Giant Cake Pop, Ombre Cake Pops, Minnie Mouse Cake Pops

Two of my colleagues have birthdays coming up.

One of them once told me that she wanted a cake ball the size of a baseball.  I've been thinking about it ever since!  I made her a cake pop that is a little smaller than a tennis ball, but I think she'll like it.

I made it the same way I make regular sized cake pops, except I used a heaping 1/4 cup of the cake ball mix and I used a 6-inch "cookie stick" instead of a sucker stick.  I also needed a larger container for my melted chocolate.

I packaged it with a large treat bag and a wide ribbon.  I think it makes a fun gift!

My other colleague loves the color pink.  I saw an idea online for pink ombre cake pops.  I melted white chocolate and tinted it with pink oil-based food color.  After each cake pop, I added more food color.  The result is cake pops in five shades of pink.

I packaged them in a bucket from the One Spot at Target, with pink shred of course (I stocked up on multiple colors of shred when it was on clearance after Easter).

While I was at it, I made some Minnie Mouse cake pops.  I used slightly more than 1 tablespoon of mix for the cake ball.  I used Ghiradelli chocolate melts for the ears (I trimmed them a bit so they would stick better), and the bow is a Wilton icing decoration I found at the grocery store.  I attached the ears and the bow before the chocolate coating hardened.

My son saw an idea online for chocolate chip cake pops so I used a yellow cake mix, cream cheese frosting, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I love the look of the chocolate chips, but I found that mini chips worked better -- the regular size chips make it hard to roll the cake balls and difficult to insert the stick.  These are made from cake but taste like cookie dough!

Rainbow Cupcakes

My son is a Brony (a dude who likes My Little Pony), and his favorite pony is Rainbow Dash, so I made rainbow cupcakes for our family birthday party.

I used Duff's tie-dye cake mix.  It is a white cake mix that comes with red, yellow and blue food color.  My only complaint is that the box tells you how many drops of food color to put in each bowl of white cake mix, but the food color came out in globs, not drops, so I had to guess.  The color turns vibrant a minute or so after mixing it into the cake mix.

I used about 1/2 tablespoon of each color of batter for each cupcake -- in order to get a full layer of each color.  One box made 12 cupcakes, and they were a bit full.  I baked them for 18 minutes (there are no baking times for cupcakes on the box).  I was very happy with the result!

I used blue frosting (from a tub), AirHeads candy, and mini marshmallows to decorate the cupcakes (thank you to my friend Amy at sometimes creative for the inspiration!).  We bought Rainbow Dash at Target -- she came in a "blind bag" but there is a little window on the back if you want to know which pony you are buying.

Happy Birthday to my little Brony!

Recipe Review: Perfect Cupcake Frosting from Our Best Bites

I am always on the lookout for good frosting recipes.  I decided to try a cooked frosting recipe from Our Best Bites.  They claim it's the perfect cupcake frosting!

Step 1:  Whisk together flour and milk

Step 2:  Cook flour and milk mixture

Step 3:  Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla

Step 4:  Add cooled flour and milk mixture

Step 5:  Beat for a long time

Result:  Sweet, fluffy frosting -- this is a frosting that is light and does not draw attention to itself -- my little boy said "it's whipped cream!"

I made cupcakes with a chocolate fudge cake mix and added 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the batter.  I piped on the perfect frosting and topped it with Andes creme de menthe baking chips.  YUM!

Spreading Sunshine

When I was going through a difficult time, a friend of mine brought me a "box full of sunshine."  It made my day!

I loved the idea and wanted to pay it forward.  After Easter, I bought a couple of yellow Easter baskets and some bags of yellow shred.

It's finally time to make the first delivery!  I bought some honeysuckle hand soap, a lemonade candle, and yellow note cards at Target.  I've been wanting to make smiley face cake pops, and this was the perfect occasion.  I also made a little note from stickers and card stock.  Just by chance, I found yellow pinwheels on sale at Joann's -- I couldn't resist adding one!

Other ideas for yellow things include candy, gum, lip balm, nail polish, lotion, bubbles, a mug, etc.  Check out my friend Amy's post on her Sometimes Creative blog for her version.

Spread some sunshine and brighten someone's day!

Sugar Cookie Pops

Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson to our women's group at church and the lesson uses the sunflower following the sun as a symbol for us following Christ.  I decided to send the ladies home with a little reminder of the lesson.

I made my favorite sugar cookie dough recipe.  I used my mini flower cookie cutter to cut out the dough.  I added a lollipop stick before baking the dough.

I tinted store bought frosting with food color, frosted the cookie and added an M&M.  I packaged the cookie pop with a treat bag and ribbon.

Tomorrow is also our babysitter's birthday, so I made a few extra cookie pops for a birthday cookie bouquet.

My sous chef was a willing helper:

Recipe Review: Rolled Sugar Cookies

I have a batch of rolled sugar cookies chilling in my refrigerator right now.  I discovered the recipe at allrecipes.com a few years ago and have made it several times.  With this recipe my sugar cookies always turn out perfect.  I like to roll them thick and pull them out of the oven just as they are starting to brown.  The recipe makes about four dozen cookies so I usually make a half recipe.

