Come on a journey of inspiration & adventure while renovate & restore a beautiful Victorian home 'St Elmo' in the picturesque Hunter Valley, Australia & laugh at a few of our family adventures along the way.




Wednesday, April 16, 2014

How we make cake pops & celebrate a 7th Birthday


Naw, this gorgeous little cherub has just turned 7 & of course we had to celebrate with a party
12 crazy giggling girls all under one roof for 3 hours.
It was heaps of fun but I highly recommend only having a 2 hour party as they seemed to start to crash & burn at the 2 hour mark. 

Of course whats a party without cake pops.
I thought I would show you how we make them at our house because I am NO whizz in the kitchen but everyone loves my cake pops.
 I figure if I can make them anyone can!!


First up I cook a cake, generally I just use a packet mix. You can use any flavour you like. I often do one chocolate & one vanilla so we have 2 different flavours to choose from.
Once your cake is cooked & cooled just crumble it, if it has crispy edges just slice them off first as they wont crumble finely & you will get lumps that will cause your cake pops to fall apart.


I then mix up a batch of icing:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons of margarine or butter
1 tablespoon of water
Mix it all together until smooth & then stir it into the crumbled cake mix until it all becomes sticky.
Now I roll it into a big ball, wrap it in plastic & pop it into the fridge for a few hours or even overnight.
I find the cake pops stick together better when they are cold


Now the fun begins.
Roll chunks of the mix into balls & place on a baking tray, you can do them any size you like but remember the bigger they are the heavier they will be & may fall off the stick in the chocolate dipping process if you make them to big.


Melt a small amount of chocolate in a coffee cup, just for dipping the sticks into & then push the choc dipped stick into the cake pop & return these to the fridge to set for 10 min or so.
Some people like to put them in the freezer at this stage. I never have so can't vouch for the result.


I forgot to photograph this next step but once again using a coffee mug fill it 3/4 full with choc melts & pop them into the microwave, it takes about 1 min to melt them.
You will have to do several batches of this to cover them all but if you melt to much at once it will cool & you wont be able to work with it. Reheating the chocolate seems to turn it to a clumpy mess.
Stir them well so the chocolate is smooth & then add about a tablespoon of any vegetable oil you have.
This keeps the chocolate a smoother consistency & makes it easier to work with.
I used white chocolate & just added food colouring to get the aqua & pink colours


So now you just dip your cake pop in the chocolate, twirl it & tap it to remove the excess.
If you want to add glitter or sprinkles do this as soon as you finish dipping each cake pop as its to late once the chocolate sets.
I stood mine on baking paper as I was only planning on standing them on white platters.
If you want to be more decorative then pierce holes in a box, cover it in plastic wrap & pop them into that so they are upright & remain round...mine had flat bottoms.


Ta Da here are my delicious calorie laden cake pops ready for all of those hungry little girls at the dance party!!!


For entertainment we had a disco, bubble blowing & a photo both which the girls really enjoyed





My son was the handsome DJ & did a fantastic job



We made fairy floss cocktails
Pop some fairy floss in a glass & top with lemonade, it fizzes up & turns the lemonade the colour of the fairy floss.
The girls loved it & couldn't wait to tell there parents about this amazing trick....ah the simple things!!


The birthday girl requested an Ice cream cake from the supermarket so I got off easy there.



Whats a party without tissue paper pom poms & a disco ball


We got this bubble machine for $10 at Kmart & it worked a treat


Well I hoped you enjoyed my Cake Pop tutorial & our little party. This party girl had to take a nap afterwards so we know she had a great time...Me...I had some serious cleaning up to do!!!


CHEERS
Trish xx

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