Christmas Foodcrafting

I have a tradition of making gifts for my colleagues at Christmas.  Some things I've made in the past:

• candy cane bath salts
• stove top potpourri
• mulling spices
• gingerbread cookie mix with a cookie cutter
• peppermint bark cake balls
• s'mores caramel corn
• spiced nuts

This year I made cake pops with red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting.  I dipped half of the pops in white chocolate and the other half in dark chocolate.  I love the taste of Ghirardelli candy melts but they are a little runny.  I mixed half Ghirardelli candy melts with half Wilton candy melts -- it was the perfect combination of flavor and consistency.

I sprinkled the white cake pops with clear sugar sprinkles, and the dark cake pops with white nonpareils.  I packaged them using buckets from the One Spot at Target.  I also individually wrapped some of the pops with a ribbon and a gift tag.  I love how they turned out!

  

A few weeks ago my son told me that he wanted to give something to the kids in his preschool class.  I was inspired by something I saw pre-made at Target.  We put jumbo marshmallows on a long sucker stick and dipped them in chocolate candy melts.  Then we dipped them in Andes peppermint crunch baking chips.  My five-year old was able to do most of the work with a little guidance from me.  Easy and fun!  The only thing I would do differently next time is to use a thicker stick like a cookie stick.

Pops for Kids

As I mention in a previous post, my son and I have been having fun making pops.  He often has requests for his favorite characters and sometimes I surprise him with a character he's not expecting.  We find inspiration online and add our own ideas.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cake Pops

To make:

Dip cake ball in Wilton green candy melts

To decorate:

Fruit by the Foot Flavor Mixers

Wilton candy eyeballs

The fruit leather will stick to the candy coating

Use a tiny bit of candy melt to attach the eyes

Superman Cake Pops

To make:
Dip cake ball in Wilton blue candy melts

To decorate:

Fruit Roll-ups

Wilton icing writer

You may need to use a little candy melt to attach the fruit leather

Mike Wazowski Cake Pops
(from Toy Story)

To make:
Dip cake ball in Wilton green and yellow candy melts

To decorate:

Wilton bright white candy melt

blue M&M

black food marker

Attach white candy and M&M with a tiny bit of the candy melt

I would also add white chocolate chips for his horns

The Flash Cake Pops

To make:

Dip cake ball in Wilton red candy melts

To decorate:

Wilton bright white candy melt

Wilton icing writer

Attach white candy with a tiny bit of the candy melt

LEGO Minifigure Head Marshmallow Pops

To make:

Use a regular size marshmallow for the head

Use half of a mini marshmallow for the connector

Place the cut side of the mini marshmallow onto the regular size marshmallow

Add a lollipop stick

Dip in Wilton yellow candy melts

To decorate:

black food marker

Chocolate LEGOs

(not a pop but lots of fun for kids)

To make:

Pour melted chocolate into LEGO brick silicone ice cube tray

Pops for Gifting

Everything is cuter on a stick!  We've been experimenting with pops lately...cookie pops, marshmallow pops and chocolate lollipops.

I use treat bags and ribbon to wrap the pops, and I gift them in cute $1 buckets from the One Spot at Target.

Cookie Pops:

Make your favorite cookie recipe (mine is from Pioneer Woman)

and add a lollipop stick before you bake them

Marshmallow Pops:

Put a marshmallow on a lollipop stick and dip in chocolate candy melts

Chocolate lollipop:

Pour melted chocolate into a mold and add a lollipop stick

My new favorite candy melts are the Ghirardelli melting wafers.  They come in dark chocolate and white chocolate and are available at Kroger and Wal-mart.  I want to start experimenting with coloring the white chocolate with oil-based food coloring.