Graduation Candy Pops

This is more of just a show and tell really! These candy pops were made with a Wilton Graduation Lollipop Mold and Candiquik. I just wanted to stick with school colors to keep this project quick and simple. I used 2 melted blocks of Vanilla Candiquik for white and colored 2 blocks blue with candy coloring for the blue and had extra blue leftover. I put each color in a piping bag and snipped a small cornder of for the detail and then snipped the hole larger for filling in. At one point I did feel like I was having to freehand the words a bit, as they were hard to see in the mold, but they turned out fine!

   

CONGRATULATIONS

CLASS

of

2012!

  

~Christina

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We link up at these fun parties!

Mickey Mouse Cheerios Treats

While at Disney World you may have indulged in a Rice Krispie Treat Mickey Mouse. It is definitely something we always get and also bring home with us! They are just plain cute!

Instead of Rice Krispies, I have Cheerios that no one is eating, just sitting there, a huge new box, not being eaten. It's driving me crazy, so I had to think of a creative way to use them up! 3 ingredients is all you need, a 10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows, 3 tablespoons of margarine plus some for greasing the pan, and 5 cups of Cheerios. Put the marshmallows and margarine in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute, stir, and then 1 more minute. Mix into the Cheerios and spread into greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Flatten down with greased hands and refrigerate for about an hour. You can find the recipe and nutritional information at the Cheerios Website.

After about an hour, using a greased cookie cutter, cut out shapes, pulling away the excess. Put the cut-outs on waxed paper in the freezer for about 15 minutes to stiffen up. Prepare baking sheet with waxed paper (to catch excess chocolate) and place cooling rack over the top. Melt Chocolate Candiquik according to package instuctions, about 1 block per cut out. Working one at a time, spoon chocolate over the cut-out spreading it with the back of spoon and add sprinkles. When finished, refrigerate for about 1/2 hour to set up. Now you have made your own fun theme park treat with a twist, perfect to surprise your little ones with!

~Christina

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We link up at these fun parties!



Bunny Pop

This year I decided that I just can't buy Easter candy when I can make it instead!

I found this cute little Nordicware bunny pop mold at Target! I think I am becoming the candy mold junkie, every time I see one I have to get it!

If the pink Candiquik looks familiar, it is what I used it in making the Pretzels in Bloom!

I made one bunny in pink and the rest I will do in chocolate just in time for the visit from the Easter Bunny!!



Pretzels in Bloom

I love dipped pretzels, the sweet and saltiness I crave, all in one place. Dipped pretzels are super easy to make too, but these...are easier! These pretzels are made using a Wilton Pretzel Mold. For some reason our Michael's (where I usually shop for Wilton products) has been sold out of all of their pretzel molds. If you can't find them at Michael's, try Party City, that is where I got this pretzel mold.

The purple candy is precolored Wilton Candy Melts. The pink candy is Vanilla Candiquik colored pink with pink Wilton Candy Coloring. Whichever you like to use, melt according to package directions. Put the candy in a piping bag and snip of the end just a very tiny bit to make the dots in the flowers. Let the dots set up a few minutes before piping in the second color. Be sure not to fill the cavities full of the candy as you will need room to press in the pretzel. The pretzel won't be all the way covered. To make them look a little more finished, I zig-zagged candy across the back. Now that the weather is warm, it is easiest to just pop these in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set up. If they don't unmold easily, they aren't ready to be unmolded, stick them back in the fridge!

These pretzel molds come in many designs and as soon as I find them, I will be adding more to the collection! So just when you think it can't get easier than dipped pretzels, try these molded pretzels...not to be confused with moldy pretzels! Haha!

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I link up at these fun parties!

&

Bunny Hop Easter Link Party

Featured at: Crumbs & Chaos & Serenity You 

Shamrock Pretzels

This is easy idea that you don't even have to get your fingers dirty to create! I first saw this idea over at Miss Candiquik. It was just too cute to not try to create myself, and being me, I wanted to change it up a slightly!

