dipped

Cake Pops! Tips for Beginners

/ Jodi / 58 Comments

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Cake Pops!  Tips for Beginners.

I adore cake pops!

Because… really…  what could be better than a bite-sized morsel of cake dunked in chocolate?  And then maybe adorned with sprinkles?!

They are delicious and pretty and cute; but until this past weekend, I had never tried to make them.

I wanted to practice for an upcoming event or two, so I read and researched and asked around and gave them a whirl this past weekend.

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They are really not that difficult, but there are a few tricks to success.  I thought I would provide a few tips that helped make mine turn out delicious and beautiful!  At least that is the consensus I got from the party I took them to as “practice” pops.

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To make cake pops, bake a cake mix – whatever you favorite flavor is.  Then follow these tips for success.

  • Freeze cake – even if overnight.  It allows you to plan ahead and also adds to the moisture of the cake.  Simply place baked  cake – crumbled, broken pieces, or all in one piece – in a large Ziploc bag in the freezer.
  • 1 boxed cake mix  makes approximately 3 dozen cake balls.
  • When ready to assemble, defrost the cake and crumble to fine crumbs with your hands in the bag.
  • Add only enough frosting (ready made works perfect) to add a bit of “glue” for forming and holding balls together.  I used 1 heaping tablespoon – that is it!  This allows your cake balls to truly taste like cake.
  • Scoop crumb mixture with a small scoop to form uniformly-sized 1 inch balls.  Then roll with your hands to round ball.
  • Melt chocolate candy melts in microwave in a deep cup that is not too wide to allow for ease of dipping.  It only takes 1 1/2 – 2 minutes.
  • Dip tips of sticks into candy melts and insert into cake balls.
  • Refrigerate or freeze for at least a half hour or several hours.
  • Remelt chocolate at 30 second intervals until desired consistency.
  • Dip cake balls on sticks into chocolate candy melts.  Allow excess to drain.
  • Place on parchment paper if using with stick up, and sprinkle with jimmies or edible glitter.
  • Stick into styrofoam if using cake ball up and decorate as desired.
  • Make ahead up to 3-5 days if needed – no more than 7 days.  (there are horror stories of moldy cake balls made too far ahead of time)
  • I found this site – Heavenly Cake Pops – to be extremely informative.

Have fun and enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Chocolate Dipped Sugar Wafer Cookies

/ Jodi / 39 Comments

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Chocolate Dipped Sugar Wafer Cookies.

Remember those light, crispy, sweet wafer cookies you loved as a child that came in fun colors and flavors?  Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, even Peanut Butter…  Oh how I loved them!

Grandma would occasionally get them as a special treat, and we would enjoy them as a late night treat on a hot summer night while sitting outside on the swing catching a cool breeze that could not be felt sitting in the overheated non-air conditioned house.

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I hadn’t thought about these sugary treats for years, but I recently stopped in a local candy shoppe where they featured a pair of these sweet little cookies dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with colorful sprinkles, and wrapped in cellophane.   I couldn’t resist trying – even at the crazy price they were asking… several dollars for two little treats.

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Well – OMG – there were delish!  And I realized they would be so easy to make!  So I found them at my local grocery store, where a whole package of sugar wafer cookies cost a whopping 99 cents!

I dipped them in chocolate, sprinkled them with fun Valentine sprinkles, and I’ll be sharing them with some friends I love dearly this weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Chocolate-Covered Cookie Butter-Stuffed Oreos

/ Jodi / 54 Comments

About

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O. M. G!  Have you tried the new Oreo Thins yet?  If there is one store bought cookie I love, it is Nabisco’s Oreo.  There’s really nothing like them.

I rarely buy them, but I have been curious about the new Oreo Thins I’ve been hearing about.  Double Stufs are DIVINE, so how are the Thins?

I needn’t wonder long, because when I saw an incredible idea for Cookie Butter Stuffed Oreos from Ruthanne, the incredibly creative baker at Easybaked, I knew I had to try them.

And they are AMAZING!

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But who stops at amazing, when you can make them doubly amazing by topping them with a scoop of cookie butter…

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placing another on top of that…

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sandwiching….

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and covering with chocolate?!

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I was dying to try them, but knew we didn’t need a batch of these around the house for the three of us.  So when my son Nick was heading over to celebrate his future father-in-law’s birthday yesterday, I asked if I could make them for him to take over for a little birthday gift.

He offered to help, so I gave him the jobs of “hand model” and sampler to assure they were okay to send.

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He approved!

I filled a little pint-sized red berry basket with a dozen, wrapped it in clear cellophane and tied with some raffia to send on it’s way.

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And now we only have to worry about having eight of these decadent little buggers around to taunt us with their amazingness!

Such a fun treat!  I hope you’ll give them a try.  And for more cuteness, check out Ruthanne’s Emoji Oreo Pops!    I’m kinda tempted!!   😉

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Stuffed Oreos

Ingredients:chocolate-covered-cookie-butter-stuffed-oreos-7

Directions:

Place 20 Oreo Thins Cookies on a cookie sheet.  Top each cookie with a teaspoon-sized scoop of cookie butter.  Press a second Oreo Thin on top to make a sandwich.  Freeze for approximately 30 minutes.

Melt Candy Melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each increment, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  (It took mine about 3 increments.)

Take 3-4 cookies out of the freezer at a time, and carefully dip – one at a time – in the melted chocolate.  Use a fork to tap excess off, and slide the bottom of the cookie along the edge of the bowl to remove excess.  Set on parchment or wax paper to harden.

Add sprinkles (if desired) before chocolate hardens, or drizzle with white or contrasting chocolate after it hardens.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi