Graduation cake pops...

Adorable right??

Looks easy enough....

hmmmmm.......

I struggled a little with these guys.

Here's the scenario: My dear friend at work, Pauline, has a son who is graduating this year. He's had a great high school career at Skyline, in Sammamish.

He's a smart kid, popular, and a member of their 3-time state championship football team.

In the fall, he will be attending the University of Oregon.

I was more than happy to make cake pops for Christopher's graduation party. Pauline and I decided to do them in green and yellow to represent his future college.

I gathered my supplies:

yellow M&Ms for the hats

Airhead Extreme Sour Belts for the tassel. I cut the yellow section out.

Candy molds. Round and Square.

Trusty guide book.

I made my cake pops as I have before. Christopher likes yellow cake, so I combined that with cream cheese frosting. This part of the process went well.


Since the tops of the hats needed a lot of candy, I decided to make those first.

Looks messy right?? sort of was, but they filled right up and I put in the freezer to harden up.

Now onto the base of the hats. I filled the mold with green candy melts and then proceeded to fill with the cake ball. This didn't go so smooth! The standard size cake ball is way too big for his hat! It needs to be flat on the exposed side to simulate the bottom of the hat.

I didn't know how to make it flat! I also really struggled with getting the candy melts to completely cover the cake ball. Yellow cake kept showing through!

It would be un-lady-like of me to tell you what was happening in my kitchen during this time. Let's just say it involved several 4-letter words and temper tantrums.

Sensing my frustration, Darling Husband came to my rescue. He offered many suggestions and was helping me brainstorm ways to make these darn things work!

He helped me to fill the candy mold very full. We placed the cake ball in the candy melts and let it sit. Once the candy was dry, we cut the exposed part of the cake ball with a very sharp knife, then covered it with the green candy melts and immediately inserted the lollipop stick.

Finally!

Success!!

For the tops of the caps, I used a little of the candy melt to attach the M&M and the Airhead rope.

I then attached the top to the base with another little bit of candy melt.

DONE!

Here's a few tips if you decide to do these:

You will need a LOT of candy melts. The tops of the hats are thick and require a lot of candy.

Get several bags. More than you think you need. Or else you'll be running to Jo-Ann 30 minutes before they close, with no make-up, hair in a crazy ponytail, and basically wearing your pajamas...Not that I would EVER do this!

Make the cake balls smaller than you think. When you think they are small enough, decrease the cake, and then decrease it even more.

If you decide to cover them with treat bags you will need the large size. The top of the hats are very large and will not fit in a regular size.

Know that you are making these for someone who is very special to you. If you put your heart into them, they will turn out!

In the end, these cake pops did come together. Were they as perfect as Bakerella's?

um...no.

For my first attempt, not bad! I'll be ready to do them again...I've got a year!

Congrats to all the 2011 graduates!

A special note of good luck to my friend Pauline and her son. She and her husband Chuck have raised an amazing young man and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him

Good luck Christopher!

Red Velvet cupcakes

I don't care what anyone says...I think cupcakes are here to stay.

I usually prefer to eat two at a time, so I might single-handedly keep them in business.

My very sweet co-worker, Ganel was celebrating her 25th birthday, yes, she's a baby. When I found out she liked red velvet cupcakes I knew exactly what to make her!

I pulled out this trusty recipe.

I used heart sprinkles that I purchased at my favorite place...the Home Cake Store.

Yes, sort of like you would for Valentine's Day.

The thing is, if you know Ganel, she's totally a hearts type of girl.

She's adorable and I've never seen her have a bad hair day...honest.

She is my hero.

Maybe the heart sprinkles were my subtle way of expressing my love for her....hair.

I finally figured out how to frost cupcakes like a big girl!

All it took was the perfect Ateco 826 piping tip!

 You should get one, but be prepared to use a lot of frosting.

I think everyone enjoyed the cakes. They would be adorable for Valentine's Day, 4th of July, or a Friday.

I think Ganel has finally recovered from all her birthday fun.

Oh to be 25 again!

Many, many more!

xoxo

A tale of two cakes: Red Velvet and Tres Leches!

This was a BUSY baking weekend for me!  Two cakes over the course of a few days.  Which also means I ate cake three days in a row, but that's not really the point of this post!

Now I understand, some of you may fear this:

I am a girl who loves to eat organics. 

I fear high fructose corn syrup.  

I love real food.

But red food coloring?? 

 I don't even bat an eyelash at red food coloring. I realize that is nuts given my previous statement.  However, red food coloring makes red velvet cake GORGEOUS.

 The thing is, you really can't cheat it.  I've heard lots of stories of people who have used less that what the recipe calls for and a red cake, well, they just don't get it.  BFF Nikki and I were discussing this trend of using beet juice to color the cake.  I may try it.  I may not.
Red velvet cake is great for Valentine's Day, 4th of July, or because you're having friends over for a BBQ. I got this recipe from Bakerella's website.  You've seen her site right?  She's the queen bee of cake pops and many other adorable baked goods.  If you haven't checked out her page, do so now.  No really, now.
We'll wait...................................................................................................................................................

Awesome right??

I have baked this cake a handful of times and it's always turned out great.
A few tips:

• Darling hubby and I have noticed that this cake is even better the next day.  So for a Saturday BBQ, I baked and frosted it on Friday.
• This cake is moist, which is part of what makes it so appealing.  Because of this, it can be hard to remove from your baking pans.  This last time I made it, I put parchment in my cake pans and had a much easier time removing it.
• The recipe calls for 2 oz (1/4 cup) of red food coloring.  This can be expensive.  I went to the local cash and carry and got a large bottle for under $5, much better value
• The recipe calls for buttermilk.  You may be ready to make this cake and realize you are out of buttermilk!  If this happens, pull out a large liquid measuring cup, throw in one tablespoon of regular vinegar and add milk till you reach the one cup line.  5 minutes later, you have just made buttermilk! I just love science! (not really)

Give this cake a try, invite me over, and we'll eat it up!  It's gorgeous and tasty...all other cakes are most likely jealous.

Tres Leches to come next.....