“I guess you can say imitation is best form of flattery,” said Dudley, who does not have anything to do with the marketing of the appliance. “If I said a company stole my idea, it would be like me saying a home baker couldn’t make cake pops either.”
Dudley is an equal-opportunity cake-pops supporter. She knows that companies will always try to capitalize on good ideas, but she believes in cake pops for all.
Without really trying, Dudley, 39, has turned her passion for cake pops into a business.
Last year, in an effort to answer the flood of questions she has received about cake pops, she published “Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats,” which spent seven weeks on The New York Times best-seller list and has sold more than 500,000 copies, according to her publisher, Chronicle Books. This fall saw the release of her “Cake Pops Kit” and a note card and envelope set.
A one-woman operation, Dudley doesn’t have a bakery or a staff, nor does she take orders.
“It’s like a second full-time job,” said Dudley.
A cake-decorating class in 2007 inspired her to experiment with baking. She knew that cake balls — rounded mounds of crumbled cake combined with frosting — tasted great but were not so great looking. She started dunking them in candy coating and decorating them with sprinkles, nuts, candies and mini cookies. She inserted a lollipop stick and a trend was born.
She began turning out holiday-themed cake pops, as well as pops in the shape of pandas and bumble bees.
When a photo of one of her cake pops fashioned into a cupcake was featured on a cupcake website, the image went viral and landed her on the "Martha Stewart Show." There, she taught the domestic diva how to create her seminal cupcake pops.