Cake Pops!

My brother-in-law gave me some really cute cupcake books for Christmas - on the gift tag it said because I was just "a wonderful Auntie Bich" (Bich being my Vietnamese name and what my nephew calls me). Yes, yes...because it was so hard hanging out with a 3 year old all year.... ;)

Anyhow, one of the books is called Cake Pops made famous from a Blogger named Bakerella. I have seen little ads for them online from time to time but never really looked at them until now.

These things are adorable. Absolutely A-DOR-ABLE....

If you haven't heard of them, it's essentially a little cupcake on a stick. But what makes it so fun and unique is the decorating bit. It's so simple but soooo effective!

So just last week, I decided to try my hand at it. I printed out the always predictable 40% off coupon from Michaels and hauled my little bum down to the store and into their baking aisle. I probably spent a good hour and a half there just looking around. It was so much fun - and for the record, has become my new favourite store!

What a great way to get the imagination going...

Cake Pops - Batch #1

Since I told my nephew, Tai, that I would make these for his birthday, I decided to do a test run first to see how difficult it actually was.  You know, have to impress the soon-to-be 4 year old...because he always has something to say about everything...  ;)

So, followed the instructions, and voila!

I didn't get a chance to decorate these ones.  I had difficulty coding the cake balls at first because the candy coating was really thick.  Trying to get one smooth dunk with them proved to be really challenging - as you can see with cake pop in front.  But, as I got to my last one, it did get better.  The one in the back right was my best one.  Since this was my first batch, I only did 1/4 of the recipe, which made 10.  I lost 4 of them to Jamie right away...

Cake Pops - Batch #2

The second batch was made a few days later.  I did some research and found that by adding some shortening or vegetable oil you can thin out the candy coating.  My cake pop book said paramount crystals, but I had no idea what that was, let alone where I could buy it...so vegetable oil it was!  And not to mention so conveniently in my cupboard.  =P

It worked great.  I improved my dipping method but for some reason I had issues keeping the cake balls on the stick.  I lost another 4 in this batch, but this time it wasn't to Jamie.  They either fell apart or fell completely off the sticks.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong...maybe more icing next time?

Regardless though, still very happy how these turned out.  Not bad, I think.

The faces are a bit lopped sided - but I blame my fat fingers trying to attach all the pieces together. It's a good thing I'm not a plastic surgeon.

Tai's 4th birthday party is this Sunday. I'm going to attempt to make some cows, chickens, and ducks. Stay tuned!