If you already have a pop it toy at home for sensory play, make sure you wash it thoroughly. If it's made from good quality food grade silicone, these self-regulation tools can also double as a mold to pour your candy melts into (or you can use fondant for this step if you prefer!) If you don’t have a pop it at home, or yours is too busy being used as a toy, you can buy a new one and wash it before you cook with it.

To make this step even easier, you could purchase a pop it themed mold that will allow you to make your chocolate candy with less risk of cracking.

I used a fresh, clean pop it toy as a mold for melting chocolate. I bought 5 different colors of melting chocolate candy and mixed my red and yellow together to make my own orange at home for color number 6. You can also buy white melting chocolate and add your own color to it if you’re sure the food coloring won’t cause any curdling or separation.

Melt your chocolate according to the directions (usually on a low setting, stirring frequently) then put it in a piping bag or ziploc bag with a small hole cut out of one corner. Take your time getting the chocolate in the pop it toy or mold, and tap it to get out any air bubbles as well as to help things settle into all the nooks and crannies.

Set aside your chocolate, I recommend leaving it at room temperature to cool if you have time. Freezing it will cause it to sweat condensation when it comes out into warm air later and that can make it lose its shape.

You can skip this step if you’re buying a store-bought birthday cake that’s already decorated with a simple design. Just add your desired decorations to it and the pop it themed candy, and you’re good to go!

It won’t matter if your cake is vanilla or chocolate, it’s going to be covered in buttercream frosting anyways. You can use your favorite recipe or a box cake mix. A large one layer cake, or multiple layers in smaller pans with additional buttercream icing between them will work for this cake.

Let your cake cool to room temperature in the pan, then transfer it onto a cake board or plate and pop it into your fridge or freezer to cool completely and harden up to make frosting easier later.

Use your favorite buttercream frosting recipe. I used 2 cups (500 ml) of butter, 4-5 cups of powdered sugar, two tsp of vanilla, and up to ½ a cup of milk to make my icing. Mix it together thoroughly and let it rest so the sugar has a good chance to absorb liquid from the mixture.

Use your buttercream frosting to frost your cake with a crumb coat of icing. Get a nice big ¼ cup of frosting on your spatula and add frosting to the sides of your cake, rotating as you go. It’s easier to put a lot of icing on at first and then scrape some off later to make it smooth. Don’t be afraid that you are using too much.

Put your cake in the fridge or freezer to firm up again after this first coat of frosting. Then add a second layer and smooth your cake with a spatula or cake smoothing tool.

Place your whole cake stand in a 13 x 18-inch sheet pan to catch any falling sprinkles. Grab a big thick handful of sprinkles and gently press them onto the sides of your cake, all the way around. Use your favorite icing tips and an icing bag to create some decorative swirls on the top edge of your cake.

Very slowly and gently, remove your pop it shaped candy from the toy mold. Press one bubble at a time to help it release and take extra care along the ridges between each color.

As I was de-molding my candy, both of mine broke. This is less likely to happen if you’re using a proper pop it candy mold that is built for cake decorating. But if you’re using a real toy like I did, the ridges that separate each color of the toy make it harder to use for a single piece of chocolate. I recommend using a thick layer of extra chocolate, like I did, to ‘glue’ your chocolate back together if it breaks apart.

You can prop up your pop it cake topper with some skewers or popsicle sticks to make it stand up nicely, or lay it flat on your cake for whatever style of look you prefer.