Apple Shaped Cake Pops

Well its that time of year again.  The kids are heading back to school and to after school sporting activities and back on a full weekly schedule.  Some Moms cry happy tears because they finally get a relief from summer entertaining while some other moms cry tears of sadness because they miss their babies. I am the mom that BAKES! I will bake for teachers, the football team, the cheerleading team, anybody that wants or needs sweets. I am the mom for that.  This year my baby is starting high school and knowing she loves my cupcake pops I told her I was going to be making apple cupcake pops to pass out to her teachers.  If you have a teenager, you can imagine the horrific look on my daughters face when I said that.  Because she is my baby, I already knew what her reaction was going to be.  I did get my laugh for the day.  I made the apple cupcake pops  but instead of passing them out to her teachers we gave them to the cheerleaders.  

These pops were so easy to make. The only hard part was finding the leaves to place on top. We eventually decided to use green Mike and Ikes.  I thought they worked pretty well.

1 box of cake mix - any flavor (I used vanilla.  I wanted it to look like the inside of an apple)
¾ tub of ready made frosting - any flavor (I used vanilla)
24 lollipop sticks
1 bag of red candy melts
Styrofoam block or 2x4 with holes drilled in it to hold the dipped cake balls
24 chocolate dipped pretzel sticks
24 green Mike and Ike

1. Make and bake cake according to box directions.  
2. When cake is completely cooled crumble the entire cake into a bowl.  
3. Mix ¾ tub of ready made frosting into the crumbled cake (you might just have to roll your sleeves up and dig in with your hands).  Most recipes call for the entire tub, but I think it is too moist.    
4. When cake and frosting is moist and mixed, shape into 1 inch balls.  
5. Place cake balls on a greased cookie sheet. 
6. Put a lollipop stick in each cake ball and place in refrigerator until firm.  
7. Once cake balls are firm, lightly pinch the bottom of the cake ball where the stick is attached to form the shape of an apple.   
8. Indent the top of the ball to form the shape of where the stem will be going.  
9. If cake balls have gotten soft, place back in refrigerator until firm again. 
10. Melt the candy melts in a double boiler.  
11. When the cake balls are firm dip them in the melted candy melts.  
12. Shake excess off and place in the Styrofoam or wooden holder.  
13. Take a chocolate dipped pretzel and place in the top indention.  
14. Take a Mike and Ike and place it crooked next to the pretzel stick on the top of the apple. 
15. Stand back and Say “AWWWW”. 
16. Repeat dipping process until all the cake balls are dipped and decorated.  
17. I had a stem and leaf helper during the dipping process because it can get pretty messy.

Walforf-Astoria Red Cake Recipe



thecupcakerecipes.com

A friend of mine recently baked me some red velvet cupcakes.  I was told it was a recipe their mother made and that she was a VERY good cook. I thought the cupcakes were delicious! The recipe they used was a Waldorf-Astoria recipe.  What I find most interesting about the original Waldorf-Astoria recipe is that it does not include the most popular cream cheese frosting that everyone so often uses, but a cooked creamy custard-like frosting. HEAVEN! Had I not tasted this frosting I would have just skimmed over any frosting recipes that ever said the word "cook" and/or the word "flour".

The true origin of the Red Velvet cake is a mystery. One of the more popular stories involving this chocolate cake was believed to be around 1959, when a woman dining at the elegant Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City was served the dessert. She was so pleased with this early Red Velvet Cake that she asked for the recipe. The kitchen obliged to her request, but she found out later she was charged $100 (or $200, depending on the version of the story) for the recipe itself. To get her revenge on the NYC Hotel, she shared the kitchen’s Red Velvet Cake recipe in the form of chain letters, which she sent to hundreds of individuals, therefore exposing the “secret” and exploding the popularity of and demand for the Red Velvet Cake as a birthday cake and elegant dessert.

James Beard's 1972 reference American Cookery describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening and butter. All use red food coloring, but the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. Before more alkaline "Dutch Processed" cocoa was widely available, the red color would have been more pronounced. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "Red Velvet" as well as "Devil's Food" and similar names for chocolate cakes While foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes. Boiled grated beets or beet baby food are found in some red velvet cake recipes, where they also serve to retain moisture.

In Canada the cake was a well-known dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton's department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an exclusive Eaton's recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.

A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias in which the groom's cake (a southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo.


WALDORF-ASTORIA RED CAKE
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar (DC cupcakes uses cider vinegar)
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking soda
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



DIRECTIONS
1.Cream together the shortening, sugar, and eggs.

2.Make a paste with food coloring and cocoa. Add to shortening mixture.

3.Add salt and buttermilk to mixture.

