a little time. The balls were softer than handmade, easily to break.The second time…..I tried to fill them first without that high temperature, it was still warm from my 1st trial but I unplug the machine. This time was failed to rinse the ball and the batter spilled out of the machine, of course still hard to get the “balls” out of the mold, maybe because the shape? (My waffle maker never have this sticky situation happen). The cleaning work made me crazy, especially the gaps between the metal mold and plastic red casing. I spent more than half hour to clean most of the surface, the gap I tried my best. If I have to spend so much time on it, I would like to say, I will make cake pop by hand.

Not useful for anything but cake popsI actually purchased this to see if it would work for ebelskeivers (Norwegian pancake of sorts). The batter is not suitable for this machine. A fail for my purposes.