Love Pops

Remember yesterday's cake scraps? Today I'm sharing what I did with them. I will come clean right now! Cake pops are not in my wheelhouse and I will never be a professional cake pop maker. I also underestimated how much work they would be. 

That being said-   I like how they turned out and more important, Anna thinks they're "AMAZING!!" & "You're the best Mom anyone could ask for." And that sounds like a huge win in my books.

There are many amazing recipes / techniques online and I read a bunch, here's my how to do list for you.

- crumble cake in a bowl, be sure there are no large pieces

- add icing and mix together, I added about 3/4 - 1 cup. You want the consistency to be dough like so that you can roll the mixture into balls

- place mixture in fridge to cool for at least an hour.

- roll your cake mixture into balls, place back into the fridge to cool. I left mine over night, you could also add them to the freezer to cool them faster and save time, just be sure not to freeze them. The balls need to be chilled or the stick won't stay in place and the chocolate will be less likely to stick. *I know this from personal experience, you cant skip the cooling step.

- Melt your chocolate, this can be done in the microwave in small increments with plenty of stirring or in a double boiler.  I melted mine in a double boiler (glass bowl over a pot with about 1" of boiling water. Bowl can not touch water.)

- Time to make your cake pops. Take a stick and dip the end into the chocolate, press the stick into a ball. Take your cake pop and roll it into the chocolate to cover,  be sure chocolate gets all the way to the stick. Hold the cake pop over the bowl and turn the pop to have the excess chocolate roll off. (Don't stress if the chocolate keeps dripping off for what feels like an eternity, I think that's normal)

- Hold your pop over the topping bowl and sprinkle it with the desired candies

- Place your cake pop down on a piece of parchment paper and continue sticking, dipping and sprinkling.

- Place cake pops in fridge to cool until chocolate is hard

- Enjoy all your hard work!

*I chose to place the cake pop ball down instead of upright because I did not have a foam brick to stick them into and also because I found that they dripped too much if I held them upright. I know there is a way to make them not do that but I wasn't interested in figuring it out. The cake pops look great regardless and Anna thinks they're the best things ever so like I said earlier- that's a success in my books.

Cupid loves Valentine Treats!

 It's Valentine's Day this Sunday and I am all about love, pink & red, arrows, hearts & chocolate! I have a bunch of valentine themed posts for this week to get you in the mood. Or to give you an excuse to bake cake and eat chocolate. ♥

Cupid's Cake Stacks

You will need:

Sheet Cake (any flavor will do)

Icing

Sprinkles

Cupid's arrow is optional (bought at Party City)

Bake cake as directed in a sheet pan, let cool completely.

 Cut apart your cake using a heart shaped cutter. 

Add icing to a heart, stack another heart. Ice the top heart.

Add sprinkles.

Enjoy.

* keep your cake scraps for cake pops... which we'll talk about later this week ♥

Here is another heart I created, this one is only single layer. 

Create this look by simply adding icing gel in dots around your heart cake. Then take a toothpick and drag it through each dot in a downwards motion to create the hearts. Easy Peasy.

Did you miss last years Valentine cakes? Check them out here.

Mummies in my Tummy

Before we get to these yummy treats I have a little laugh for you...

 What is a Mummy's favorite type of music? (answer at end of post)

How do you make a rice krispie square even more delicous... add chocolate & sprinkles. 

These mummy squares are a hit in our house. Soft and chewy and not so spooky.

To make these mummies you will need:

- One pan of Rice Krispie squares cut into rectangles

I use the recipe on the inside of the Rice Krispie box. You make them in the microwave and they turn out every single time.  

- sprinkles (Halloween colors found at Bulk Barn)

 - candy eyes (I found mine at Party City)

- white chocolate melted and then put into a baggie with the corner clipped off

- Drizzle the chocolate back and forth over the Rice Krispies to create the mummy's wraps.

