Halloween Cake Pops

Are you scared, because that is one scary cake pop.

Okay so we finally have something to celebrate.  And by celebrate, I mean sit down and sigh and not move for like a year.  We finally got our car sorted out, and by that I mean we got a used car.  And it is not bad, it just isn't a van.  I am thanking my lucky stars we are going to be okay, so if it's not a van, I can deal.  Secondly, Pork Chops birthday is over, and by over I mean his party.  His birthday was actually yesterday, so Happy Birthday Pork Chop!!!  I cannot believe someone as hot and young as I am has an 8 year old.  Did I ever tell you how humble I am?  Well I am really, just ask Hubby.

Another blogger called this candy apple style, and I think that make perfect sense, so that is how we can call it now.

  So all that to say that life is sort of back to normal.  Well normal for us.  And that is great.  I don't think this year can end fast enough.  There have been some horrible times, but also some really great ones.  So I am focusing on the good times, it's what keeps me sane.

  So in all our craziness I didn't get to make any actual Halloween treats.  Which sucks, because I had plans people.  Like real honest to goodness Halloween treat plans.  And they never happened.  And this treat right here, well it was just an extra add on from Pork Chops party.

  I shared with you the marshmallows I made for his party, and I promise to share the rest soon.  But for now I want to share my one and only holiday theme treat.  Which is really just a spin off of the cake pops I did for his party.

I swear they were so cheap, and they are like a million a pack in the store.

  So I had to make pops for his party, and some for work ( because they have not gotten hardly any treats this month and I think some of them may be wasting away to nothing) and these ones that are holiday themed.  They are going to do double duty, they are for his hockey team to celebrate his birthday and Halloween.  So see right there I saved myself from having to make two treats.  I am smart.

See so simple!

   So basically I had hubby bake me four cakes.  I even let him use my new mixer.  He complained, said it was alright, said it was noisy.  But you know he loved it.  Then I got to work.  I did the usual, crumbled up all the cake, added enough frosting to get it to stick together, then I shaped the pops.  I really liked how large the pops I made last time were, so I used my cake pop mold from My Little Cake pop.  It is perfect, and no rolling.  So I did that, and I ended up with over 100 cake pops.  Now that was perfect I needed 20 for his team, and at least 60 for his party.  And then the rest for a friend of my sister and then my work friends.

  So once they were shaped I put them in the freezer as I was doing this all in one day.  And yes I was up super late and cranky when I was all done.  I melted my orange candy melts, and I finally have it figured out. Sort of.  I put my microwave on 40% and then melt it for 30 seconds at a time.  And I mix it up really well once I have done that about 3 times.  That way I get the melts nice and smooth.  I usually still add a little paraffin crystals to thin it out.  But seriously this sort of works.  And well, I don't hate it as much as I used to.  I don't love it, but at least I don't want to punch a kitten when I work with them.  ( and no I would not actually punch a kitten, I have Hubby to punch)

I have no idea why I put the plain ones in front, don't even try to figure it out, I give up trying to understand myself.

  And once I had finished dipping all the cake pops for Pork Chops party I had run out, so I just ended up melting more white candy melts and adding green candy colouring.  It was all good.

  So I dipped all the cake pops, these ones I just did the lazy way by placing them on parchment paper, stick up and let them dry.  If they cracked I dipped them again and then I just decorated them.  I got these Halloween decorations last year.  They are just sugar and really cannot go bad.  I got them for like $25 cents a pack at a warehouse.  I have seen them for up to $8 a pack in store, and even more.  So I just put a dab of melted candy melts on the dry pop and stuck a decoration on.  Then I bagged and tied them up.  That was it.

  Now if I was really crafty, or if I had time I would have made cute tags, but as it was, I was lucky to make these.  Hubby and Pork Chop had to hand them out at practice, as it was a 6am practice and there was no way I was getting up for that.  I love him, but not enough to get up that early.

And here is Pork Chop, he is so cute, and he loves hockey. He is the one in the yellow in the middle. I thin k this is called a face off.

  So there you go, the worlds longest post ever, just to show you how to stick a decoration on a cake pop.  Your welcome.  And happy Halloween, I have a few more posts from Pork Chops party, so I will share those soon.

  And I hope everyone is being safe as possible in this weather, it is not nice and I worry about everyone.

Perry the Platypus Marshmallows

This is supposed to be a platypus treat, so just pretend you see it OK?

 So I am finally starting to get stuff together for Pork Chops party, which is happening soon.  I usually have stuff done by now, but due to how things have been, well I am way behind.  So that meant I had to cut some things.  Like I was going to make and decorate sugar cookies, and have a craft and all this stuff.  But since I have very little time, we will do what we can.

  Also Pork Chop had his dental surgery yesterday.  It was awful.  He is at home with Hubby today being a baby on the sofa, eating crackers and drinking water.  He was so upset yesterday he actually just wanted to hold my hand while he was laying in bed with us.  I hate seeing him sad, but it had to be done.  So now on to more happy things. Like deformed platypus treats!

