Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Me, a grown man, enjoying a cake pop

North Park treats for graduation, wedding, Easter

Still sweet, despite the lost tip of unicorn horn
Still sweet, despite the lost tip of unicorn horn

My latest dessert quest took me to North Park, where novelty cake curator The Cake Pop Shop recently opened its first storefront. Already known among wedding planners, the business has a knack for crafting decorative bite-size balls of cake, served on a lollipop stick.

Place

Cake Pop Shop

4594 30th Street, San Diego

Most of these cake pops stick to a visual theme built around the spherical cake, so a wedding cake pops might be dressed up to resemble tuxedoes and bridal gowns; a graduation party might get cakes designed to look like they're wearing a mortarboard cap and tassel; and an Easter party might see the pop receive a sugary pair of edible bunny ears.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Decorative cakes dressed to resemble ice cream cones

While Cake Pop Shop still caters events, now that it's got a little counter storefront, fans may drop in to try a rotating assortment of pops. I found several ranging in price from $3 to $4.50 apiece, depending on how complex they were. At the top end of the spectrum was the unicorn pop — complete with sugary horn — while a simpler $3 pop had chocolate icing and sprinkling of peanut butter chips.

The catering business has got a counter storefront.

Icing or frosting might not be accurate. One of the advantages of putting a little round cake on a stick seems to be that you can simply dip it in something melted like chocolate or vanilla. Each cake pop boasts a smooth, even coat that dries fairly solid, so the treat winds up tasting more like a ball of cake wrapped in a candy coat.

I grabbed three, including my favorite, a cake pop made to look like a scoop of chocolate ice cream topped by rainbow sprinkles and an M&M, sitting atop a tiny cone (which was also impaled on the stick).

The little round cake inside these decorations were fairly good; rich and not too dry. The candy coating made the whole thing richer still. While my three pops for $11 didn't add up to the size of a $5 slice of cake I can get at a more traditional nearby dessert shop, when I ate all three in a sitting, I realized I probably would have been satisfied with two. I got about three large bites out of each.

I would file these under premium gift desserts. They'd be excellent as a birthday treat, or something to show up with to a date. A bunch would be better still as an apology offering. From day to day, though, they're far too cute to simply eat out of a little paper bag, even if that's how they were served.

And there's my only real complaint, as a grown man, enjoying a cake pop: the tip of my unicorn's horn broke off before I got home. Travel with care.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Domestic disturbance at the home of Mayor Gloria and partner

Home Sweet Homeless?
Next Article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Still sweet, despite the lost tip of unicorn horn
Still sweet, despite the lost tip of unicorn horn

My latest dessert quest took me to North Park, where novelty cake curator The Cake Pop Shop recently opened its first storefront. Already known among wedding planners, the business has a knack for crafting decorative bite-size balls of cake, served on a lollipop stick.

Place

Cake Pop Shop

4594 30th Street, San Diego

Most of these cake pops stick to a visual theme built around the spherical cake, so a wedding cake pops might be dressed up to resemble tuxedoes and bridal gowns; a graduation party might get cakes designed to look like they're wearing a mortarboard cap and tassel; and an Easter party might see the pop receive a sugary pair of edible bunny ears.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Decorative cakes dressed to resemble ice cream cones

While Cake Pop Shop still caters events, now that it's got a little counter storefront, fans may drop in to try a rotating assortment of pops. I found several ranging in price from $3 to $4.50 apiece, depending on how complex they were. At the top end of the spectrum was the unicorn pop — complete with sugary horn — while a simpler $3 pop had chocolate icing and sprinkling of peanut butter chips.

The catering business has got a counter storefront.

Icing or frosting might not be accurate. One of the advantages of putting a little round cake on a stick seems to be that you can simply dip it in something melted like chocolate or vanilla. Each cake pop boasts a smooth, even coat that dries fairly solid, so the treat winds up tasting more like a ball of cake wrapped in a candy coat.

I grabbed three, including my favorite, a cake pop made to look like a scoop of chocolate ice cream topped by rainbow sprinkles and an M&M, sitting atop a tiny cone (which was also impaled on the stick).

The little round cake inside these decorations were fairly good; rich and not too dry. The candy coating made the whole thing richer still. While my three pops for $11 didn't add up to the size of a $5 slice of cake I can get at a more traditional nearby dessert shop, when I ate all three in a sitting, I realized I probably would have been satisfied with two. I got about three large bites out of each.

I would file these under premium gift desserts. They'd be excellent as a birthday treat, or something to show up with to a date. A bunch would be better still as an apology offering. From day to day, though, they're far too cute to simply eat out of a little paper bag, even if that's how they were served.

And there's my only real complaint, as a grown man, enjoying a cake pop: the tip of my unicorn's horn broke off before I got home. Travel with care.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Three nights of Mission Bayfest bring bliss

“This is a top-notch production.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader