This year spring break was the second week of March. As a graduate student that week doesn't mean much, other than the fact that I don't teach. However, this year for spring break I rewarded myself with learning something new. Richard obviously had to work, but besides that it was a big week for m
aple syrup harvesting, so taking off and going anywhere was really out of the question. In addition, Richard got a migraine that week, so he had to take a sick day. I made the most of the situation and took him to one of our favorite areas in Amish country (a countryside where a lot of our favorite Amish shops are located) to look around a market for some cake decorating supplies. The reason I needed cake decorating supplies was so that my friend (Megan) and I could make cake pops. During Thanksgiving Megan and I perused through Bakerella's website and decided that we needed to try our hand at Bakerella's specialty, cake pops. I love chocolate cake, so the thought of a ball of cake dipped in chocolate sounded positively yummy. And to top it off Bakerella's cake pops are adorable.
As anyone who knows me can attest--particularly my husband--I don't exactly delight in exploring the culinary arts. But as Richard figured out, cake pops are a cute edible craft, they don't fall into the "cooking" category; they fall into the "craft" category.
Megan and I decided that for our first attempt we would choose a particularly easy cake pop design and try our hand at chicks and bees. We figured they were both yellow and they looked a lot easier than some of the other culinary creations Bakerella tries. In addition, they are both springy.
Despite our attempt at choosing a particularly “easy” creation, the chicks and bees took a lot of time, which made us wonder how much time it really takes to make some of the other creations. But the time we spent on these little edible treats was well worth it.
I made the cake on Thursday morning (March 10) so it would be cool by the time Megan arrived. Once she was arrived we destroyed the cake and mixed it with cream cheese frosting. It made a gooey mixture. Next, we made the cake into balls, dipped our lollipop sticks into melted chocolate, and then stuck the sticks into the cake balls. Then we put everything into the freezer to firm up, not freeze. (Tip: We found that when the balls are too soft it's harder to roll them in chocolate; the sticks and the balls separate from one another if they are not firm enough.) After the chocolate cools then it’s time to paint fa
ces and attach the appropriate candy pieces to your culinary creation.