Here is what you need:

mini pretzels

Candiquik

green candy coloring (I used Wilton candy coloring)

creme de menthe candy flavoring (also by Wilton)

On a waxed paper lined cookie sheet, double stack the pretzels and lay out into shamrock shape as shown. Break a pretzel to make the stem, doubling that also. Right now it is a bit of a balancing act, but the hard part is over!

Melt the Vanilla Candiquik according to package direction. It takes about 1 block per shamrock. I counted out my blocks and microwaved it is a microwave safe dish for about 1-1/2 minutes, stirring halfway to check. Add in candy coloring, it does take quite a bit of this, skip the toothpicks and just pour! Add the flavoring, around 5 or 6 drops, again I just poured and guesstimated! Mix and put in disposible piping bag and rubberband shut. Cut the end off of the piping bag and squeeze over pretzels.

The pretzels don't have to be covered all the way down to the waxed paper, just squeeze the Candiquik from the bag onto the stacked pretzels and most will fall into place. The Candiquik in the middle of the shamrock will hold all the leaves together in case the pretzels aren't fully covered down to the waxed paper. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to speed up the "set up" process for around 15 to 20 minutes to be sure.

I really thought these shamrock pretzels would be too sweet, but with the saltiness of the doubled pretzels and the creme de menthe flavoring in the Candiquik, they were just perfect!

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I link up at these fun parties!

  

Link up your St. Patrick's Day Projects at the Luck o' the Irish Link Party!

Featured at: Crumbs and Chaos

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars

This is one super yummy, quick, easy, and dressed for St. Patrick's Day treat! It is easily adaptable for any occasion or no occasion at all!

Here is what you need:

1 package of 17.5 ounce Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix plus ingredients needed on package

1/2 package of Chocolate Candiquik

sprinkles if desired

 

Prepare 6x10 inch baking dish or pan by spraying with cooking spray. Mix together peanut butter cookie mix with ingredients called for on package (1 egg, 3 T oil, 1 T water). Spread peanut butter cookie dough into dish, flattening if needed. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. Let cool.

Melt 1/2 package of Candiquik according to package directions or I just melt it in the microwave in a microwave safe glass dish for about 1-1/2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour on top of peanut butter cookie and spread out with spatula or the back of a spoon. Immediately sprinkle with seasonal sprinkles, if desired. Let chocolate set up.

I thought the chocolate had set up, but with the cookie still slightly warm when I spread on the chocolate, it wasn't quite ready, and the first bar I cut the chocolate was still melty, but oh so yummy!

The cookie bars in the center of the pan are more reminiscent of a peanut butter cup, the ones on the outside with the edges a little crisper, more of a cookie. No matter which you prefer the inside or the edges....the chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness will have you wanting more!

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I link up at these fun parties!

Featured at: Hear the Bells'

Valentine's Cake Balls

Anyone for recycling some leftover cake?

When I make a cake, I make a big one and there are always a lot of leftovers, just like this left over piece of Princess Castle Cake from my daughters birthday. I have found the perfect ratio of frosting to cake is what is on a piece of frosted cake already! I know this piece looks a little rough, I had to pick off the flowers and anything I didn't want mixed in the cake balls, all also cut the brown part off the bottom before squishing the cake into cake balls.

I rolled all of the balls and then put in the refrigerator to chill. I heated up the Chocolate Candiquik and prepared to dip. I found cake balls a little more difficult than cake pops because there isn't a stick to shake the excess chocolate off with! One by one I got them covered and placed on waxed paper. They didn't look that pretty undressed, the bottom part was driving me crazy!

I added a mini cupcake liner and they dressed up quite nicely, covering those not so pretty bottoms!

  

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I link up at these fun parties!

Chocolate Dipped Valentine's Pretzels

If you don't know by now, we are all big fans of dipped pretzels around here! I made them for the 4th of July and then again for Halloween. Anytime I see someone post them, I have to comment how great they are! Something about that salty sweet combo that makes these the perfect quick and easy treat!

For directions on how to make dipped pretzels, view my Halloween Dipped Pretzels post!

If you haven't tried them yet, what are you waiting for?

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I link up at these fun parties!  

Featured at:

Tatertots & Jello

Babyberry

A Well-Seasoned Life

Chocolate Coated Valentine WhoNu?'s

Yes, that is what they are called...WhoNu?'s! Every heard of them? I remember seeing them once or twice, but never gave them much thought. Then, while shopping for sandwich style cookies to use for this cookie mold that I got last Valentine's Day and never used, I found WhoNu?'s. The calorie count and fat is about the same as my regular brand, but they add a lot of good stuff to these cookies too!

Of course, I am coating them in chocolate and candy coating, but why not add some nutrition to what we were already going to make? They taste great too! Some of them I coated in dark chocolate so that should count for something good!

 These are super easy to make, I made them in a Christmas & Winter theme just last month!

All you need is a sandwich cookie mold, the mold I am using is by Wilton and available at Michael's. You will also need some type of chocolate, candy melts, or candy coating. You can using candy colors and candy flavorings to change it up a bit, I made the pink candy cherry flavored.

Once you have gathered your supplies, melt up your candy according to package directions and get ready for yumminess!

There are a few different ways that the cookie mold can be filled. The quickest would be just making one solid color like I did with the single pink cookie in the photo below, by filling the candy mold cavity 1/2 full with candy and then pressing in the cookie.

Another method is to use a piping or zipper bag with a tiny corner snipped off to pipe in as much or as little detail as you wish. If this method is used, the first color will need to set up in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes before continuing. After the first details have set up, continue by filling candy mold cavity 1/2 full with chocolate or a different color and press in cookie.

Once the mold is filled and the cookie is inserted, let set up in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until easily unmolds when you tap onto counter.

Chocolate and candy coated sandwich cookies have become a quick and easy sweet treat that we all love! As simple as they are, they always get lots of attention too! They are so easy that even children can help make them, with a little supervision in melting the chocolate and candy, of course!

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I link up at these fun parties! 

Featured at: WhoNu?

Halloween Dipped Pretzels

Looking for something Quick? Easy? Inexpensive?

You got it right here! These can be made for about 10 cents each and I have actually seen these for sale at theme parks for $1.39 each!

To make 19 (that's how many were in the bag) from start to finish, under 30 minutes!

Easy? Oh Yes!

The first time I made these, they were 4th of July themed pretzels. I had almost forgotten all about them until Miss Candiquik posted Halloween Themed Pretzels on her blog! This week has been a whirlwind of craziness and I haven't had much time for baking or decorating up sweet treats and this is perfectly quick! This time, it was even easier with a few changes in my methods. 

Here are some tips on how to make this already quick and easy snack, quicker and easier!

  Here is how to make them 2 ways depending on what you have in the cabinet:

 

The orange pretzels are made with Wilton Candy Melts- to make about 20 pretzels using Wilton Candy Melts, melt about 1-1/2 cups of melts plus 1/2 teaspoon of shortening in a glass bowl for 1 minute, stirring halfway. I use a Pyrex 2 cup size glass bowl and it works perfect!

The white pretzels are made with Candiquik- to make about 20 pretzels using Candiquik, melt 6 blocks in glass bowl for 1 minute, stirring halfway. No shortening needed for this. Again, I used a Pyrex 2 cup size glass bowl.

After your candy is melted:

Hold the pretzel vertically over the bowl and spoon over the melted candy, this is a lot easier than trying to dip. Shake off excess back into bowl. Lay pretzel on waxed paper, immediately placing on sprinkles, like the Wilton Spider and Skulls Sprinkles I used. For something like the nonpareils (the little teenie tiny black and orange balls) or jimmies, I found it easier to put a bowl in the sink and sprinkle the pretzel over the bowl. That way what lands in the bowl can be reused, and what lands in the sink can be rinsed away instead of rolling onto the floor!

The kids love these for after school, but they would also be great for a party, or even a bake sale! I love these candy covered pretzels with the salty and sweet combo! I can definitely say I will make them again and again!

