Spring Chicks Cake Pops

I made the Spring Chicks Cake Pops from Bakerella's Cake Pop book. I decided to take pictures along the way. I used a boxed cake mix - the book says that a boxed mix is the right consistency. It is also easier and faster to make a boxed mix. (This is a picture of the box along with the cake before I put it in the oven.) Here is my cake fresh out of the oven.

I forgot to take a picture of the cake crumbs. That part was harder than I thought. How hard should it be to turn a cake into tiny crumbs??? I think my cake was too moist...or something. Maybe it was the kind of cake mix I used. A food processor would work much better for this job than your hands, but I don't have one, so it was a very long and messy process.

This is a picture of the cake crumbs mixed with the frosting. I was almost done rolling them into balls when I remembered to take pictures!

I thought I would try and do something a little different... I tried to smush some of the cake into one of my candy molds. I know that isn't what they are for, but I thought it was worth a try. Please take my advice... don't put the cake directly into the mold. Fill the mold with chocolate and then put the cake in. Maybe even spray it will Pam or something first. I had a VERY hard time getting the cake out of the mold. Problems included ruining the designs the mold made in the cake and cracking a mold trying to get the cake out. They make silicon molds for this reason.

Here are the cake balls in my fridge.

The chicks use little "kisses" in yellow and orange. It is something that you can buy, but I didn't have any, so I made my own. The orange is more red because I didn't do a great job combining colors to make orange.

A close-up of my "mini kisses".

Here is a picture of what the Spring Chick pop is suppose to look like...

Here is a close up of the candy pieces you need (per the book).

Here are the pops on sticks.

It is a lot harder than you think to make cake pops. Well... let me rephrase that. It is a lot harder than you think to decorate cake pops. I couldn't get the melted yellow chocolate to be smooth on the pop. So, I covered a few of the lumpy ones with some of the sprinkles I bought a few weeks ago.

Another view of the lumpiness... A close-up of the nonpareils.

I used some of the heart sprinkles to make a face.

I didn't have any flower sprinkles to use for the chicks feet, and I wasn't sure how to make something like that. So, I omitted them. I think they are cute!!

The more I covered, the smoother the coatings got.

Overall, they look super cute and are pretty tastey! They are a little sweeter than most adults like, but they are good. They were slightly more difficult to make than I thought they would be. They are VERY time consuming!! I still have about a dozen in my fridge that are waiting for a coating of some sort. I know for next time to allow more time to make these...especially if the design is anything more than a melted chocolate coating with sprinkles. Hopefully you try them!! The possibilities are endless for the designs and combinations for the cake pops. :)

Thanks for reading! :)

Excited for the treats that are coming...

I had to run to Walmart before making the lollipops earlier and found these very cool items in their Valentine's Day section. A 6 pc Cookie Cutter set (heart shaped), a 2 pack of Sparkle Gel (in pink and red), Red Sprinkle Set (jimmies, sugar and hearts), Nonpareils, and Conversation Heart kit. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the cookie cutters... my Mom suggested I should get them to have them - you never know when you need them. The Sparkle Gel will probably get used by Big K to decorate something...cake pops maybe? I've never used this stuff before so I am not sure how thick/thin it is or how long it will take to dry. You can never have too many sprinkles, right?? I'm hoping to try using them on a few cake pops. The converstion hearts look pretty cool. You get to choose what the hearts say. They give you a marker with edible ink and you can decorate the candy however you wish. Very excited to incorporate them into my special dessert! All of this stuff was pretty decently priced, although, the price was a mystery until checkout for a few of the items.

Thanks for reading! :)

*I bought these items for own use. I am not affiliated with Walmart or Wilton. The pictures in this blog are my own, as are the opinions and writings. :)

Valentine's Day Treats ~ part 2

Yesterday it dawned on me that there are 7 days left until Valentine's Day! 7 days!! I have so many things that I have to get done for Valentine's Day! I still have 25+ lollipops to make for my son's Valentine's Party..I have to make either a cake or cupcakes for my anniversary.. plus I am making the Spring Chicks pops from Bakerella's Cake Pop book for Friday. I love baking, but it isn't always easy when you have a 6 month old who only wants his Mommy to hold him. Tonight my Mom came over to sit with baby K while big K and I worked on his lollipops. Here are a few pictures:

He was working very hard to get the finer details perfect!

He was really concentrating! :)

For being an 8 year old boy who has never done anything like this before he did great!

Finishing up his last lollipop for the evening.

My bottle that had the red chocolate started leaking out the bottom! Big K was so upset! I had just refilled it for him, and then had to stop for the day.

Here are finished product:

Big K's turned out GREAT! I think he said his favorite one is the pink one with white dots.

(not sure why it uploaded the picture sideways...it's not like that on my computer.)

The ones that I did to show him how to do it. He picked out the colors and I showed him how to use the molds, bottles, lollipop sticks, etc to put together the lollipops.

