Red Velvet Candy Cane Cake Pops

I MADE CAKE POPS!

I've always imagined cake pops as being some extravagant treat that you get from a bakery or someone who knows all the tricks and secrets of making special pastries and treats.  You know, like crescent rolls and terrines.

In my mind cake pops were made in a special cake pop contraption and coated in some special cake pop frosting that you couldn't buy in a grocery store.

Little did I know.

Then I saw a scrumptious pin on Pinterest for Chocolate Mint Cake Pops, by A Cup of Mascarpone.  

I quickly visited A Cup of Mascarpone and found that Carol does some pretty special sweet & savory dishes and shows them off with the most enticing photos.  The photos alone were enough to convince me I had to give cake pops a try. 

Carol suggested watching a YouTube video:  Cake Pops by Bakerella, so I did.  This video by Bakerella was a wonderful introduction to making cake pops.  The video explains that cake pops are basically a regular cake crumbled, mixed with frosting, rolled into balls then coated with a candy shell. 

Hmmm...sounds easy, right?

Here are the steps to making cake pops at home:

Ingredients:

Boxed cake mix made as directed (I used Betty Crocker Red Velvet)

2/3 container of store bought frosting (I used Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate)

Candy Melts or Almond Bark (I used one 24 oz. bag of Almond Bark)

4 or 5 Candy Canes -crushed

Note:  You can mix and match your cake, frosting and coating flavors to make whatever combinations you desire.  You can also be creative with sprinkles and crushed candies on top.

Bake a sheet cake following the instructions on the box.  

Let cool.

Cut into 4 - 6  large rectangles.

Take 2 rectangles of cake at a time and crumble into a large mixing bowl.  

Rubbing two chunks of cake together crumbles them up quickly.

Here's what a bowl of crumbled Red Velvet cake looks like.  

Make sure there are no larger chunks of cake left.

Add about 2/3 of a jar of store bought frosting.  

You don't want to use the entire container because the cake balls will be too moist and will not hold their shape or stay on their sticks if you do.

Mix the cake crumbs and frosting together using a rubber spatula and pushing the crumbs and frosting together against the sides of the bowl.

Roll mixture into balls using the palms of your hands.  Just like the kids do with Play Doh!

(I didn't measure or weigh mine.  I just estimated, trying to keep them all about the same size.  

I'm NOT a perfectionist!  Can you tell? )

Place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and chill.  

You can put them in the freezer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, move them to the refrigerator.  Take about six out at a time for the next step.

Crush candy canes in a Ziploc bag using a rolling pin.

Melt your candy melts or almond bark in the microwave following the package directions.

Use a deep, narrow bowl so the melted candy is deep enough to submerge the cake balls completely.

Dip popsicle sticks into the melted almond bark and then poke them into the cake balls ~ about halfway through.  Be careful not to push the sticks all the way through.  Don't twist or mess with the sticks at this point.  The candy will solidify inside the cake balls and adhere them to the sticks.  

(Note:  I used wooden stir sticks instead of buying popsicle/cake pop sticks.  I already had them on hand and I like the way the wooden sticks look.)

Dunk cake balls into the melted candy coating submerging completely until the melted candy is touching the stick.  

DO NOT swirl or twist.  

Hold the dipped cake ball over the bowl and tap the hand holding the stick with the other hand, causing the excess coating to drip back into the bowl.  (This is where I remind you to watch Bakerella's video if you haven't already...so you can do this step correctly.  It makes a huge difference in how your cake pops turn out.)

Poke cake pops into Styrofoam and allow the candy coating to set completely before storing or wrapping.

Ta-Da!

You've now become a Keeper of Special Treat Secrets.  

When people Ooooh! and Aaaah! about these delicious and adorable treats just smile and say, 

"You are SO worth it!"

I placed a few in a small Ball jar with mini marshmallows in the bottom to give them some stability.

Then I stored the jars inside this super duper two-story cake and cupcake carrier.   

It was just the perfect height for them.

I tied a few into little "bouquets" with candy canes and curling ribbon.  

Perfect as a party favor for holiday guests.

They made a very nice accompaniment to some minty hot chocolate from our hot chocolate station.

This pop fell from the styrofoam and cracked it's outer shell.  Oh, the poor little cake pop.  I had no choice but to call this one defective and eliminate it.  MmmHmm.

 Mmmmmm!

Continue Reading ...

Award Winning Moose Munch Recipe

This is the recipe that won me the Iron Chef Mom award for the ingredient Caramel!

So I thought I would share the recipe again. 

We had some gourmet popcorn that had been gifted to us so I used that.  We also have a really cool WestBend Stovetop Popper that I love.  I couldn't find the directions so I looked up the manual on line.  (I love that you can do that)

To use the Stovetop Popper:  Put 2 Tablespoons of oil and 1/2 cup of popcorn into pan.  Heat to Medium-High and start turning the crank.  Continue turning the crank rapidly the entire time.  The popcorn kernels start exploding in no time, filling the pan.  It takes 3-4 minutes for the popcorn to be done.

Transfer popcorn into a large paper bag, making sure to remove any unpopped kernels. 

Microwave Caramel Corn {click here for printable recipe}

Here's what you'll need:
3-4 quarts popped corn
1 stick of butter (no substitutes!)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup Karo Syrup
1 tsp baking soda - add last

Place stick of butter, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup into microwave safe glass bowl.  Place in microwave and heat on high until it comes to a boil.  Times will vary by microwave so you will want to watch it closely.  Once it comes to a complete boil remove from microwave and stir. 