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These Pretzels are Shared at:

Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday

Crumbs and Chaos: Seasonal Inspiration

Serenity You: Serenity Saturdays

Six Sisters' Stuff: Strut Your Stuff Saturday

A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday

It's a Blog Party: Show Me How

The Southern Institute: Creative Me Monday

Home Savvy A to Z: Savvy HomeMade Monday

Pink Princess Cupcakes #16- Fairy-Tale Fortune

Fairy-Tale Fortune

I am now at #16 of 28 cupcakes made from the Pink Princess Cupcakes Book by Barbara Beery.

As most cupcakes designs start with a cupcake, so does this one! Once again, I used the Allergen-Free/Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Book, it is such a simple cupcake, simple ingredients and turns out well for me.

The frosting is a chocolate buttercream. (1/2 cup light margarine, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, a heaping 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, and a large splash of milk to bring it all together)

For the fortune cookies, store bought of course, I dipped in Candiquik, colored pink with Wilton Pink Candy Coloring. Here we go...pink candy again! 2 blocks of  Vanilla Candiquik is enough to dip 12 fortune cookies. And yes, I have a little leftover! Working one at a time, after dipping, I shook the fortune cookie off and immediately sprinkled with chocolate jimmies and placed on waxed paper for a few minutes to set while I frosted the cupcakes.

Maybe it is because there is a little fortune in each one, but these cupcakes are fun to me!

My fortune said:

"Luck is on your side today."

Hmmmmmm? I wonder what that could mean?

Don't forget to check out all of the Pink Princess Cupcakes that I have made!

As for the next Pink Princess Cupcake that I will be making...

I haven't decided yet!

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These cupcakes are shared at:

A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Sweetology: Tea Party Tuesday

Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday

Fall M&M'S Cupcakes

This is one of my favorite times of year! I love the cool evening air and the leaves changing colors! Of course, it is also the time of year when fall colors hit the candy on the shelves too!

Of course fall colored candy inspires fall colored cupcakes!

These cupcakes are just too easy to make! There isn't even frosting on them!

Start with your favorite chocolate cupcakes. I used the Allergen-Free/Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Book, but any cupcake will do! Instead of frosting, I melted up some Chocolate Candiquik. I block of Chocolate Candiquik is needed per 6 cupcakes.  Spoon some of the chocolate on top of the cupcake, it is less messy than dipping. While the chocolate is still wet, hand place the M&M's on the cupcake!

(This method works best if your cupcakes are not totally filling the liner, that way there is room for drips and to hold up the M&M'S while the chocolate sets.)

 I used Fall Peanut Butter M&M'S! Mmmmmmm!

 

Happy Fall!

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   These cupcakes are shared at:

Alli-N-Son: Sweet Tooth Friday

Mangoes & Chutney: Fat Camp Friday

Bacon Time: Anything Goes Linky

Happy Hour: Freestyle Friday

Tidy Mom: I'm Lovin' It

Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday

Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap Up

A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Talking Dollars and Cents: Muffin (and Cupcake) Monday

Home Savvy: Savvy HomeMade Monday

Rook No. 17: A Little Birdie Told Me

Hoosier Homemade: Cupcake Tuesday

Crazy For Crust: Crazy Sweet Tuesday

The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials

It's a Blog Party: Fall Fest 2011

These Cupcakes were featured at:

A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Jack Skellington Cake Pops

Maybe these will be a little more recognizable, compared to yesterdays Pink Skulls.

The many faces of Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas!

I used the Duff Goldman Candy Writer, a first for me. I did have to put the lid back on the tube and put it back in the hot water in between each cake pop, if not it would get gloppy. Even with doing that, it sure beats the Food Writers that I have for drawing a face!

Oh and the flavor of these little guys...Spice cake.

Ingredients:

 1 box of spice cake mix 

1 cup Fage Greek Plain Yogurt

1 cup of water

Mix the 3 ingredients. Bake as directed on box. The cake turned out perfect, fabulous, fluffy and you can't even taste the yogurt. Definitely YUM! It also has less fat than using oil and eggs too! I cut the cake into 4 pieces, used one part, and froze the rest for future cake pops!

