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Saturday 13 August 2011

Guest Writer: Aelea



What is your name? Aelea

Where do you live? Winkler, MB

What's your favorite recipe? I have this amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies with caramel in the middle that are a hit whenever I make them!

What's your favorite kitchen tool? I have this one mixing bowl that I love! It's one with measurements on the sides. It's taller then some which is great! I find when I go to bake at people's houses with them, it's good to have a mixing bowl that goes a little higher up then normal because you never know how fast the “low” on an electric mixer really is! hahaha

What do you live by in life? One person can change the world. It's a very true statement!


Hello!
My name is Aelea and I'm pumped to be the guest blogger for today! Hmmm.. I always find it interesting to write a short paragraph about myself. I was once in a job interview and they asked me to tell them about myself. I mentioned things I liked to do in my free time and the responose I received was “How does that relate to this?”...it was an awkward moment but now I always think in context! I love to bake! My mom was quite crafty in the baking department and I think I got some of that passed along to me. Just since my move to Winkler about a year ago have I really started to try get into baking – It's always nice to make things I've never made before and treat others to the things I bake! My husband owns a coffee shop and baked goods and coffee go very well together so I'm always willing to share! :)


Cake Pops.
After seeing ridiculously cute owl cake pops online, I thought I'd have to try it for myself.

Things you'll need:
One baked and completely cooled cake
Frosting (You can either buy a tin of frosting or use homemade. I personally love Cream Cheese icing so that is what I used. Ingredients and Recipe below)
4-6 cups chocolate waffers
Popsicle sticks/skewer sticks (I found skewer sticks easier to find since it's summer!)

Candy for decorating owls:
Candy Necklaces for eyes
White chocolate chips for ears
Brown smarties for wings
mini candy coated chocolate for nose
Star shaped sprinkles for feet

Frosting:
1 brick of cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp milk
Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Beat in icing sugar and add milk to desired consistency. I tried to match my consistency to that of a can of frosting.

Step 1) Bake your cake! I made a basic chocolate cake but you can really do whatever kind you want! Even a box cake mix! Make sure your cake is completely cooled before you start using it for the cake pops. To ensure this, I baked my cake the night before.

Step 2) Crumble your baked cake. A couple methods I found that worked well were to take out a couple chunks and do as Bakerella does – rub the two chunks together. It goes into small, crumbs which is ideal. Another way was taking a fork and attacking the cake as if you were scrambling an egg with it. I'm not sure if there is a best way to go about this. If your cake is moist, over attempts to crumble it wil just make the pieces clump together. Place crumbs in a large bowl.

Step 3) Mix up your frosting. Add frosting into crumbs and stir with a wooden spoon under cake is completely covered. Put in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the mixture to cool so it's not as sticky. I'd say about 10 minutes or so.

Step 4) Take out mixture from fridge. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and roll 1Tbsp clumps of cake into balls and place on sheet. Feel free to toss these back into the fridge while you melt the chocolate.

Step 5) In a slender, yet deep bowl/mug, melt the chocolate waffers. I did 30 second intervals in the microvawe...I also didn't pay attention and was texting and burnt my first batch of chocolate in the microvawe so be sure to pay attention! (although, once the burnt stuff starts to cool down, it still tastes delicious to eat while you are baking!)

Step 6) Dip one end of the popsicle/skewer sticks into the melted chocolate then place mid way into cake ball. Dipping it in the chocolate first has a glue type effect. It will help the stick stay in place.

Step 7) After all your sticks are inserted, it's time to start putting the ears on the owl. I took a spoon full of melted chocolate and put it on a plate. From there, I'd dip in the white chocolate chips into the chocolate then place on top of the cake ball to form ears. Insert the cake pop into the styrofoam or any other creative method of a holder you can come up with while the chocolate hardens.


Step 8) After the chocolate hardened and the ears are secure, take the cake pop and dip the entire thing into the melted chocolate. DO NOT twist the cake pop in the chocolate. The chocolate is thick and the movement will actually remove the cake pop from the stick. Just dip it straight in until it is covered up to the base of the pop, then pull out. Rest the stick on the lip of the cup/bowl and lightly tap the stick so that the excess chocolate drips off the cake pop. This step probably takes the longest. Be patient when the excess chocolate is dripping off. If you leave some on, it will run down the stick.

Step 9) Once all are dipped it's time for the fun stuff! Adding on the candy to make them look like owls! I took some of the melted chocolate and put it into a small plastic sandwich bag and cut off the tip of the bag like an icing bag. This gives a nice “glue” tip for attaching the candy.
I started with Eyes, then did the nose, feet and lastly, the wings. Just place a small amount of chocolate onto the candy, then attach to the cake pop. Hold it on for a few seconds while the chocolate glue dries a little.

Step 10) VOILA! Cute little owl cake pops! They are adorable AND delicious!!!


As you can see from the picture, I made a couple other kinds:

I melted while chocolate and added blue food colouring to get the green colour.

And for the ones on the far left, I took some leftover Cream Cheese Espresso icing I had from a birthday cake and dipped the cake pops in that, then rolled them in chopped almonds!

If you're interest in doing a guest post here's all the info! I'd love to have you post!!

5 comments:

  1. Those owls are darling! I never would have thought of that. Great job.

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  2. Way Way darling! Almost too cute to eat - soo glad you shared...both of you.

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  3. Those are the cutest things Aelea! I love them!

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  4. These are so amazing!!! Aelea looks familiar is this JP's wife? I have yet to meet her but every time I have seen JP his face lights up when he talks about his wife but I can't remember her name.

    Anyway, nice presentation and I think I might have to do a variation of these fun cookie pops over Christmas.
    Much Love,
    Crystal

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  5. ya, that is JP's wife. She's super sweet

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Thanks for your comments and feedback! I enjoy reading each one :)

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