• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease with butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Set aside.

  If you do not have a piece of round parchment paper, here are instructions for how to line a round cake pan with parchment paper. You can trace the bottom of the cake pan with a pen or marker onto the parchment and cut that out. However, this produces a lot of waste and the ink on the parchment will now be touching your cake.

  Take a sheet of parchment paper and fold it into a square by folding one corner to the opposite side, aligning the corner to where it meets the opposite edge so you have a big triangle. Cut the excess from the bottom and reserve for another use.

  Fold one corner of the triangle towards the opposite corner to make a smaller triangle. Repeat one more time so you have a smaller triangle.

  Take the point of the triangle where all the folds are and hold in the middle of the overturned round pan. While holding that in place with your finger, trim the bottom of the triangle following the edge of the pan. Reserve the scraps to help spread butter on pans in other baking recipes.

  Unfold the triangle and place into the bottom of the sprayed pan. Set aside the prepared pan.

Make the cake

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl or large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
• Using a hand mixer, electric mixer, or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and sugar together in a large bowl until creamed, about 2 minutes.
  ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
  1 large egg, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour is incorporated. Do not overmix.
  1 cup whole milk
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake cake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top begins browning too quickly in the oven, loosely place a piece of aluminum foil on top.
• Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.

Make the strawberry frosting

• Place strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

  Transfer the strawberry puree to a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently so strawberries don’t burn or stick to bottom of the pan. Cook until puree is reduced by at least half, about 20 minutes.

  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
  1 cup whole, fresh strawberries
• In a large bowl, beat the butter with a handheld mixer or stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

  Beat 1 cup powdered sugar into the butter just until blended, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl to make sure all the sugar is blended.
  1 cup unsalted butter, 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• Add 2 tablespoons of the cooled strawberry puree into the butter/sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended.

  Repeat with 1 cup powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons strawberry puree 2 more times, then beat last ½ cup powdered sugar into mixture until well blended. Add the vanilla extract and salt.

  Whip the frosting on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch salt

Form the Cake Balls

• Take the cooled cake and crumble it with clean hands into a large bowl, making sure there are no large lumps or large pieces of cake.

  Add about ⅓ of the frosting and mix on low gently until the cake crumbs and frosting come together, slowly adding in frosting a little bit at a time until the crumbs and frosting combine.

  Tip: To check if you've added enough frosting, stop the mixer and then form a "test" cake ball in your hands by squeezing the cake mixture together to see if it stays together. If it does, do not add any more frosting.

  If the cake seems too dry and crumbles apart in your hand back into the bowl, add a bit more frosting and repeat this process to ensure the cake balls stays together with the minimum amount of frosting.

  Note, you may end up using only some of the frosting.
• Measure 1 tablespoon of the cake/frosting mixture and roll into a ball. Alternately, use a small cookie scoop to portion out the cake balls. Place balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or cookie sheet. Repeat until you've used all the cake/frosting mixture. Refrigerate the cake balls for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

Dip the cake pops

• Melt chocolate coating or candy melts in a 2-cup measuring cup or microwave safe bowl in the microwave according to the package directions. Alternately, melt in a double boiler if you have one.

  Remove only 2-3 cake balls from the refrigerator/freezer at a time. Re-roll the chilled balls to smooth out, if needed.
  chocolate candy melts
• Dip a lollipop stick about ¼ inch into the coating, then insert into the center of the cake ball, being careful not to push it all the way through the top. This melted chocolate will act as glue to hold the cake pop to the stick when it hardens.

  Dip the cake ball into the coating until it is completely covered. Make sure the chocolate covers the base of the cake ball where it meets the lollipop stick. Very gently tap the stick against the edge of the measuring cup to allow excess chocolate/excess coating to drop off into the measuring cup.
• If using, immediately sprinkle the melted chocolate with sprinkles and place upright into a styrofoam block, cake pop stand, or cardboard box. Repeat with remaining cake balls, only working with some out of the refrigerator at a time. The cake balls must be very cold when dipping or they will fall apart in the chocolate.
  sprinkles
• Allow cake pops to set for 1 hour and enjoy!