- Add sprinkles and eyes

- Allow chocolate to harden

- Eat one to test them out and then 2 more for quality control. Share with others so you don't eat the whole pan.

Joke of the day answer: (w)rap music...... ;)

You had me at chocolate.

Today I am sharing more of my go to treats. These will all make the perfect little goodie to give away to your Valentine's.... if you don't eat them all yourself.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

bag of pretzels

bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

plastic bag (I use a zipock as opposed to a decorating bag)

parchment paper 

sprinkles *optional

- add parchment to a cookie sheet

- spread out your pretzels in a single layer

- add a ziplock bag to a coffee mug

- melt chocolate chips in microwave for 45 seconds, stir, add back to microwave

until all melted. Shouldn't take much more than 1 minute total.

- add chocolate to bag

- snip a small hole in one corner, not too big, not too small

*too big = too much chocolate / too small = the bag exploding & mess

- move bag back & forth over pretzels fairly quickly

- add these to fridge to harden for 10-20 minutes

- break apart & gobble up

- these make a fabulous little treat to give away

These treats below are all the perfect vessles for covering in chocolate too!

 

Make a pan of rice crispy and cut out with a heart shaped cutter.

Heart Pies = Love

In keeping up with my Valentine goodie fest over here, Anna & I made these adorably, delicious mini apple pies. They were easy, quick and kid friendly.

You will need:

Pre-made pie dough (I used 2 boxes of pie shells)

Pie filling of your choice

1 egg beaten with a bit of water

Heart cutter

flour for dusting your work surface

- roll out dough or in the case of a pie shell, flip it out of the tin

- cut hearts

- add filling to one dough heart

- cover with another dough heart

- pinch the edges closed with a fork

- brush tops with egg wash

- bake @ 350º for 9 minutes (depending on your oven it may need less or more)

- cool

- try and eat just one

Valentine Floats

Taste testing these was just the worst. Okay, totally not the worst, they were all quite delicious.

I am inspired by Valentine's Day, no secret here but it wasn't always that way. I became a little obsessed after I had Anna. The reds, pinks, kisses, hearts, goodies and treats. It all makes me happy and these yummy floats make the perfect Valentine drink or dessert. (Secret Crush was my favorite)

 Cupid's Arrow (float one)

1 large scoop of vanilla ice cream

raspberry ginger ale*: fill to top (will foam a ton so be patient)

Top with whip cream & candy sprinkles

garnish with a strawberry

*any pink pop will work, it doesn't need to be this particular flavor

Secret Crush (float two)

1 large scoop of vanilla ice cream

3 strawberries: chopped and added on top of ice cream

raspberry ginger ale: fill to top

Top with whip cream & sprinkles

Garnish with maraschino cherry

*this float requires a straw & a spoon- a float & a sundae in one

Valentine Kisses (float three)

grenadine: pour to cover bottom of glass

1 large scoop of vanilla ice cream

Sprite: fill to top, pour in slowly so the grenadine stays on the bottom of the glass.

 This is only necessary if you want the layered look for first impressions.

 The grenadine will need to be mixed in once served.

Top with whip cream 

garnish with maraschino cherry

Ice Cream Sandwiches

I have a confession: I am a Food Network junkie! I could sit all day and watch cooking shows. I also confess that I have. Aside from making me terribly hungry they also make me inspired to try new things. I saw a version of these ice cream sandwiches on Pioneer Woman and knew we had to make them.

 You will need cookies, (I used chocolate chip cookies I had made the other day), ice cream and toppings to roll the sandwiches in, we had mini chocolate chips, Skor bits & sprinkles.

No directions necessary.

Roll... and then roll some more... and if you're so inclined, dip as you eat!

Enjoy!

So easy. So yummy. Thank you Pioneer Woman- we love you!

A quick bit:  southern Alberta was hit with devastating floods this past week, some of my absolute favourite places to visit. I think we are all humbled by the wrath that Mother Nature can unleash. My heart aches for you, I am sending my thoughts and prayers to all of you that were affected.