1/4 of the cake = 6 large cake pops

 

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These Cake Pops are haunting people at:

Something Swanky: Sweet Treats Thursday
Around My Family Table: Turning the Table Thursday

Talking Dollars and Cents: Sweet Temptations

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Bizzy Bakes: Bake with Bizzy

Coupon Cooking: Tasty Traditions

Happy Hour Projects: Freestyle Friday

Bacon Time: Anything Goes Linky Party

Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday

RoCa and Company: You Rock

Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap Up

Rook No. 17: A Little Birdie Told Me

Itsy Bitsy Paper: Wickedly Creative Halloween Ideas

These Cake Pops are featured at:

Bacon Time: Fantastic Fall Features

Rook No 17: A Little Birdie Told Me
Blissful and Domestic: Bootacular Halloween Crafts Round-Up

Pink Skull Cake Pops

This is what happens when I don't have a plan!

I looked in the cabinet to find leftover Candiquik that I had colored pink...yep still hadn't used it it all from the Pretty Pink Cake Pops and Cupcake Bites! I am glad that Candiquik can be reheated multiple times and still melts up like it is the first time! I wanted to use it up so I could reclaim my glass Pyrex bowl that I had it stored in! With Halloween stuff popping up everywhere, I wanted to get in on the fun! However, I am apparently not very good at shaping skulls! Sure I have one in my own head, but somehow I am not very familiar with it! The recipe for these cake pops is altered from the recipe I used for my Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcake post. I did alter it quite a bit it just for these cake pops so it probably wouldn't be the best consistency for a regular cake now.

Chocolate Cake Pops Cake

(makes 12 cake pops)

1/2 cup AP flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/3 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup water

 

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 6-inch round cake pan with Wilton Cake Release or baking spray. Mix all ingredients together at medium speed. Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out with very little crumb. (When using applesauce instead of oil, I have found the cake is slightly denser and the toothpick usually has a few crumbs.)

After the chocolate cake cooled with help from a visit to the freezer for 10 minutes, I crumbled it into a medium bowl and added about a teaspoon and a half of chocolate canned frosting. I usually just eyeball it!

 This cake pop cake recipe had a wonderful chocolaty flavor and worked great as a cake pop inside. I will definitely use it again! It was already kinda sticky and stayed together well. I did refrigerate them for about 15 minutes while getting the other supplies and candy melted. I had about 1 cup of Candiquik that I had already colored pink, which was the perfect amount for the 12 skull cake pops. It is very easy to remelt, about 45 seconds in the microwave. For further information on making cake pops...check out my Basic Cake Pop Tutorial. The cake was dark it showed through the pink candy, so I did have to double dip the cake pops in the pink candy. After I dipped them all once, I went back to the first one and went for round two.

I am not sure whether they turned out to be skulls, zombies, or bubble heads, but whatever they are they are PINK so my daughter loves them!

 

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These Cake Pops are haunting people at:

These Chicks Cook: This Chick Cooked

Daily Organized Chaos: Foodie Wednesday

Lady Behind the Curtain: Cast Party Wednesday

Cupcake Bites

These Cupcake Bites are inspired by the awesome Bakerella!

Her book is another book that I have so many "want to do" projects bookmarked in, and this is one of them. They are easier than cake pops since there is no fussing with a stick! It is also a great way to reuse some of that various colored melted candy that you have stored in bowls, well you may not, but I do! It is all Candiquik which can be reheated and used multiple times. This is a great time to use leftover cake and frosting too!

 

Here is what you will need:

melting candy (Wilton, Candiquik, etc- about 8 oz for the cup and 4 oz for the dipped part)

a peanut butter cup mold (mine is Wilton)

sprinkles

cake

frosting

 

When making cake pops or cupcake bites, I want to get to the fun part, not spend tons of time making the cake part! I also decided to go with a light colored cake so it won't show through my light colored candy. This recipe took 10 minutes at most to prepare. It is slightly altered from the Martha Stewart Yellow Cupcake Recipe. This made 31 balls.

