Monday, April 4, 2011

Baking with Kids....cake pops


This is how we dooooo it..... this is how we do it baby.... (insert bad 80s music here).... this is how we take care of cutsie things I want at a party that are ridiculously priced. 

One gourmet recipe for cake and icing

I have volunteered to do a baby shower in June.  It is for my cousin.  We were born three months apart.  Our mothers were best friends, our grandmothers were dear friends and also cousins (it's complicated, and we're from Vermont.... meet my brother Daryl, and my other brother Daryl). 

Bake very fancy cake

We were inseparable as children, we are the best of friends and the snootiest of snooty towards each other.  Mostly because we can be, even if we shouldn't be.  We know we're stuck with one another and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is her first baby, it is a boy, I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  I had visions of her in a gorgeous maternity dress with a very trendy, modern, shower at a Winery.  It was all planned out in my head.... just me and her and 10 of her closest friends, sipping wine (not her of course), and eating passed crab cakes while reveling in the overly large dessert table laden with ridiculous amounts of chocolate (that would definitely be for her), until I got an estimate for the guest list... yawzah.... that girl has a lotta friends.  From what I was told I am guessing 50 people so my intimate swanky shower is out... however.... these were too cute not to have.  The only problem being that they run about $2 a pop if you order them... for 50 people you plan to overfeed that comes out to roughly 100 of these guys minimum (there will be other desserts too).... which ends up being $200 for one dessert option... I think not.  I'm all about throwing money at a problem but not that much money at such a small problem.  How hard could they be?  Answer.... not at all.  Especially if you're all about cheating.

Very carefully and precisely break cake into equal portions (not so much)

We're not reinventing the wheel or anything around here.  I mean these have been around so long they are almost... soooo yesterday.  They are not new... but they are new to me, and Curly Q.

Shred into little pieces, this is very easy and satisfying in an odd way

Add the labor intensive icing


Scoop and roll into balls

add sticks, resist urge to straighten sticks then pop in freezer

go out and play for at least 30 minutes


Melt candy melts in the microwave, stirring ever so often



Coat in melted candy melts making sure get near the stick to help hold it in place. Also decorate while still wet, and either buy colored candy melts or add food coloring... I didnt' like the shade it produced so I've gone out and bought colored ones to try for the next batch. I obviously can't serve them looking like this.


These were SUPER easy, and tasty.... the only change I will make is that I will use a little less icing next time.  The recommended amount is one can per box, but the cake was a little too moist, borderline too moist.  I also made a bunch without the sticks as this was just a trial run to see how much effort would go into making them and if they even tasted decent enough to serve... they do.  And I cannot believe how easy.  I am thinking of setting up a cake pop stand at the farmer's market this summer.  Maybe I can make a few thousand dollars to help pay back my student loans.... wouldn't that be just like me... tens of thousands of dollars in loans for several degrees to make a living selling boxed cake balls on the side of the road.

3 comments:

  1. MMMMMMMMM. I may have to attempt these. I had a Starbucks one a few weeks ago and decided it is possibly my new favorite guilty pleasure. Your blog postings are always entertaining too! Keep up the good work...and keep the easy recipes coming for us non-cookers!

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  2. Hi, Bossy Chef! The smoothie recipe you asked for isn't so much a recipe as a process. Into a blender, I throw about a cup of frozen fruit (or maybe less and half a banana as well), a few heaping tablespoons of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf vanilla powder (or if I don't have that, a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few ice cubes), and then a good glug or two (half a cup? 2/3 cup?) of milk. Blend, then taste. If it's not sweet enough and you have no vanilla powder, use a little vanilla ice cream or yogurt. If it's not fruity enough, obviously it may need more fruit. Too thick? add a little more milk.

    That's about it! Love the photos of your cake pops. Very pretty!

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  3. What a coincidence; my grandparents on my mom's side were step-siblings, so we always joked about my mom being her own cousin.

    How did your little guy not eat all those little cake balls? I would not have had his formidable restraint! These look gorgeous. You could definitely chip away at student loan debt with these.

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