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Cake Pops! Limited Edition Candy Melts and New Methods

Hi All! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I made cake pops as my Easter dessert – I was so happy with the way they came out! Let’s begin.

 I went to Michael’s to get some Wilton Candy Melts. I have worked with the pink vanilla melt before, and loved the results. Imagine my surprise when I see Limited Edition Candy Melts in Marshmellow, Orange Crème and Key Lime Pie! I have only seen chocolate and vanilla, so I grabbed the Orange Crème and Vanilla candy melts to offer some variety. The Orange Crème was interesting – it was a little too sweet for me but my fiancé and others liked it. I thought it was a nice change from the usual vanilla or chocolate, and thought the orange was very spring! I also picked up Disco Dust from Michael’s – it’s very fine glittery sugar. I topped the orange pops off with the disco dust, and used my edible candy hearts for the pink. I was surprised at how good the candy melt held the glitters, and thought it dressed up the pops for Easter =)

 I used my BabyCakes Cake Pop maker, and made the vanilla recipe that came with the device. I’ve found that it’s very trial and error using the cake pop maker – if you underfill them, you don’t get a nice round pop (kind of looks like a football) and if you overfill, you end up having to trim the excess burnt cake off the pop. The good thing is – this recipe makes 4 dozen cake pops. So if you mess up the first batch like I did, you still have a lot left to work with. I read a helpful tip online – after the cake pops are cooled, freeze them for 15-20 minutes. This worked well when dipping them in the candy melt – often times the pop slips off the stick because the cake is too soft. Freezing them hardens up the cake so it stays more firmly on the stick. I still had a few that were close calls but not nearly as many as before. Thought I’d share!

I also took a different approach to dipping the pops into the candy melts. Instead of using the microwave method, my wonderful fiancé made a make shift double broiler on our stove top and helped me heat up the melts that way. This worked well, and kept the melts at just the right consistency. It took a few tries to get the right temperature, but once we did it was smooth sailing from there. When you use the microwave method, the candy melts thicken up too quickly and you have to keep reheating it. NOT fun. I will the double broiler method going forward, more convenient and better results! Greg also helped to decorate the cake pops, and boasts that the ones he did are the best, HA!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! xoxo

Easter Dessert Inspiration!

Spring Shower Almond Petits Fours - these are so elegant and beautiful!

Fun for the kids! And adults too...

Pretty white coconut cake - very Spring

Love these cupcakes!

Rainbow cake - looks so cool when you cut into it

Strawberry cupcakes

Cheese cake in carrot shape!

I just can't. These are too cute

Rice Krispie Treats shaped like eggs - THIS I might have to try

Tomato and Mozzarella! A little piece of carrot for the lips, peppercorn for the eyes

Are you all good and inspired now!? I am. So hard to chose what to make! If you're making something special, share the love! Happy Easter!

Heart Shaped Doughnut! Cinnamon Lovers Unite!

I made these heart shaped vanilla donuts for St. Patrick's Day with the full intention of making a green glaze. However, I didn't take into account that cinnamon is…brown.  After making the cinnamon glaze (super easy – powdered sugar, a few teaspoons of milk and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon) it was too dark to dye green. But hey, they came out pretty awesome anyway!

A friend gave me this adorable heart shaped donut pan as part of my Christmas gift, and I’m just getting around to using it now HA. I actually got both the vanilla donut and glaze recipe straight from the pan (they have a chocolate donut recipe also, yum).

After preparing the batter, these adorable treats take only about 5 minutes to bake! You can be eating donuts in the comfort of your own home (or apartment…or condo…or wherever you live) and god are they good. I love experimenting with different molds and shapes – and of course, decorations. Even though they weren’t green, at least we had them with a Guinness. That makes them Irish, right? Hope you guys enjoyed!

Anyone have any donut recipes they’d like to share? =)

Nothing Screams PARTY like Champagne Cupcakes!

