5 Starbucks Cake Pop Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

Starbucks cake pops are something of a global treasure. The sweet drops of heaven make for the perfect last-minute addition to your drive-thru drink order, not to mention the best distraction for your kids as you tool around the aisles of Target. With such an iconic and widespread presence, it's easy to think that cake pops and their sugary charm have always been a part of the Starbucks lineup. But the reality is they weren't added as a special feature until 2010 — nearly 40 years after the coffee company's inception — and they are in fact not made by the chain itself.

The entity to thank for those orb-shaped treats is actually Steven Charles, a premium dessert company that happens to match Starbucks' own commitment to diversity and inclusion while also delivering the highest quality confections. The very first cake pop flavors that the bakery spun up in collaboration with the coffee chain were tastes like birthday cake, rocky road, and even tiramisu. Sweet experiments have been conducted ever since, and it seems that each new season brings a new shiny pop to try.

Right now, with fall 2024 officially here, there are five distinct cake pops on the docket, including long-standing favorites and a few fresh faces (quite literally in one case), and I am giving each current lollipop-like goodie a try to uncover the most scrumptious of them all. Prepare for a major sugar rush.

It felt like a crime sending this sweet face scurrying back to last place — especially since I can't say I met any of these pops with distaste. The raccoon cake pop was actually part of Starbucks' most recent fall 2024 release, meaning it officially landed on the menu on August 22 amongst a flutter of apple cinnamon and pumpkin-inspired drinks and bakery items. It's also just the latest design of a long line of tasty critters. The coffee shop has also welcomed cats, owls, reindeer, unicorns, bumblebees, foxes, polar bears — the list goes on and on.

Without any prior research or intel, the raccoon on a stick doesn't give many hints as to its flavor or contents — a certified mystery pop. That is, until you read the Starbucks description and realize it is just vanilla cake mixed with buttercream and coated in chocolatey icing. I would have assumed cocoa to be at the bonbon's base, and I think I would have appreciated it more if it had been. The vanilla is a bit blasé and been there, done that — not to mention a tad dry. Then, the outer coating tastes of pure sugar with only the eyes providing the richness of chocolate.

Adorable features aside, this new autumn treat just doesn't radiate originality or high levels of pure palatability. But that's not to say the eyes of kids and whimsical-loving adults won't get as wide as the raccoon's when they spot it on the menu board. And I have no doubt these raccoon pops will continue to spread happiness throughout the fall season.

Unlike the previous autumn feature, the orange cream cake pop was a summer installment that appeared in May 2024, but it has rolled right along into this in-between time. At the time of its release, it joined a trio of bright summer-berry Refreshers and the pineapple cloud cake, but now stands as one of the last surviving summer offerings — it appears Starbucks is squeezing every last drop of profitability out of the pastel-colored pops.

As one would assume, this confection's flavor was in fact inspired by oranges as a mix of orange cream cake and buttercream, all covered in a blanket of white chocolate icing that is decorated to look just like an orange slice. At first bite, citrus is certainly at the forefront — a touch of zest folded into vanilla cake. However, I was picking up on more lemon notes than orange. Lemon cake pops have graced the Starbucks menu in the past — a success based on my own experience and knowledge — and I'm wondering if that triumph is what inspired this most recent juicy creation. The only problem is the orange tidbits failed to differentiate themselves enough from their predecessor.

Refreshing and with a subdued richness compared to the other cake pops, I still think there's a definite market for these orange blossoms. But I'm also excited to see what new seasonal flavors the chain and Steven Charles dream up next.

Available year-round — through warm weather or cold weather, rain or shine — the chocolate cake pop is a familiar face and trusty favorite at Starbucks. It's also chocolate through and through with a triple threat of bite-sized chocolate cake blended with chocolate buttercream and finally dipped in a chocolate coating. We can't forget about the tiny spherical white sprinkles that adorn the outside, as well — an addition that's admittedly more for aesthetics than taste, but which does add a crunchy variability in texture.

Juxtaposed with the four other sugary orbs, the interior contents of the chocolate pop are predominately more fudgy, making it closer in taste and consistency to a half-cooked brownie rather than a moist cake. There are also surprise pockets of what appear to be chocolatey chips throughout, but instead of being crunchy, their demeanor is more melt-in-your-mouth. If you're a chocolate-over-everything kind of person, it's highly likely that this chocolate truffle-like treat will top your list and tantalize your taste buds. But for me, the integrity of a true cake pop is lost a bit here, dropping the reliable staple to the middle of my rankings.

Glazed with blush pink icing and rolled in white sprinkles, the birthday cake pops look like they should be served at a gender reveal party — alongside a batch of identical baby blue spheres, of course. They are also what I think of as the quintessential cake pop. Not only was birthday cake one of the very first flavors to barrel its way into Starbucks stores over a decade ago, but it's also an unmatched classic as a fusion of vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream with a rosy-colored white chocolate shell. I did think for a minute that the cake choice used to be confetti (or funfetti) with rainbow sprinkles inside, but this may just be the Mandela effect at work again.

All other factors aside, the birthday version of this sweet-on-a-stick is also just plain tasty, no matter how you slice it or bite it. The inner nucleus is doughy to the point where it's almost gooey, and the crust on the surface is thick enough that you can actually taste and appreciate the white chocolate as you sink your teeth into each portion of the pop. 

Do I think that I could ever indulge in more than one at a time? No. I think even the world's most zealous sweet tooth would be humbled by the intense cloying sugariness of this baked good. But it's a crave-able sensation all the same.

Despite what you may have heard on TikTok, Starbucks does not have an official partnership with Oreo, though that would be a mega-brand mashup for the ages. So instead, the coffee chain uses a more generic sandwich cookie in its always-available cookies & cream cake pops — a swap that does nothing to detract from their decadence and superior taste. The cookies are whipped into a velvety buttercream and then blended with even more cookie bits and chocolate cake. What you see from the outside, however, is a white chocolate crust with a dusting of cookie crumbs on top.

This carefully crafted base ends up thick and sticky (in a good way) with a distinct flavor that is almost identical to America's favorite sandwich cookie. Meanwhile, buttery and smooth, the white chocolate satisfies the "cream" part of the equation. Altogether, it's undeniably sweet and indulgent, yet not a saccharine bomb that seems to leave you with cavities on contact.

Truth be told, I was between a rock and cake pop trying to pick my favorite bite-sized bakery item. The birthday cake and cookies & cream offerings are both equally iconic, beloved, and wildly irresistible. Ultimately, the cookies & cream triumphed because of a better balance of flavor and true chocolatey bliss. But realistically, I see no real reason to choose and will gladly tack both onto my future Starbucks orders.

Neither kids nor adults alike can resist the allure of a Starbucks cake pop. The sweet treat constantly beckons, and since making cake pops at home can be quite the process, picking one up at the chain feels like a divine luxury. It's hard to go wrong with any of the coffee shop's permanent and rotating cake pop flavors, but some just happen to thrill my taste buds a bit more than others. While tasting all five of the options currently residing on Starbucks' menu, I judged almost entirely by palatability, since all land at around the same price — $3.25 for birthday cake, chocolate, and cookies & cream, and $3.45 for the more seasonal raccoon and orange cream iterations. 

Standout flavor, that quintessential spongy and moist cake pop texture, and a sweetness that wasn't too sickly sweet were all attributes on the top of my list. And eventually, I was able to develop a definitive ranking that I proudly stand behind.