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Key Lime Summer Cake Pops

July 5, 2012 By 3 Comments

Nothing says summer like Key Lime Pie.  Growing up my favorite summertime memories always include fresh seafood (yay for growing up on the Gulf Coast) followed by a cool slice of Key Lime Pie.

When I was perusing Pinterest and saw a Pin for Key Lime Cupcakes from My Madison Bistro, I knew I had to give it a try.

Key Lime Cupcakes and Cake Pops

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups cake flour (for cake pops, use regular flour)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cool unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ tablespoons key lime juice
1 tablespoon key lime zest
1 drop green food coloring paste
¾ cup buttermilk

Icing:
1 stick cool unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon key lime zest

First of all, I had no idea there was such a thing as “cake flour” and it took us forever to even FIND the stuff.  It is not by the flour – but over by the cake mixes.  Go figure.

Also, cake flour works great for the cupcakes, but makes the cake pops a bit too fluffy to really stay on the sticks – which is why we used a piping bag with a huge round tip to put the icing on the top like we did the cupcakes, instead of dipping them like regular cake pops.  Regardless, they taste AMAZING.

Oh, and My Madison Bistro said to sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt three times… I dont OWN a sifter, so I didnt do this part.   I also dont own a mixer (hey, I am no chef – I am learning to cook here) so I just mixed everything by hand.  I KNOW.  My shoulder may never be the same.

MoscatoMom’s Directions:

Batter

Mix all dry ingredients first while your Tween daughter slaves over zesting the itsy bitsy key limes… do you know how much a tablespoon is of zest?!!  (What?  You are surprised we dont have a zester? Come on people) She did one, and then when she read on that she would need another whole tablespoon for the icing… well, thankfully she is a good sport.

Slowly mix in wet ingredients and mix well.  In the original directions it says the batter will look curdled, however mine didnt… that could be because I was sans mixer….

Cake pops: Spoon batter into your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and cook for about three and a half minutes – until batter is done but outside is not too brown.  Fork onto a cookie sheet and run into the refrigerator for about an hour.

Cupcakes: Spoon batter into your Babycakes Cupcake Maker and cook about 6 minutes – also until center is cooked but outside is not too brown.  It may take breaking into one for a taste test (bummer, right?) to make sure they are done all the way through.  Fork onto a cookie sheet and run into the refrigerator for about an hour.

Icing

Again, this is probably much easier with a mixer-because mine was not “fluffy” at all, but like real icing, which we love.  I also added WAY more powdered sugar to thicken it  up.  You cant have too much powdered sugar, right?…..RIGHT!   Mix all of the ingredients until well blended and put into a large icing bag with a large round tip, and ice each cupcake or cake pop.  Top with green sugar sprinkles or key lime zest (notice I used sprinkles… I think the Tween was icing her shoulder…) Put finished cakes and pops into the refrigerator to set (and because well… key lime is always better cold.)

ENJOY!


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Easter Cupcakes – Springtime Sweets with #EqualSucralose

April 1, 2012 By 3 Comments

Photo Credit : http://www.bakerella.com/easter-basket-cupcakes/

This week I decided to make some Easter Basket Cupcakes to take to my Mom’s for an early Easter lunch.  Inspired by the amazing Bakerella I found just the right ones I wanted to make!  I decided to use the same recipe that I used for my St Patrick’s Day Cupcake Pops so they would be “healthier” and so I could show my Mom the #EqualSucralose that I have been using the last few weeks during my big weightloss.

Equal Sucralose is a non calorie sweetner that you can use instead of sugar!  Cheaper than Splenda and much easier to use - I love the canister that it comes in – it measures cup for cup like sugar, but without the calories! You can find Equal Sucralose at participating Super Walmarts – check here to find one near you!

Though my cupcakes did not turn out NEAR as professional looking as Bakerella’s (I’ll blame not being able to find the right candies lol) I was still very happy with them, as was everyone else at lunch!  Plus they tasted fantastic – and no one even knew I had not used real sugar in the batter – until I told them of course!  You can see my entire Shopping Trip in this Google Plus Album.