This is how I do my pans for marshmallows, this time I used cooking spray and lots of icing sugar.  

  Pork Chop originally wanted a Lego Ninjago party.  Which I was okay with, until I looked and couldn't find any themed party stuff for it.  Now I don't go crazy, but I like to have some napkins and a few things so that the theme ties together.  So I looked on line and found Agent P stuff.  You know from Phineas and Ferb?  Well I talked him into it, and he said fine as long as I made Lego man chocolates, I said fine and that is how I got my way.  Sort of.

See how little icing sugar is on the table?  Well I wiped it off before I took a picture, so  at least I am learning something.

  So we looked in the local party city and they did not have the stuff, and the staff just gave me the "I don't know?"  When I asked if they were going to get it, or if they knew of another store having it.  So I just figured we would go to the states.  But then the car issue happened and we had to cut out some things we had planned to do.

  Anyway I had planned just to do the colours and maybe tie it together with some printed pictures and printed cupcakes.  But the day we headed to get the colourful stuff at the store, they had the party theme we wanted.  It was a sign, after a few crummy weeks, that at least we could do this for Pork Chop.

As usual my pictures are crappy, but this is nice and orange, you will have to take my word for it.

So I don't do loot bags, usually you get a bag full of tiny little toys that you lose or break and they cost a good amount.  So I do treats, usually a cake pop and something else.

  This first treat is one of those.  I decided to make Perry the Platypus marshmallows.  Now they would not look like him really, but you know, it would work.

  To start I made 4 batches of home made marshmallows, I have the larger mixer so I did two double batches.  I followed the same recipe I have used before, the only difference was I also added a few drops of orange food colouring paste.  I added it to the gelatin water mixture. I figure orange is a good colour for not only Halloween, but it works for the theme. I ended up needing to add lots.  So I went with it.  Now I also made some treats for the dentist, but I will share those later.

Here they are all cut out, you can kind of see how orange they are.

  So the day after making the marshmallows I cut them out using a large square cookie cutter, I use lots of icing sugar to help keep them from sticking.  Then I melted the blue candy melts I had, I added some paraffin crystals too.  It was not a  true Perry colour, but close enough.

  Then I took a large lolli pop stick and dipped it in the chocolate and then pushed it 3/4 of the way into the marshmallow.  I held it until the candy set a bit, as the spongy marshmallows will push the sticks out.

So this is how they looked after I dipped them.  And you all know how I hate working with coloured chocolate.  So I thought it was not bad all considered.

  Then I dipped the whole marshmallow, making sure it was all covered and tapped off the extra.  I stood them in my cake pop stands as I wanted them to be even all over.

  Once that was done I went back and dabbed on two dots of candy and put on candy eye balls. I wanted to do his beak, or whatever you call his mouth, but there is no way I was going to even try to do that.  So I left them as is, bagged them up and I had one treat done!

Now I forgot to actually count out the eye balls, so I ran out,but I had plenty, just not enough to do all the extra ones I wanted to.

  This took me forever since there were a lot and I was tired.  And then I showed Pork Chop and I was all "how do you like your Perry's?"  And he was all "where is the mouth?"  And I was all "I don't know how to do one, so this is it"  He said he would do it, I said no.  And I am ashamed to admit it, but I was PMSing but I had to fight not to cry.  Seriously.  I was so upset, not at him, he is a kid, he doesn't get it, but I wanted them to be perfect for him, and they weren't really.

See not too bad.  And yes I know there is no way to know it 's a platypus, you have to use your imagination.

  I got over it though as it took me like 4 hours to do them all and I was just done.  I also started making his chocolate Lego men, so that will be at least one thing he cannot complain about.  Right?

Even the marshmallows are made at me for not giving them mouths.  I cannot win.  Even my treats judge me!

So next up are the chocolate covered pretzels, cake pops, cupcakes and of course more chocolate Lego men.

Ice Cream Cone Cake Balls

Okay I took so many pictures of these things, then I thought to myself.  "Self do people really put sauce and sprinkles and cherries on their ice cream cones?"  And the answer was, "I don't know."  So for what it's worth, all ice cream cones should be this cute.

 *** DISCLAIMER***  I may have been in a very crazy mood when I wrote this, or drunk.  But as we all know I don't drink, but maybe I should because some of these comments may be a little racey for some.  Which is sort of weird considering this is a blog about baking, but you know if the mood strikes you, you go with it.

And Mom, if you are reading this, Lynda did it.

  That is all.

  I have been promising cake balls to Pork Chop for  a while.  Which really makes no sense as he is not going to eat them I bet.  But I made these because he seems to love ice cream cones.  Not actual ice cream cones, but the cone cone.  Does that make any sense at all?  No, well what else is new with that child.

These were the adorable mini cones, which you sort of had to scrape the seam off the bottom or else they fell over.  Stupid cone seams!

  Anyway, he loves to eat the cones, and I had seen these last year, I think I actually bought them last year, don't tell.  I buy things and think "these will make some great treats!" Then I forget about them, or pass them by and they expire, but you know, I am getting better.  So anyway, I made ice cream cone cake balls before using the actual pointy cones, but they were a pain, and hard to serve and what not.  So these, the flat bottom ones were perfect!  I figured I would be the first ever to use them, and I don't know if they even make them like this in other parts of the world.

