My cousin Hannah is graduating from high school this weekend. Her class is going on a cruise to Jamaica literally right after they collect their diplomas so we celebrated a little early rather than after the big deal. I wanted to make a cake. Actually, I really wanted to make this cake. Cute, huh? But my aunt told me not to bother making the cake because she'd already ordered a cake and I still really wanted to make something . . . what to do? And then I remembered Bakerella and all of her fabulous cake pops. I look at her creations and they're just adorable. But, I can tell from looking at the pictures that those cake pops are like crack for me. I tend to get fixated on things, and then before you know it there will be candy melts and chocolate bark and heaven only knows what sort of store of appropriate decorations oozing out of every nook and cranny in my kitchen. There is no way that cake pops are ever going to come out of the Singleton's kitchen in Washington. That's an even-keeled, non-psychotic kitchen and it needs to stay that way. My mom's kitchen, however, is home to many crazy kitchen adventures. And the kitchen in my old house (my sister's house) has had fits of kitchen madness, too (if you're familiar with the show Friends, think Monica). So, if I can't make an adorable cake I can at least make these cute cake pops, right?
I'm not going to post about the cake pop process because it's Bakerella's process and she does it so much better than I ever could. I'm also pretty sure that I'm the last person in the blogosphere to make these so it's probably old hat. However, if you want to see the instructions that I followed, HERE is a link. I will elaborate on my experience making the pops a little bit though, just for the sake of being completely honest.
- They're not ridiculously hard to make but they require a fair amount of time.
- I didn't use cream cheese frosting. I used chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and it worked out just fine. I also managed to keep myself from consuming this mixture before the pops were made -- nothing short of a minor miracle, seriously.
- For me, the hardest part was shaping the pops. I could not get them to look as "perfect" as I wanted to when I was using the cookie cutter to shape the crinkles in the bottom of the pop. I also think that shaping the cupcake is by far the most tedious part of the process. I wasn't at all happy during this part of the cake pop experience and I had to take a break until the next morning to prevent myself from going postal.
- I want to know how Bakerella gets her dipping chocolate and candy melts so "dippable." My chocolates and candy melts were not a friendly environment for the cake pops. It was so thick that it was really difficult to see all of the careful shaping that I worked so hard to create with my cookie cutter. Grrrrr.
- Other than that, the dipping process isn't too bad at all. It went by quickly and I loved decorating the pops. One caveat: make sure you get the stick in the bottom of the pop before the candy/chocolate dries! If you don't, you may very well have some cake pop casualties (like I did). If I ever make these again the dipping process will be: a) dip the bottom of the cupcake in the chocolate b) return to cookie sheet, upside down c) dip stick in chocolate d) put stick in cupcake. I tried to work assembly line style and it didn't work as well for me. I had a lot of cupcake pops smooshed by trying to get the stick through the hard chocolate. Yes, I pondered cupcake bites at that point but I'd purchased the sticks and, darn it, I want pops!
These cupcake pops are definitely worth the effort, though! They tasted yummy enough, and received enough rave reviews, that I quickly got over the stress involved in making them. Mind you, I'm not making them again any time soon but I'll probably try to make them again at some point in my life. In the meantime, I'll continue to ogle Bakerella's blog and wonder why my cupcake pops don't look like hers.
The Graduate & the Singleton, with the pops!
11 comments:
Mmm, these cake pops look great, Jessica! I think you did a fabulous job. What a cute present for the grad. Oh, and I just looked at that precious cake on epicurious...delish! I hope you get the chance to make it some time, too!
Nope, you're not the last person in the world to make cake pops, I still haven't succumbed! I think they look adorable and never would have known there were so challenging from looking at them. Nice work!
Those look amazing! I haven't dared to try those yet.
I haven't made them either; I appreciate your notes on the process. They are so adorable and a perfect graduation treat.
Congratulations to your cousin; I just got back from my brother's high school graduation!
As for the cake pops - I think they're adorable, but they sound too complicated to me. I had a friend who made cake balls (I think they're like cake pops minus the stick) over the holidays. She told me how yummy they were, but once she mentioned the hours she spent making them, I knew it wasn't for me. Yours do look really cute though!
They look adorable...I just tried the cupcake bites from bakerella. I haven't blogged about them yet but I too had trouble with the frosting/topping/gloppiness. Maybe there is some special bakerella secret we are all missing!
Your pops look amazing! I haven't made them.
Love the last pic of you and your sister.
Well, you are definitely not the last one to try these pops. I still haven't made them, but I hope to give 'em a try someday. They look like they turned out really great!! You kicked the cake pops butt!
I made some cupcake pops last August for a baby shower, and they all melted off the lollipop sticks! But the remains tasted so good, no one cared. Yours are adorable!
Your cake pops are adorable!!! Also, you did a great job! I love Bakerella's site too, and love the cake pops she does. Only prob, not sure if I could pull them off.
You are certainly not the last blogger, I have yet to try it - It just seems like a recipe for disaster for me. Yours look terrific.
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