Shave the brown edges off the cake. In a large mixing bowl, crumble the remaining cake with your hands, or preferably with an electric mixer. Add the frosting and mix to combine.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the cake mixture with a cookie scoop and use your hands to roll it into tight, smooth, round balls. If the cake mixture does not stay together even after you’ve compressed it, add an additional tablespoon of frosting to the mix. Place each ball on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Remove the baking sheet from the refrigerator and poke each ball with a cake pop stick, sticking it about halfway through each ball and then removing it.

Add about 1/2 cup of the melting wafers to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 60 seconds. Add 1/2 tablespoon of shortening and stir gently. Return to the microwave and heat in 30-second intervals on 50% power, stirring in between, until the wafers are melted and silky smooth.

Dip one tip of a cake pop stick into the melted wafers, about 1/2 inch deep. Then place the covered tip of the stick into the hole in the cake ball you created earlier. Repeat with a new cake pop stick for each cake ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding.

Near the end of the chill time, prepare the remaining candy wafers. Repeat Step 4 using the remaining wafers and shortening until the mixture is silky smooth. Pour the melted wafers into a deep bowl or cup for dunking.

Remove the cake pops from the refrigerator. Working one at a time, dunk a cake pop into the melted wafers and carefully pull it out, allowing the excess to drip off. Place the cake pop into a cake pop stand with the stick pointing downward and immediately top with sprinkles. Repeat this process for each cake pop.

Refrigerate the cake pops for another 30 minutes before serving.