   

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup AP flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (the original recipe called for butter)

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8" round cake pan with cooking spray. Put all ingredients (no special order) in stand mixer and mix on medium for about a minute, scraping sides if needed. Bake for about 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely or overnight if you wish. The cake can also be put into the freezer to speed up the process of cooling.

  Once the cake is completely cool and you are ready to begin, crumble the cake up in a large bowl. (I believe the applesauce I substituted for butter made the cake a little denser, but it worked.) I cut the edges off first to keep the edges from discoloring the cake part. Then put 1 to 2 tablespoons frosting of into the crumbled mixture and mix it up.  (I had leftover light red frosting that I used which added color to the crumbs, it turned out to look pretty neat!) Shape into balls that would fit the size of the peanut butter cup mold that you have. If the balls aren't wanting to hold together, add a little more frosting, just enough to get the balls to hold together and chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

This is where things get different from cake pops!

    

Melt your chocolate according to package instructions. Working one at a time, fill the peanut butter cup mold a little over half full with your first color (I am using chocolate) and before it sets quickly press in one of the cake balls into the chocolate. Repeat until you have filled your mold. Once your mold is filled, put it into the refrigerator to set for about 15 minutes before unmolding, if the cups don't unmold easily, they aren't quite ready.

Once the cup part of the cupcake bite is chilled and unmolded, dip it into your next color allowing the 2 colors to just meet. Shake off excess and immediately sprinkle or decorate while still wet.
Since I only have one peanut butter cup mold, I had some in the refrigerator chilling while I was dipping the tops of the ready ones.
Total assembly time for 31 cupcake bites from crumbling cake to finished product: 2 hours

At this point you can leave them at room temperature for the candy to set up and just admire them!

Or...just Take a Bite!
    

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These Cupcake Bites are shared with:

All Around My Family Table: Turning the Table Thursday
Dollars and Cents: Sweet Temptations
Something Swanky: Sweet Treats Thursday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Coupon Cookin': Tasty Traditions
Bizzy Bakes: Bake with Bizzy
Happy Hour Projects: Freestyle Friday
Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style
Alli-n-Son: Sweet Tooth Friday
Tidy Mom: I'm Lovin' It
Mangoes and Chutney: Fat Camp Friday
Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday
Home Savvy: Savvy HomeMade Monday
The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials
Sweetology: Tea Party Tuesday
Chef in Training: Tuesday Talent Show
Rook No. 17: A Little Birdie Told Me
Crazy for Crust: Crazy Sweet Tuesdays

Pinch of This, That & the Other: Whisking Wednesdays

Goodbye City, Hello Suburbs: Workshop Wednesday

RoCa and Company: You Rock

 

These Cupcake Bites were featured at:
Happy Hour Projects: Monday Highlights
Bacon Time: Fantasic Features
Alli-N-Son: Sweet Tooth Favorites
The Kurtz Coner: Linky Party Features

Anniversary Cupcakes

This weekend my husband and I will celebrate 18 years of marriage!

I had told you via my Facebook Page that today I would be baking an anniversary cake, but the cake must remain a surprise until actually anniversary...tomorrow! At one point I had thought about making cupcakes for our anniversary, so when I was making the cake, I decided to go ahead and make a half dozen cupcakes for our anniversary too!

     

The cupcake is a French Vanilla Cupcake. Since the cupcakes are paired with the cake I used the same batter. I used a pound cake recipe that I know bakes up very consistent and easy to work with for decorating with very little crumb. The recipe for making a pound cake from a box mix will be included in tomorrows 18th Anniversary Cake post. For the icing I made a coconut buttercream icing.
(Both of these recipes will be in the 18th Anniversary Cake post tomorrow.)
 
 The hearts are easy, just a little bit of melted vanilla candy melted (I used Candiquik) and colored very slightly with pink candy coloring and hand piped onto wax paper. Let sit in the fridge a couple minutes until set and then place them on top of the cupcakes.
  
These cupcakes would be perfect for a do-it-yourself wedding, anniversary party, or brighten up the colors a little for Valentine's Day!

Don't forget to check out the Anniversary Cake!
 