  I choose to believe that they are just here in my little area, no where else.  And if they are, I don't want to know.  It would depress me and make me want to go shopping or something.  So you know, I have issues.

  Also I read the box, they still had a good year before they expired, score!

I took them all out, because how dumb would it have been to take one out at a time.  And I wanted you to see the stupid cone seam that I hate.  It's evil.  

  So to start I asked Hubby to bake me a box mix cake, as I was working the night before I wanted to make these.  Now I could have done it, but it saves me a lot of time and it makes it like we are doing this together.  I know, that sounds dumb.  The real reason is it makes him have to do it and the dishes so I am just being lazy.  Who would have thought that of me?

  And just so you know, he left the mixing bowl in the sink for me, day old hard cake batter does not save you time.

 Touche Hubby, touche.

See how crazy I am, I set everything up and took a blurry picture and you can even see my drink in there.  I go no where in my house without my drink.  Well almost no where; don't ask.

  Anyway, once the cake was baked, he covered it for me and the next day I got to work.  Now this day we had the funeral for my Uncle, and I thought baking would be the best therapy.  I actually wanted to go to all the kitchen stores I know and blow all the money I don't really have, so this was the better option.

Stubby finger action shot.

I want to say something clever but dirty here about only dipping half of your ball, but I got nothing.  Sorry.

At this point, if you didn't deal with those cone seams, you may start pulling your hair out.  Or eat the ones that fell over.  However you deal with your problems is up to you.

I have nothing to say about this picture, but I took it, so you need to see it.

  So I crumbled up my cake and added just enough frosting to get it to hold together then I used a mini ice cream scoop to make my cake balls.  I wanted to not roll them, but I thought that if I did not roll them they may not stick inside the cone as well.  So I rolled them.  Then popped them in the freezer while I tided up and got everything ready.

  And I don't know if you ever notice how I point out I tidy up now and then, but if I write it, it has to be true.

  Now I hate working with white chocolate so decided all my ice cream was going to be chocolate. And chocolate is the only kind of ice cream you should ever eat really. So I melted my candy wafers in the microwave and set out a sheet of wax paper.  I took out a few cake balls at a time then dipped the bottom half of them in the chocolate then set them in the cones and left them to dry.

I think I may need to hire a hand model.

Could you imagine the ad? "Wanted, one hand model to dip my balls while I take pictures."  That could get interesting.

 Once I had done that for all of them I was ready to do the full dip. By this time the first coating of chocolate should have hardened and stuck the ball to the cone.  Then I just took the cone and dipped it to make sure the whole cake ball was covered then let the extra drip off before setting them right side up on the paper again.  Now if you get drips down the cone, that is fine, it will just look like melting ice cream.

Almost done, and they could just be finished at this, but I needed to use sprinkles, so I could not leave them like this.

  Once that was done I got a small amount of white candy melts and melted them with some paraffin crystals. I wanted to make them pink, like strawberry sauce or something, so I used the candy colouring I had.  It is oil based so I can use it to colour the candy melts without it making the chocolate seize up.

  Also in real life, no fruit should ever touch my desert, ever.  So even though it looks like strawberry sauce, it better not be.  Or else.

Ok so here is the set up, I have found that coffee filters are great at catching sprinkles without making them bounce out and on the floor like if you use a bowl or plate.  That is until you try to pour them back into the container and drop the filter.  Not that that happened or anything.  Stupid sprinkles.

So I pipped on the pink then I decorated, but I figured out after this one if you shake the thing after you put the chocolate on it settles and looks nicer.

See how cute?  And that my friends is why chocolate is better than fruit.  I know that makes no real sense but I had to say it anyway.

   Then once it was melted I put it in a squeeze bottle and got my sprinkles and such set up.  To try and cut down on the mess I put one cone in a coffee filter and poured some pink chocolate on top then gave it a few seconds to drip down then added my sprinkles.  I find that if you use a coffee filter the sprinkles don't bounce out of the filter like they do with a bowl.  Then I topped it off with a red mini jaw breaker.  You can use anything though, like a big or mini M&M or a sixlet.  Whatever you want really

My little cone army.  Do they have cone army's?  Well they totally should.

We will call him Sargent Pinky.  No idea why, I feel like today I am in one of those moods, so you should probably just disregard all the comments so far.

And this, well that was the one I ate.  Because Pork Chop looked at it and said "No thanks."  And then I killed him and ate it myself.

  Then I let them set up and packed them away to take to work.  I think they were adorable and I so would make these in the full size cone, but that may kill you with the sugar amounts.  So just eat like 5 of these and you are good!

I didn't really kill him, that would mean they would take away my cake balls.  And I also want to call this picture "Cone in a box"  Which is funny if you know what I am talking about, and if not, you so do but just don't want to admit it.  And no Mom, there is no way I am explaining this to you.