Unlike most sugar cookie recipes, the dough tastes amazing even before it's baked.  My taste tester agrees:

If I am feeling ambitious, I make homemade frosting.  My favorite is this Swig copycat frosting with sour cream and salt (I use 1/2 cup sour cream and omit the milk).  I've used vegan sour cream successfully but it has to be one with a mild flavor.

Here are some sugar cookies that my little guy helped me make awhile back:

Recipe Review: Fudgy Chocolate Fondue

A few years ago I found a recipe for chocolate fondue on Pinterest (original source is the Sing for Your Supper blog).  I made the fondue for a Valentine's Day party and it was super delicious.  I made it for Valentine's Day again this year.  The best part is choosing all the yummy things to dip in the chocolate!

Recipe Review: Chocolate Chunk Cookies from The Pioneer Woman

For years I have been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I finally found it!

I love The Pioneer Woman's recipe for chocolate chunk cookies.  The secret is browned butter -- it gives the cookies a wonderful caramel flavor.

I omit the coffee and the nuts.  I usually find that I need to add extra flour.  I recommend following the instructions in the blog post.  The key is to refrigerate the dough before you bake the cookies -- do not skip that part -- otherwise you will have flat cookies.

My son helped me make this dough for a Memorial Day potluck at our friend's house.  We used 1 cup of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup of mini M&M's.

I baked most of the dough in a round springform pan for around 20 minutes.  We decorated the big cookie with store-bought frosting.  I used the rest of the dough to make individual cookies.  I hope that the kids and the grown ups like them!

Gadget Review: Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker

I had been making "banana ice cream" (or as Daniel Tiger calls it, banana swirl) in my Cuisinart food processor.

To save wear and tear on my food processor, I asked for the Yonanas frozen dessert maker for Christmas.  It retails for around $50 but you can find it for less.  It comes with recipes.

To use the Yonanas maker, start by peeling and freezing "cheetah spot" bananas.  When you're ready to make your dessert, allow the bananas to thaw slightly (I pop mine in the microwave for 15 seconds on high).

Put half a banana in the Yonona maker.  Turn on.  Add your other ingredients (my favorite combination is frozen mangoes and berries).  Turn on.  Add another half banana.  Turn on.

The result is a super yummy and healthy treat!

My only complaint is that about half a banana is left inside the machine.  Since I don't like to be wasteful, I open the machine and scrape out what is left.  The machine is easy to take apart and easy to clean.

Recipe Review: White Chocolate Frosting

Quite by accident, I stumbled upon The Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcake bakery in Draper, Utah about four years ago.  I had the most delicious cupcakes!  Now I try to stop at The Sweet Tooth Fairy whenever we're in Utah to visit my in-laws (sadly their Southlake, Texas location closed).

The owner is a Cupcake Wars winner and was kind enough to share her black & white cupcake recipe with the world.

I tried making the dark chocolate cupcakes and they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.

But the white chocolate cream cheese frosting was AMAZING.  It is my go-to frosting recipe.  I just need to be sure I have lots and lots of white chocolate on hand!

I once heard Alton Brown (my hero -- all that science and all that food!) say that he approves of cake mixes but he believes in making homemade frosting.  I agree.  I like to make a chocolate fudge cake mix and stir in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips.  Then I top it with the amazing white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Here is the amazing frosting at my son's birthday party.  I recommend chilling it slightly before piping it.

S'mores Cake Pops

My little boy has been begging me to make cake pops that look like Oh the alien from the movie Home.

This was the first time I tinted white chocolate melts with oil-based food colors.  It was easier than I expected.  I used both purple and blue color to get the shade I wanted.  The candy dried darker than when it was melted, so I'll remember that for next time.  We added candy eyeballs, purple licorice ears, and a black marker mouth.

While we were making cake pops, I made some s'mores cake pops.  I used chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.  When I rolled the cake balls, I rolled two mini marshmallows into the middle of the cake ball.  I dipped the cake pops in dark chocolate melts and then dipped them in graham cracker crumbs (my mini Cuisinart is the perfect tool for making graham cracker crumbs!).  SUPER yummy.

Cake Ball Mix-ins

I love trying new cake ball combinations.  I pick the cake flavor, the frosting flavor, and the candy coating flavor.  Sometimes I try mix-ins.  I've tried coconut and I've also tried peppermint chips (peppermint-flavored white chocolate).  The mix-ins add a kick of flavor and can also add color, texture and moisture.  Other mix-ins I might try are mini chocolate chips and toffee chips.  I also think it might be fun to have a mini marshmallow at the center of a cake ball.

Spring Cake Balls

I have made several flavors of cake balls since my cake ball/cake pop obsession started:  chocolate, white, coconut, and red velvet.  I decided to try lemon cake balls since it's spring.  I went with a decoration reminiscent of the Easter cake my mom used to make.

What you will need:

lemon cake
cream cheese frosting
white chocolate for candy making (I use Ghirardelli)
coconut
food color
Jelly Belly spring mix
mini baking cups

See my previous post for links to my favorite recipes and tips.

To decorate:

After I dipped the cake ball, I added coconut that I had tinted green.  Using a little bit of the melted white chocolate, I added the Jelly Bellies.

Here is the finished product:

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.