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These Cupcakes are shared at:

Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style

Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday
KB & Whitesnakes Home: Simply Delish

Pink Princess #13- Cupcake Pops

Cupcake Pops

This is #13 out of 28 cupcake designs that I am making from the book "Pink Princess Cupcakes" by Barbara Beery. Be sure to check out all of the Pink Princess Cupcakes that I have made! I am almost halfway through the book now! If you haven't bought the book already, please do, her pictures look much better than mine and there are clear step by step directions along with cupcake and frosting recipes from Vanilla and Chocolate, to Fresh Banana and Strawberry Cupcakes! This book is marketed to children and would make a great gift for your little princess!

  

These cupcakes or pops, whatever you would like to call them, start with mini cupcake. I baked them without a liner since the liner was to be removed anyway. Well, I think this caused them not to rise as nicely. That was my first mistake. For the stick you can use either a craft stick or lollipop stick. I stuck a stick straight through the first one, so be careful with this part! They are not as big as cakepops so it is easy to poke the stick in too far. Insert the stick just like you would a cake pop by first dipping the stick in melting candy first. You still want to stick the stick in as far as you can so the cupcake will stay on.

The book instructions say to freeze the cupcakes before coating with candy, so I didn't, of course! It was a little to soft and the first couple looked pretty rough (those are the white ones).  Off to the freezer for the rest of you little ones! I just left them in there long enough to get hard, less than a half hour. I used Candiquik colored with with Pink Candy Coloring from the Wilton Garden Candy Set.  I spooned the melting candy over them, sprinkling immediately and placed on a rack with waxed paper underneath to set.

That's All, That's It!

Be sure to check out all of the Pink Princess Cupcakes that I have made!

  

The Next Pink Princess Cupcake that I will be making:

Tiara Princess

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Pretty Pink Cake Pops

A couple weeks ago I was one of the lucky winners of a Sweet Treats Goodie Bag Giveaway at Something Swanky sponsored by Boba Jewels and Gifts.

Less than a week after that, I had that feeling you get when you think something special is coming in the mail today...

Sure enough it was Something Special!

These were all the goodies inside! A Sweet Treats Mini Recipe Notebook, 2 Greeting Cards, a baker's dozen of Sweet Treat tags and pop sticks, Cupcake picks with coordinating gift card, and twine. Let me tell you I was excited to get all of these goodies in the mail! It's nice to get something fun in the mail!

I decided to start by making cake pops, something I haven't done it quite a few months. In case you are unfamiliar with making cake pops, visit my Basic Cake Pop Tutorial.

I really liked the simple blue (school colors) cake pops I had made on that tutorial and at that time my youngest daughter wanted pink...so here comes the pink ones finally! I tried to make these cake pops as large as I could, so the pink cake pops are bigger than the blue ones.

Cake Pops are a really good use for Cake Gone Bad! The cake I used inside the cake pop was a cake that didn't rise correctly, but otherwise tasted fine. I had made it probably 3 months back and wrapped in foil and then put in a freezer bag and into the freezer. I unwrapped the cake while still frozen and it was very easy to cut the sides off the white cake while frozen. Then I let it continue to thaw. After the cake had thawed I crumbled it and mixed in leftover Appletini Icing instead of canned frosting. (The cake pops tasted better and had a better consistency using homemade frosting vs. canned frosting!)I then continued making the cake pops as in my Basic Cake Pop Tutorial. Another difference was that I spooned the melting candy over the pop instead of dipping it directly, this worked better than my previous method too.

My older daughter tied the twine into a bow onto the pop tag and put them onto the cake pops. A perfect final touch! The tags are available for purchase at Boba Jewels and Gifts Etsy Shop. Check them out, very cute stuff as you can see!

YUM!

   

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These Cake Pops are shared at:

Alli N Son: Sweet Tooth Friday

Tidy Mom: I'm Lovin It
Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style
Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap Up
Something Swanky: Sweet Treats Thursday
One Artsy Mama: Falling For Crafts Challenge #6: Think Pink
 
These Cake Pops are featured at:
Alli-N-Son: Sweet Tooth Favorites