What could be more perfect than champagne cupcakes?! For all you fun lovers out there, this recipe is definitely worth trying. Here's what you'll need:

Champagne cupcakes:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sparkling wine

Champagne Buttercream Frosting:
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons sparkling wine

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with paper or foil liners

In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy

Add your 2 eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Then add vanilla

In a separate bowl, combine all your dry ingredients:

flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and set aside

Now comes the fun part =)

In a small bowl, mix sour cream and champagne together

I substituted my sour cream with buttermilk and butter, worked out great

Alternate adding dry mixture and champagne mixture beginning and ending with the dry.

You'll get a nice looking batter like above!

To make these champagne cupcakes extra special, I used these adorable cupcake liners given to me by a friend. You peel the liner off the cupcake as if they are petals on a flower, very cute!

Getting ready to pop them in the oven...

Here it is! Light, fluffy, a little sweetness from the champagne

I found it a little difficult to frost the cupcake using these cupcake liners, 

being that my piping techniques are not the best!

If you have that problem too,carefully spread icing with a butter knife 

All ready for the party!

As you can see, I am still obsessed with the edible glitter hearts I bought from Michael's

They really just add something extra and cute!

Hope you guys had a great weekend and enjoyed this post! Will be back soon with more fun stuff! xo

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Cupcakes! Awesome No Bake Recipe...

How awesome are these?! I got this fantastic recipe from the blog Baked from a Box (click here for the original recipe).The best way to describe these, is an upgraded Rice Krispie treat that’s softer in texture but still has that nice crunch. The recipe is a slight twist on how you would normally make Rice Krispie treats, only you are using a mini muffin pan vs. baking sheet, and you add some cake mix and vanilla. And icing, let’s not forget the icing. OK, here we go with the step by step!

Melt 3/4 stick of butter

Melt marshmallows (5oz) I used minis! 

Keep microwaving until they are totally melted

Stir in melted marshmallows, 3/4 cup of cake mix, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

I added my sprinkles later, it was difficult to blend. I'd suggest adding them here (1 TBS)

Almost done! Add 2 cups of Rice Krispies to your liquid mixture, combine gently with spatula

Then add the next cup. I would suggest folding the mixture into itself, kind of like making dough for bread

Ready for action! Spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray - you will thank yourself later.

The mixture is sticky to work with, so I used a combination of a spoon and my fingers to gently press them into the pan. Don't push too hard or they will get ruined!

Pop these in the fridge for 30min. Now on to the icing!

Buttercream Frosting 

 1 stick of butter - room temperature 

 2 cups confectioners’ sugar 

 2 tsp vanilla 

 1 tsp almond milk (I didn't have almond milk, regular milk works fine)

For frosting, cream margarine in stand mixer with paddle attachment, then slowly add in confectioners’ sugar until well combined. Mix in vanilla, almond milk and food coloring if desired. 

Time to take the cake batter krispie treats out of the pan!

Use a butter knife to pop them out.

Perfect bite sized treats!

All dressed up! Do you like the icing color? Funny story...

I tried my hardest to achieve a true red using Wilton's food gel. This is the closest I got to red

I used so much food gel, that my fiance's tongue turned pink. Hilarious yes, but I wouldn't recommend it...

Awesome! I topped my treats with edible glitter hearts from Michael's craft store

They make any dessert look cuter, and come in a variety of colors (I also have the gold hearts)

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! Happy baking!

Bacon Pancake Bites!

Hey guys! Saw this recipe online and had to give it a try. They are basically pancakes baked in a muffin tray, topped off with some kick ass bacon! Here we go:

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make pancake batter as you normally would. I used this recipe (easy pancake recipe) but you could also use the ready made pancake batter.

3.  Spray muffin tray with cooking spray, and spoon in pancake batter. Fill cups about 3/4 full.

4.  Cook bacon as you normally would - I used 6 pieces of bacon for 9 pancake bites. Pull them into pieces like below and sprinkle on top of batter. This recipe also works with - nuts, fruit, chocolate chips, etc. But obviously bacon is the best option, so don't be stupid.

5. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 12-15min. Check with a toothpick to make sure they are done inside.

6. Have a bacon pancake party in your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We topped our pancake bites with some butter and syrup, and of course a side of extra bacon. Making pancakes in a muffin tray is great if you are serving a few people and want the food to be done at the same time. Hope you guys enjoyed!