Like I said, mine did not turn out near as nice as hers, but the girls thoroughly enjoyed making - and eating!! – them, and I loved knowing that even though they were nice and sweet and tasted just like normal cupcakes, they were not loaded with sugar like most cupcakes are since I used Equal Sucralose instead.  Even Mom liked them!

Easter Basket Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/3 c butter softened
  • 3/4 c sugar (or Equal Sucralose)
  • 1/4 c sour cream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/3 c milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • candy sprinkles (optional)

Cupcake Toppings

  • 1 can vanilla icing of choice
  • green food coloring
  • assorted candies – bunnies, jellybeans, “rope” like candy, etc

Mix cupcake ingredients – except for the sprinkles – together in a large bowl and stir until smooth.   When well blended, gently pour desired amount of candy sprinkles into mix and fold gently. (We used a LOT of sprinkles… I recommend NOT giving the 5 year old the tub of sprinkles to pour in.)

Spoon swirled mixture into your Babycakes Mini Cupcake Maker and let cook six to seven minutes or until cooked all the way through.  Make sure to test the first one – you do not want a raw middle!

Place cupcakes onto a cookie sheet.  Let cupcakes cool completely – overnight if possible.   Tint vanilla icing to desired “green-ness”  and apply generously to the top of the cupcake.  Remember all of your candies have to stick into this stuff, so don’t hold back.

Next insert your “basket handles” and hold for a few seconds until icing begins to set around it.  This was the hardest part for me – getting the handles to actually stay standing up.  I was considering Super Glue when they finally began to stand up on their own.  We quickly added the rest of the candies – the gummy ones worked best – and shoved the entire cookie sheet into the freezer to let everything set up.

We had an absolute BLAST with these and will make them again next year I am sure!  I will however shop a couple different places to find the right candies, as all joking aside – I do think they would have turned out better with bigger bunnies and “real” rope candy - but the Twizzlers sure were yummy!!

Disclaimer – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All opinions are 100% my own.

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Easter Sheep Cake Pops

February 28, 2012 By 14 Comments

Last week when I decided to make Easter Cake Pops I hit up the internet and found tons of cute ideas – my favorite being these little “sheep” cake pops.  I already had the pearl sprinkles so I thought this would be a fun way to use them up.  These were not near as simple as the Easter Bunny Cake Pops but they still turned out very cute.

Easter Sheep Cake Pops

Ingredients:

Mix your Funfetti Cake Mix as directed on the box.  Spoon one teaspoon into each spot in your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.  Let cook four minutes.  Use Babycakes fork to put onto a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for one hour.

Melt three or four candy melts and dip the ends of your sticks into the melt and into the cake pop.  Set upside down on a cookies sheet and put back into the freezer for another hour.  You should then have a cookie sheet that looks like this -

 

Melt the remainder of your candy melts and gently dip your cake pop into the melts coating the entire cake pop.  Immediately set into cake pop stand (I use large pieces of styrofoam that I poke holes in with a screwdriver – cheap and easy) Place the jellybean in place for the head and hold a new seconds to secure.  Then gently begin putting sprinkles on and kind of “tapping” them into the candy melt to gently secure them.  Do this slowly to make sure the weight of the “wool” does not slide off the other side.

Like I said this took a bit of practice and a bit of time but was fun nonetheless.  Each “sheep” takes about 5 minutes to complete applying the “wool.”  Once you are happy with the wool, place back into your cake pop stand and let set for at least 20 minutes.

Once the candy has completely set and the pearls are secure you can use a dab of candy melts to apply the pink heart “nose” and chocolate ship “ears” (eyes!?) to the jelly bean.   Then put them together in their own little “herd.”

These were the most difficult of the Easter Cake Pops that we made, but they were also the favorite at the party.  We also made them with different colored candy melts which were cute – we had some yellow sheep!

Love these?  Check out my Easter Bunny Cake Pops, Easter Chick Cake Pops, and Easter Basket Cake Pops!

 

 


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Easter Bunny Cake Pops

February 26, 2012 By 12 Comments

This week I began practicing my Easter Cake Pops with my Babycakes Cake Pop Maker- making Easter Bunnies, Chicks, Sheep, and even Easter Baskets.  They were all relatively easy – which surprised me – though some took many more steps than the others.   My favorite – or the ones I think turned out the cutest – were the Easter Bunnies. 

