Eeeeeeeeek! It happened. No, not that Nobel Prize thing. The Epic Baking Day that I’ve been eagerly anticipating ever since Bakerella got me popstruck and changed my life forever.
For months, friends have been asking me when I would make cake pops. Soon, I’d say slyly, soon. It was like that time in third grade when I told everyone that I was going to jump off the high dive at the pool and then when I got up there I looked down and thought, Hm, maybe I shouldn’t have told quite so many people that I’d jump off quite so high a diving board, because I’m probably allergic to this kind of thing and I might have a heart attack.
I was nervous about the cake pops, but luckily my friend Danielle from Cozycakes Cottage agreed to help me out (and by help me out, I mean buy everything, bring the book, and make me drinks while telling me what to do). This was a happy day because though Danielle and I have been friends for years, I hadn’t really seen her in a long time. Danielle is double-jointed just like me, so you should really check out her blog. Though I am trying to convince her to merge our blogs into All the Cozy Cottages are Taken.
Danielle unpacked this first so it must have been obvious that I needed it:
And then we thought we should take a picture of us, to document the momentous day (even if the momentous part hadn’t happened yet):
If we look a little strained in that picture it’s because we’re squatting. There was no one around to take the picture so we had to use my cheap, short tripod. That’s why I look like I’m in a huddle about to say “hut”.
Danielle also bought a bunch of other stuff, since we had big plans to make tartes and popovers. We never got to those.
Before we knew it we only had a couple of hours left, so we got down to business. The objective: make baby chicks.
The night before, I made the cake balls. Following Bakerella’s advice, I used Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix and canned cream cheese frosting (about 3/4 of a container). They looked like meat balls. They chilled in the fridge overnight.
We started by punching out little stars and shaping beaks out of fondant, which as far as I can tell lasts forever, since I haven’t made it since this post. I used a handy punching tool that my friend Sandra sent me from Japan.
Then Danielle put the candy coating in a bowl and heated it up:
Doesn’t she have nice hair? I got that apron for Christmas from my husband.
Aren’t these sticks pretty too?
Our first dip:
…and our first baby chick!
Typical firstborn — we took tons of pictures of him. Yes, that’s dish washing liquid in the background.
Awwww, love you baby chick! We had to eat some of the really deformed ones in the back to put them out of their misery.
Here he is with some friends:
…and at his school play:
Maybe not such a flattering angle of him, that one.
Then I cried because Danielle had to go. The chicks were separated, and we hadn’t made that many. Danielle left us lots of candy coating and other supplies.
My kids decided to get in on the action:
They made Rocker Chick:
…and her band:
Then, abruptly, we had to stop! We had friends coming over. We cleaned up. So we didn’t get to the eating part yet…and actually we still have many more pops to make, so…more to come.
But for now, thank you Bakerella for making cake pops such an important part of my life. Instructions here for how to make the cake balls, and of course her site is full of amazing ideas for pops. Thank you Danielle for hand-holding me through it. And thank you friends for pushing me so far beyond my inability to make frosting.
What should we make next?
18 Comments
I’ve learned the secret to cakepops– cocktails! Looks like you had so much fun and they look so cute! I think this would be a fun birthday activity for one of your kid’s party. Nate’s birthday is coming up– can you teach me how to make them look like bare feet?
Hmm, I have a feeling that some of mine look like bare feet without trying. I’m sure we could figure something out! Does he want to have a cake pop decorating party? 🙂
I don’t know if Nate wants to have one, but I want him to have one!
“Typical firstborn” — lol!
Notice he’s a little drippy too, like he just emerged from the birth canal. TMI?
Those are the cutest! I wish we lived closer so you could make them for me all the time! I’m glad the Japanese kitchen tool came in handy, still not quite sure how it works. I will end with my favorite Japanese emoticon:
It didn’t show! Oh well, this is also built into my phone: ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ
Wow…is that a CHICK?!?! That is amazing! The Japanese have the best emoticons! I wish you lived closer too. Then we would make them TOGETHER!
Such a fun day! Almost TOO much fun. Is that possible? Thanks for the Epic day and can’t wait for part 2! Cake popping is way more fun with you than they are alone in my kitchen at midnight. Love the girls’ rocker chicks!
I know, I still have all your stuff but can’t get myself to make more pops without you because it’s just not as fun. So, I’ve been eating all the cake balls.
Looks delish, Sandi (and all you young ladies look lovely), almost as tasty as my lunch! Hmm, I don’t know how to post a pic here, which is probably for the better. Anyhow, since I know you like it healthy, here is my awful looking but awfully healthy power drink:
Throw a peeled cucumber, a peeled apple or two, a couple celery stalks, a good bunch of spinach, a bunch of parsley, minced ginger, juice of a lemon, and a cup of coconut water into the blender, blend and see what happens!
Hmm, maybe I’ll try it since you’re selling it so well — I saw at least two “awful”s in the description! But I am a smoothie fan and have started doing a lot of blending, finding I prefer apple and pear to banana as a sweetener. So is this drink tasty or not?
They are great! And you’re funny!
Tell your daughter I like her rocker chicks!
Thanks so much for visiting, Bakerella! You’re so nice — I hope your eyes don’t hurt too much from our totally-not-round-chicks. I told my daughters you liked their chicks and now they are so excited they will never go to bed!
Oh my gosh, you are so funny! I really enjoyed reading that, and how adorable are the chick pops!
Thanks for visiting me over on Sweetopia, I’m glad to have ‘found’ you through my blog birthday post! xo
Marian! I can’t believe you visited! I was just about to gush about you in a future post! You don’t know this, but you were the one who taught me how to flood cookies. And my daughter refers to you as “the pretty lady who floods cookies” (as opposed to me, “the crazy lady who groans over her overflooded cookies”); we watched that video over and over again. Thanks for stopping by!
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