4.Next add flour, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda in that order. Mix.

5.Bake for 30 mins. at 350 degrees in two 8" rnd greased cake pans. Let cool.

6.Frosting: Cook 5 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk until thick, and then cool.

7.Cream together 1 cup confect. sugar, 1 cup butter and 1 tsp. vanilla 'til fluffy. Add to flour mixture.

8.Cut layers of cake in half lengthwise. Spread frosting on each half layer. Stack and frost over all.


Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 287   Total Fat: 15.4g    Cholesterol: 47mg 

Almost Heaven Desserts Review

I couldn't find any cupcake shops on my google search but a few bakeries popped up. I chose Almost Heaven Desserts for my review.   If it wasn't for wanting to put West Virginia on my blog map, I probably wouldn't have stopped here.  I called this bakery and asked if they had any cupcakes. They said they did. I then asked what flavors they had? They said chocolate and vanilla. I was looking for something more exotic but hey a cupcake is a cupcake!

The shop is on the corner in downtown Bridgeport, WV. They mostly specialize in cheese cakes. We ordered one of each flavor.

The vanilla cupcake had a raspberry filling and a light whipped cream frosting with sprinkles. Great frosting! Great filling! Terrible dry flavorless cupcake!

The chocolate cupcake was filled with a chocolate ganache. Again, great frosting, great filling. Terrible, dry and flavorless cupcake.

I was happy to have finally taste a cupcake frosted with a light whipped cream frosting for a change rather than the creamy sugar frosting that I have been tasting lately at.

If you are passing through Bridgeport, WV you should definately stop at Almost Heaven Desserts and  try their cheesecake and coffee. 

The Cupcake Collection Review

Midway through our trip and our cupcake stops we were racing the clock, traffic, and a massive storm which was fast approaching to get to The Cupcake Collection Store before they closed at 5:30pm.  We arrived about 5:10pm.  We found this place on a quiet side street.  This shop was a cute little house.  There were two smiling boys working behind the counter.  There was one person in front of us ordering, which gave us plenty of time to pick a cupcake  we wanted.  By the time we finished our order there was a line of customers leading out the door.  Not because the counter boys were slow, but because everyone was making the mad dash to get their cupcake fix before the storm hits.  We chose a strawberry cheesecake, wedding cake, and sweet potato cupcake.

Strawberry Cheesecake A super moist, fresh and flavorful cupcake with the perfect amount of frosting to make a perfect light and refreshing treat.

Wedding Cake Not a favorite with me.  The cake seemed dry and crumbly and the frosting was super sweet and just not pleasant

Sweet Potato: My absolute favorite! I am not a carrot cake or spice cake fan but this cupcake was WOW! Very good with the just the right amount of frosting to top it off. I would highly reccommend this cupcake to anyone that visits this place!

Gigi's Cupcake Review

Gigi's Cupcakes was not origionally on my cupcake sailing list, but the origional cupcake shop Muddy's Bake Shop was closed today.  After screaming with Tammy (Our GPS voice.  It was decited that we are changing the voice of Tammy to Army Sargent for the duration of our trip) for the last hour while driving through the city, I had to make our stop in Memphis, TN worth while. 

I think I read somewhere that Gigi's cupcakes is a chain cupcake shop.  In any case, this shop was bright and inviting and the cupcakes had enourmous mounds of frosting on the cupcakes.  There were about 10 different flavors to choose from.  All flavors looked delicious!

We ordered a Strawberry Shortcake, an Orange Dreamsicle, and a Texas Chocolate cupcake.

Strawberry Shortcake was by far the best tasting cupcake out of the trio.  This cupcake had a nice strawberry flavor and was very moist.  The frosting was a whipped sugar buttercream (there was way too much frosting on the cupcake).  I was surprised that there wasn't a real strawberry on top but rather just a piped one. At $3.00 a cupcake, I think a fresh strawberry would have been more appropriate.

Orange Dreamsicle was suggested by the girl behind the counter as a favorite to try because it tasted like the dream pop ice cream.  This cupcake was light fluffy and fresh.  It had a hint of orange flavor in the cake as well as the enourmous mound of sugar buttercream frosting on top.  Unfortunately the cupcake just didn't quite have the bursting flavor of the dreamsicle.   

Texas Chocolate I honestly don't know why I had to try another chocolate cupcake.  I already had my fill of sugar sweet chocolate from the last cupcake shop.  I just did not like the frosting on this cupcake, it reminded me of the whipped frosting you can buy at the grocery store.  The actual cupcake itself was freash and chocolatey and moist.  This cupcake did not give me the big Texas taste that I was hoping for. 

Now on to Nashville!