Lego Star Wars Birthday Extravaganza - Part 3

Yum!

   Okay so I am sure you are getting board with all my Lego posts, but it is the only thing I have been doing for a while now, so I have nothing else to share.  And trust me this is exciting stuff, if you are are a 7 year old boy. Okay maybe not, but stick with me here, I did some fun stuff.

  Today I will tell you about the cake balls I made, a short and simple post, then tomorrow I will wow you all with my cup cake and cake decorating skills.  ( or just make you want to eat a cupcake, I am not too picky)  I tried some new things and want to share with you how it all turned out.

  Anyway I love cake balls, if you have not noticed by the blog name or anything.  I first started making them after reading about them and following Bakerella.  I fell in love and have not stopped making them.

  Now to get full details and instructions with really good pictures, go to her site, here I just do the basic, and my pictures are nothing to write home about.

  So I wanted to make chocolate cake balls, because those are my favorite and since I make them, I make what I like.  I do think my son likes them too, but it's not like it's his party or anything.  What?  It is?  Fine, I will Star Wars them up or something. 

Sticks in and ready to dip.

  Anyway, I made a box cake mix, and once cooled crumbled it up into my kitchen aid mixer.  I blended it with half a can of chocolate frosting and then used my larger cookie scoop to make balls.  I let them cool in the fridge for a half hour then rolled them.  I put them in the fridge over night. You can also freeze them but I found this made my candy coating crack, so the fridge works better if you have the time.  If not, freeze for like 20 minutes then move them to the fridge.

  I worked a few cake balls at a time, so they would not warm up.  I used big lollipop sticks as these were the larger cake balls.  I also wanted to make these the "right" way, meaning the were all round and not the "lazy" way where I just dip them put them on paper.  I got Styrofoam at the craft store to use, and I keep any flat pieces I get in boxes to use. 

Amazing and incredible action shot!

  I melted my candy coating in the microwave at 30 second intervals until it was melted and smooth.  I took a lollipop stick and dipped the end into the coating then pushed it half way to 2/3 into the cake ball.  I let it set for half a minute or so then take the ball and dip it into the bowl of melts.  I sort of twirl the cake pop around after it is dipped to get the extra coating off.  Once I think it is good I stand it up in the Styrofoam and let them dry at room temperature.  I always turn on a fan to blow around to help them set faster. 

All dipped and just drying off.

  

 I used to put my cake pops into the fridge but I found it caused a lot of cracking and when you took them out condensation on them.  So I just make sure they are in a baggy or sealed properly and put them in the basement on my craft table.  It is cooler down there and they will keep.  There is really nothing in them that would go bad in a day or so. 

Stars turn anything into "Star Wars" things right?

  So to Star Wars them up I got these little star glitter thingies from Michael's, with a coupon of course.  I could have just sprinkled them on as I dipped the cake balls, but that gets tedious.  I would have to dip a ball then stop and sprinkle.  So I used a plastic bottle and drizzled on some of the left over candy melts, then sprinkled as I went.  It was faster and easier.  And if one of the cake balls does crack this allows you to drizzle over the crack and seal it up and make it look like you know what you are doing.  Or sort of.  Either way it means more chocolate so just do it.

These scream Star Wars, they also got everywhere and I had to pull out the vacuum.

We could call them Galaxy balls or something.

   I will show you in my wrap up post the lame cake pop stand I made.  Sigh, I read on another blog where the lady made these really cute wooden stands.  If she had only shared that like 3 months ago, I might have thought about making them.  As is I just glued two cake dummies together and painted them.  Wait until you see the colour I picked out, I don't know what I was thinking at all.