Return to microwave and cook for 1 minute. 

Remove, add baking soda and stir well.  Mixture will thicken and lighten in color.  Pour mixture over the popcorn inside the paper bag. 

Fold the top of the paper bag down several times to close~  then shake, shake, shake! 
(Go ahead, play some Zumba music here!) 
Shake really well to distribute the caramel and coat all of the popcorn. 

Place entire bag of popcorn back into the microwave and heat on high for another 1 1/2 minutes.  Remove and shake some more.  (Cue Zumba music again)

Once cooled you can pour the popcorn onto cookie sheets and break apart:

Moose Munch Recipe  {click here for printable recipe}

Here's what you'll need:
Caramel Corn (see recipe above)
1/2 bag (or more) mini marshmallows
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup (or more) dry roasted or honey roasted peanuts
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Caramel corn should be broken apart and spread out on cookie sheets. 

Sprinkle mini marshmallows and nuts evenly over the popcorn.

In a glass container mix chocolate chips and vegetable oil.  Heat in microwave for 1 minute intervals.  Remove, stir and repeat until melted completely. 

Use a spoon to drizzle melted chocolate over popcorn, marshmallows and nuts.

Allow to cool.  (I put mine into the refrigerator for a few minutes). 

Break into smaller chunks and enjoy!

Makes a great treat for movie night.  It's a family favorite around our place.  Of course, the caramel corn alone is delicious. 

BUT 

If you want to treat someone to something extra special....

I crafted this little tag...

...perfect for adding to little brown bags and sharing!!!

Now you know my Award Winning MOOSEMUNCH Recipe!

ENJOY! 

Continue Reading ...

Yummy Tacos de Lengua

Do you love Mexican food as much as I do?  It is one of my absolute favorites!  Spicy food is way up there on my list...just below chocolate and coffee.  :0

Tacos de Lengua are an authentic Mexican cuisine that you can easily make at home.

First you have to find the beef tongue at your local Grocers.  You will find them in the meat department at most grocery stores.  They may be somewhat off putting in appearance.  ;)   Sorry, but it's true.  If you haven't had tacos de lengua before try to get past that.  They are well worth the discomfort that comes from the thought!

My son likes to say something like...

"Wow, that's a HUGE tongue!  Are you really going to eat THAT???"

WHY, YES!  It's so GOOD!

Here's what you do:

Wait for it to cool enough to remove this layer without burning your fingertips!!  you might want to use a fork to help with this step.  It comes off really easy though. 

You can always add your favorite hot sauce if you like extra spicy!!

These are some of the most tender, juicy and flavorful tacos ever.  

I like to follow with a fresh squeezed margarita myself.  

Just kidding, I don't really make freshly squeezed margaritas.  I use a bottled mixer and and my favorite tequila and then squeeze a little fresh lime juice in for good measure!  

Yummy.

"disfrutar de su comida!"

Continue Reading ...

Rustic HomeMade Chalkboard

We are the last minute gift making King and Queen!!!

We have been working on this chalkboard for awhile now so it wasn't completely last minute. It took some trial and error. We wanted to make our own chalkboard paint as we had heard about it working well for others.

I did an Internet search and found that there were a couple of different "recipes" out there.

1. Paint and Plaster of Paris

     or

2. Paint and Unsanded Grout (one cup paint and 2 TBSP grout)

We already had paint and unsanded grout on hand so that was our recipe of choice.

We mixed our ingredients well (or so I thought), taped off our surface and started painting.


It was a bit chunky even after all of the mixing and squishing that I had done. I really had nothing to compare it to so I trudged on. 
Maybe it takes an electric mixer to get this concoction to smooth out?

Maybe it will settle down once it has been applied to the surface and dries?

After the first coat dried it was still rough and some of the little chunky areas would "burst" and have a spot of whitish grout showing through.  

Grrrrr. Really? Will this work after all...or will we be down at True Value buying a can of spray chalkboard paint?

My Calm and Collected Partner sanded it down again and we started over. (This man really balances me. You don't even know.)

He put some grout into an empty spice container.  Then he brushed the paint onto the surface, sprinkled the grout over the wet paint, and brushed the surface again. Wallah!

Once we had the chalkboard surface figured out, I stained the "frame" of the chalkboard.  This was done with a small piece of towel that had been saved in our rag bin and some Minwax stain.

Then we added some simple hooks for keys and a bucket to store chalk and an eraser in...or whatever little things need to be stored.  I added the personalization by printing our friends last name and wedding year with my trusty white Pen-Touch paint pen. 

Scott poly'd the frame and we called it good.  This was meant to appear somewhat rustic and home-made.  We don't really want our projects to look "perfect" or appear to be factory machined and finished.  There is something to be said for well-aged, patinae'd, or distressed looking items.  Whether they have achieved that look naturally through age, or by someones hand.  It adds personality and character if you ask me.  :)

Our finished chalkboard was created using only the items we had on hand (including:  unfinished wood cabinet door, black semi-gloss paint, unsanded grout, Minwax wood stain, painters tape, empty spice jar, towel remnant, paintbrush, sandpaper, drill, mini hooks, silver metal bucket, and a metal hanger for back).

Here she is:

And if your last name is Johnson, and you are Treasured Friends of ours, then this is your official unveiling.  Merry Christmas!!!  Come by and get your chalkboard today...we love you!

All Our Love and Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and Superb 2012!!!

Scott and Sherry

Continue Reading ...