Attempting to Bake

So with my sister Jen expecting her sweet baby boy in July and me hosting the shower I figured I better start working on my baking skills for the desserts.  I am a pro at cup-cakes (well, I can basic frost them with the Wilton tips).  Making dinner so the oven was on anyways, great time to make a cake and give this cake pop thing a try.  It can't be that hard, make a cake, add can of frosting, roll into a ball, place on a stick, "frost" in melted chocolate. I figured I would need to practice so why not try to make cake pops today without looking them up first and here comes the practice:

 Dinner of cheese stuffed shells.  Cake cooling while eating dinner and then washing dishes.

 I scrape an entire can of frosting into the crumbled up, still somewhat warm cake that I put in a bowl.  I realize the bowl won't be big enough for "mixing" and dump the contents into a larger bowl.

 I have a very gooey mess and it isn't "dough-y" like I figure it should be.  I obviously did something quite wrong and call my sister.  Our phone conversations goes something like this:
"Jen, I am trying to make cake balls so I can practice for your shower.  If I don't practice your getting cupcakes.  I think I did something wrong.  I made the cake and added a can of frosting. That's all you have to do right?  I mean it's really gooey."
Jen: "oy, you're only supposed to use 3/4 of the can."
Me: "OK, I used a little the other day for cupcakes when Luke had his friends over so it was only 3/4 of the can. But it is still really runny."
Jen: "Are you crying?"
Me: "No. My nose is running from all the moisture in the kitchen from boiling water and doing dishes."
Jen: "Did you let the cake cool?"

Me:  "No.  Was I supposed to?  I mean I did a little, but it is still warm."
Jen:  "Put it in the fridge for a little bit and let it cool."

Me:  "Thanks."
So I put the mess in the fridge to cool.  I look up making cake pops online.  They take longer than I realized (seriously, let them chill for 2 hours between attaching the stick and chocolate coating...).  About 15 minutes, apparently not long enough, later it was still gooey.  It started out rolling into nice balls and then it got messy.

I picked up the cake balls and put them back in the bowl and covered with plastic wrap in the fridge.  They are going to sit overnight and I will try rolling and putting on a stick tomorrow.  We will see if all this work is worth it... I have patience for scissor and glue stick crafts, but food is another story.

Don't worry... if these don't come out nice you're getting cupcakes Jen!  On the plus side I've made some decorations for the shower and designed your invites.