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.

4th of July Cupcakes!



4th of July Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting topped with a Marshmallow Fondant Star

 The 4th of July is right around the corner! Today is my last day off before I begin my commute back to Virginia to start a 6 day trip.  My son was quite upset he was not allowed to chow on the Chocolate Whiskey cupcakes I made the other day, so to make it up to him, I made his favorite Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. 


You would never know from the looks of the landscape (flat as a pancake) here in west Texas that this is a high altitude area.  We are 3700 ft above sea level.    I have never had to bake in a high altitude kitchen before.  The last few batches I have made have been crumbly and never "popped" out of the tin.  I did some reading and found out that when you are baking in high altitude places you need to make a few minor adjustments.
http://www.pillsburybaking.com/bakers_corner/high_altitude_baking.aspx   has a chart of adjustments. I really didn't think minor adjustments would make that big of a deal but seeing is believing!

Popped Red Velvet Cupcakes

This is the Red Velvet recipe I followed (makes 1 dozen):

For the Cupcake:

1 ¼ Flour

¾ c sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 T cocoa powder

¾ cup oil

½ c buttermilk

1 large egg

2 T red food coloring

½ tsp cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line pans with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled (I just used 1 full ice cream scoop per regular sized cupcake and its perfect). Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through.  Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.


For the Frosting:
8oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c confectionery sugar
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated.
Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.


I made a batch of marshmallow fondant about a year ago.  I remember that although it was extremely messy it was fairly easy. Marshmallow fondant tastes like those orange circus peanuts we used to eat as a kid.  This was the recipe I followed: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

I knew what I wanted my cupcakes to look like but for the life of me I couldn't find a single small star out of the over 200 cookie cutters I had.  My son and I went off to the local Walmart in search of a small single star cookie cutter.  Unfortunately where we live the local Walmart has a very limited selection of anything you might need.  So as any great baker, I improvised! I went to the toy section in search of maybe a play-doh cutter.  No luck with that BUT I did find another alternative! Worked like a charm.

 This baking session worked out great! Happy holiday baking!