Easy and fun to make, these Halloween push pops contain moist bites of carrot cake, layered with cream cheese frosting. The biggest problem with these adorable treats is that they’re so cute that people will initially be afraid to take one. Rest assured however, that the hesitation doesn’t last long!
Ingredients for Halloween Push Pops:
I used the following ingredients for these adorable Halloween treats: Unsalted butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, eggs, salt, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, lemon juice, vanilla extract, flour, crushed pineapple, grated carrots, and toasted pecans. For the cream cheese frosting I used unsalted butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and confectioners’ sugar.
Making the Carrot Cake for the Halloween Push Pops:
Starting with the cake, I beat the butter, oil, and sugars together until everything was well incorporated. Then, I added the milk and eggs, and beat the mixture until everything was well combined. Next I sifted in the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and continued beating. After that, I added the vanilla extract and lemon juice, and beat the mixture one last time until everything was fully incorporated.
For the final additions, I started with the flour which I folded in just until most of it disappeared into the batter. Then I added the pineapple which I had drained, the grated carrots, and the toasted pecans.
With all of the ingredients added, I gave the mixture a good stir to make sure that everything was well incorporated into the batter.
I lightly greased a mini-whoopie pie pan before filling the cavities with the batter using a 2-teaspoon or 1⅛-inch ice cream scoop. That size turned out to be perfect!
I popped the filled pan Into a 350° F pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the mini-cakes were perfectly done. I removed the cakes from the pan and cooled them on a wire rack. After the pan had cooled, I repeated this process since I wanted a total of 48 mini-cakes (4 cakes per push pop container) – the mini-whoopie pie pan has 24 cavities.
Making the Cream Cheese Frosting for the Halloween Push Pops:
While the cakes were cooling, I made the cream cheese frosting by beating together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Then, I added the confectioners’ sugar, and beat it until the frosting was smooth. I had decided to use a candy corn theme for the push pops, so I colored 1/3 of the frosting orange, 1/3 yellow, and left the remaining amount white. I filled piping bags fitted with small star tips with the frostings, and assembled everything to begin the process of building the push pops.
Building the Halloween Push Pops:
For the layering, I started with one mini-cake in the bottom of the push pop container. I topped that with some white frosting, and added another mini-cake. Then, I topped the second mini-cake with orange frosting, and added a third cake. I topped that with yellow frosting, and added the final mini-cake. Finally, I added some white frosting, and placed a piece of candy corn in the center.
Did I mention how incredibly tasty these little treats are? Who could resist moist bites of carrot cake layered with cream cheese frosting in an adorable little package? Yum!
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces, 99 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (1.88 ounces, 53 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup (5 ounces, 142 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 of 8-ounce can crushed pineapple drained with excess juice squeezed out
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces, 170 grams) carrots, peeled and grated with small grater blade
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar
- Orange and yellow paste gel paste food coloring
- 12 Push Pop Containers (See Note 1)
- 12 pieces candy corn
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease mini-whoopie pie pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and milk; continue beating. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Continue beating. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice; beat until everything is well incorporated. Mix in flour; stir just until combined. Add crushed pineapple, carrots, and pecans; stir just until combined. Fill mini-whoopie pie cavities with 2 teaspoons batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack; let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Then gradually add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until mixture is smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thick, add a small amount of milk (1 teaspoon), beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thin, add additional confectioners' sugar until desired consistency is achieved.
Color the frosting if desired. Add a mini-whoppie pie cake to the container. Using a #21 star tip, pipe some frosting on the cake. Repeat three more times, such that the push pop contains four cakes and four layers of frosting. Add decoration to the top if desired.
- Yield: 12 Halloween push pops.
- I bought my push pop containers at Amazon.com.
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