Easter Bunny Cake Pops

Ingredients:

  • Babycakes Cake Pop Maker
  • Pillsbury Cake Mix of your choice (Pillsbury works best in the Cake Pop Maker)
  • White Candy Melts
  • Sweet Mallows Marshmallow Confetti
  • Pink Heart shaped candy sprinkles
  • Chocolate Piping Icing with bag and small tip

Begin by making your cake pops as usual with the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.  Pillsbury mixes work best – my favorite being the Funfetti style.  Mix your cake batter as usual by the directions on the box, and spoon a teaspoon of mix into each hole and cook for four minutes.  Place cooked cake pops on a cookie sheet and run into the freezer for no less than an hour.  Then “stick” your cake pops using a bit of candy melts on the tips of your sticks and run into the freezer for another hour.  Now your cake pops are ready to decorate.

I have seen pictures of these guys where the baker had used Spring Candy Corn for the ears…  I looked at four different stores and was unable to find them.  I was about to give up and ditch the entire idea when I saw these near the marshmallows in Walmart.  I decided to give them a try, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  I did use scissors to snip the very ends off  – both to make the proper size for “ears” but also to give some added “stickiness” to help them stay on the bunnies heads.

For the Easter Bunny Cake Pops you will use the white candy melts which can be found in just about any grocery store.  Almond Bark works as well but I have found it to be a bit thinner than the candy melts so it doesn’t stay smooth quite as well.  Do NOT try to use cake icing – its a totally different consistency when heated. Melt the white candy melts in 30 second increments and stir – making sure you do not burn it.

Dip your Easter Bunny Cake Pop gently into the white candy melts and place in your cake pop holder.  While the coating is still good and warm, stick the Marshmallow Confetti with the snipped ends into the melts in the place for ears.  Hold for a few seconds until the candy begins to set and the ears and secure.

Let the candy coating set for about 20 minutes or until completely cooled and hardened.  Do not put into the freezer or refrigerator as that will cause the candy coating to “sweat” – making the next steps virtually impossible.  Simply let the cake pops sit room temperature.

Using your piping bad and icing, put a tiny dollop of icing onto a pink candy heart sprinkle and place your “nose” in the center of the Easter Bunny Cake Pop leaving room for both eyes above and the mouth below.  I found that since I have acrylic nails that it was easier to lower the cake pop onto the sprinkle than trying to hold on to the teeny little heart and stick it on there.  I think I dropped about 15 of them before figuring this out. Then pipe on eyes and a mouth to complete your Easter Bunny Cake Pop.   The finished result:

These were not just the cutest, but by far the easiest as well.  This one was great to let the girls help with – whether it was placing and holding the “ears” or the “nose.”   They also love helping me with the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker – I put the batter in, Taylor is in charge of the timer, and Sami pops the cake pops out onto the cookie sheet when they are finished.  It’s like we have our own little assembly line… and it is CLEAN!!  No messy hands!


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Simple Santa Hat Pretzel Candy

December 20, 2011 By 8 Comments

While perusing Pinterest last night while waiting for the Chocolate Chex Candy to harden, I ran across these adorable Santa Hat Pretzels.   Since I had all of the ingredients on hand, I took it as a sign that I just had to make them!

Simple Santa Hat Pretzel Candy

Ingredients:

  • Miniature pretzels
  • White almond bark or candy melts
  • Red sugar sprinkles
  • Miniature marshmallows

Melt almond bark or candy melts as instructed on the packaging.  Dip miniature pretzels half way into melted chocolate and then immediately into a bowl of sprinkles, leaving some white showing.  (*Note: before you think you can get off easy and just “sprinkle” the sprinkles… it doesnt work.  Trust me, I tried.)   Cut mini marshmallow in half and place sticky side down to make the “puff” at the end of Santa’s hat.  Place gently on greased cookie sheet or wax paper and let cool.

These were absolutely the cutest, quickest, easiest candy I have made all year.  They are perfect for gift giving, Christmas parties, and to snack on all holiday season!