We had a ton of fun making these!! I think if we decide to do them in the future, I'll try and have more molds. The kit came with these 2 for lollipops and 1 that makes lips and hearts that are solid chocolate. 7 at a time just seems to take forever ... I have to do it in multiple days. I put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes (depending on how busy I get with the kids) to make sure they are completely hardened. I, then, bagged them and tied them up! :)

Thanks for reading! :)

So, I found another giveaway that I'm excited to enter!! I love giveaways!! I don't usually win, but it's still fun!! This one is another Wilton Valentine's giveaway! Two of my favorite things! ;) February 14th is my wedding anniversary... making Valentine's Day my favorite holiday!! :) The giveaway is by Moms Review 4 You.(http://momsreview4you.blogspot.com/2011/02/wilton-valentines-cupcake-bundle-review.html) It is a Wilton Cupcake Bundle. It includes (per the description in the giveaway): heart candy picks, rose cupcake liners, pre made icing roses, sprinkles, cupcake pan and cupcake stand. Even if I don't win (which I am not going to hold my breath), I still plan to try some of these things. I am most psyched about the heart candy picks and the cupcake stand. I first saw the cupcake stand around Christmas. I didn't think I would want one... until I actually saw someone else use it! It made the cupcakes for the party look much nicer, than if they were just going to sit on out on the table! They were sold out when I went back. That's okay, though, because I didn't really want a red one. ;) The heart candy picks are a really neat idea!! My son LOVES to collect the things that come in cupcakes - picks, rings, toys... you name it, he will collect it! I think making the picks edible is a great idea!! I have not seen any in person, only on the Wilton website. I will probably try and get them to add to my Valentine / Anniversary suprise for my husband. I am already making some lollipops and other candies. I plan to make cupcakes / cake / some sort of dessert as well. I'm having a hard time deciding..... Good luck to all who enter!! Thanks for reading! :)

On March 6, 2011, my little sister and her husband will be celebrating their one year wedding anniversary!! I made both cakes for her wedding shower. It was the first time I had made cakes for anyone. I used my Wilton 9" round cake pans. I also followed the recipes on the Wilton site for their Red Velvet Cake and Buttercream icing.

(pictured above)

I also followed their Yellow Cake and Chocolate Buttercream icing recipes. (pictured below)

I didn't know how to decorate them, so I used cookie cutters and gently pressed them into the icing. I then took some flavored buttercream and put it in a piping bag and traced the outlines. The LOVE cookie cutters were actually her shower favors. The hearts were favors that I had gotten from my cousin's bridal shower.

I'm sorry for the aweful quality of the pictures... they were taken with a cell phone camera. I didn't get a chance to get any pictures before they were gobbled up!! :)

Cake Pops

This is my most recent addition to my collection... it is Cake Pops by Bakerella (aka Angie Dudley). I have heard wonderful things about this book! My Mom found it at Target for 30% off. :) She has an amazing talent! There are 2 that my son and I want to try for our annual Easter egg hunt. Spring Chicks and Pastel Bunny Pops. Aren't they cute?? I will be thrilled if ours look half as good as hers do!

This book has a pop for every occasion!

It also gives you tips for making sure you make the perfect pop! It even tells you the best way to pack them to ship them! I plan to send some to my baby sister who is getting ready to move out of state. I didn't know that you could ship things like this!!

For more information on Bakerella (aka Angie Dudley) here is the link to her website:

http://www.bakerella.com/ Thanks for reading! :)

*I received this book as a gift, and the pictures of the book in this blog are my own. The opinions in this blog are also my own.

Valentine's Treats

I recently came across this Candy Making Kit by Wilton at my local Walmart. I was looking for Valentine's that my son could give out to the class. In my opinion, this was the best thing that they had! I thought the $9.00 price tag was a little high for something that the kids will devour in 30 seconds, but I can reuse the molds anytime! Plus, my son LOVES to help me make things! I took a few pictures of the few that I made first. I had never made lollipops or any other candies for that matter. I wanted to try it out first before I let my son help. It didn't go too bad. I learned that the paint brush makes it harder for me, and that the chocolates cool FAST! Oh... and I made one heck of a mess! I learned how to make it easier on myself for when I have "help"! I can't wait to let him help me! I will post more pictures when we make the rest. Here are a few pictures that I took: The one mold is lips and hearts. They are solid chocolate! :) I think the cupcake shaped lollipops are my favorite in this set. You can also use these for birthdays! (Excuse the sloppiness of chocolate in the middle one. That's the first one I did.)

Wilton also has a Valentine's Pops! Kit of some sort. That isn't what it is called... but it is something along those lines. I was thinking about trying that out. Not for my son to give to his class... but just for us to try. I'll keep thinking about that one.....

Thanks for reading!! :)

*I am just a regular ol' person who bought this product to share with my family/friends. While I love Wilton products... Sadly, I am in no way affiliated with them.