Babycakes Cake Pop Maker

Kristi and I exchanged Christmas gifts last week before she left to visit her family in OH. I thought that I had given her some pretty spot on gifts... until I opened mine. Homegirl knows meway too well!

She gave me a Babycakes cake pop maker, a double tier collapsible cake/cupcake carrier, a cupcake/cake decorating icing kit (with tons of tips, etc. -- pic to come later), and a giraffe wisk!

(Can you guys tell that I like to bake?)

While Kristi is away, I am watching her furry child, Carter.

Sir Carter

Anyways, since it was cold and I didn't really want to do much, I decided to crack into the Babycakes box and make some treats for my coworkers. And boy was this an adventure! I will preface this post by saying that the cake pop making was the easiest part of all. The maker really does make it so quick and easy.

The maker came with a recipe book (other recipes are also found online) and I, of course, chose to make red velvet cake pops. The batter was simple to make and yielded about 3 dozen pops. I also made some chocolate pops but those weren't as tasty as the red velvet, in my opinion.

Chocolate balls, post baking.

Red velvet balls cooling in the tray.

Red velvet balls preparing to be stuck!

Balls become pops.

Notes:

1. It says to place one tablespoon in each divot. I found that to be a little too much so don't go crazy with the batter in there. If it overflows, that is ok. As you can see from my pictures, the overflow easily detaches from the balls.

2. I highly recommend using the removing tool that comes with the kit! It's a little wired prong instrument that doesn't look like it can do much but trust me - it does!

3. In order to get the sticks to stay inside of the balls and not move around when icing (more on that in a bit), dip the sticks in melted chocolate/icing before placing the stick in the ball. Once you have a few balls with sticks, place them in the fridge/freezer for about 5 minutes.

Now, on to the icing...

You can make your own icing if you want. If you're crazy. Or you can just buy the Wilton candy chips and melt them like I did.


In sticking (haha, no pun intended) with the holiday theme, I chose green candy melts (vanilla flavored) to coat my red velvet pops. I placed about 1/3 of the bag into this small little pot that came with my larger crock pot. I'm not even sure what it's called but I know that it was made specifically for me to melt chocolate and candy. It's just so cute!

This pot only has one setting but it doesn't get too hot; just hot enough to melt the candies and keep them melted. I do, however, recommend stirring this occasionally - especially if you're not going to use it right away. Also be sure to keep adding chips as you use the icing. I found that when you only have a few chips in the pot that it gets too hot. DUH.

So now you can remove your pops from the fridge/freezer and dip them in the icing/melts that you have in your pot. Because the sticks are frozen into the cake balls, you won't have to worry about the sticks spinning inside of the balls while you're trying to coat them.

I also added sprinkles to my pops just for giggles. Plus it made them prettier :)

Then I decided that I needed to package these suckers if I was going to distribute them to coworkers. I took pieces of saran wrap and cut them into 4x4 inch squares and wrapped the pop in them. I then took some thin red ribbon and tied a bow at the base of the pop.

Now, aren't those just the cutest things that you've seen in your entire life?!?!

No? Ok, well, I bet they're at least close.

I've only talked to one worker about these pops and she was pretty excited about them. I don't think she ate it yet but she at least liked the packaging. If I weren't such a dessert fanatic, I would think that they were almost too pretty to eat.

Tonight I plan on icing the chocolate cake balls with white Wilton candy melts. I'll be sure to let you know how those turn out (because I know you'll be up all night wondering...).

Happy holidays, y'all!

Crock Pot Pulled Buffalo Chicken

I forget where I saw this recipe (probably through one of my friends on Pinterest) but it was a great find! Fairly common sense when you think about it but we all know that sometimes I just don't think about it.

I have amended this recipe slightly based on my observations but what works for me may not work for you. Be sure to read the notes section at the end before you jump on this recipe!

Crock Pot Pulled Buffalo Chicken

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. chicken breast, frozen

1 package ranch seasoning

1 jar of hot sauce

Cooking Instructions:

1. Turn crock pot on highest setting and place frozen chicken breasts inside.

2. Mix together hot sauce and ranch packet and apply directly on top of frozen chicken breasts.

3. Cook for about an hour or until chicken is cooked thoroughly enough to pull apart.

4. Remove chicken from crock pot and pull apart using two forks.

5. Place pulled chicken back into crock pot and mix with liquids that were in the pot from before.

6. Turn crock pot to "low" or "warm" setting and allow to simmer for another 1-2 hours.

7. Serve pulled chicken on tortillas, bread, etc. Garnish with desired toppings.

Notes:

1. I chose to use chicken tenderloins but only because that was all that was in my freezer! This is also a great option when you are cooking for one, which I am.

2. If you are cooking for one, I would only use half of the package of ranch. I used a whole package and it was way too salty for the amount of chicken that I used.

3. This recipe will probably work best if you were to mix together the hot sauce and the ranch. I chose not to do that and had chunks of ranch throughout my chicken. That was fine by me but again, it was rather salty at times.

4. The longer you let the pulled chicken sit in the sauce mixture, the thicker the sauce will become. And the spicier the chicken will become!

5. This chicken would also be great on nachos, garnished with some sour cream, jalapenos, shredded cheese, beans, etc.

Enjoy!

Happy Pawlidays!

Happy Pawlidays, from the furry friends of my friends!

Sir Carter

Miss Haley

Current Obsession: Pumpkin

The pumpkin obsession has spiraled slightly out of hand. Seeing as how it is now closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving, the pumpkin products that I have found in the grocery have drastically decreased. (I know, my waist and pocketbook just released sighs of releif!)

Here are a couple of my very exciting [and delicious] purchases from the fall. And yes, I am rationing them so that they last into the spring :)

Cream cheese AND butter?!?! Yes, please!

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts. You're welcome.

I also baked another round of whoopie pies at my parents house over Thanksgiving. I forgot my original recipe at home and ended up using one that I found via Google. While I was not impressed with the recipe (it wasn't red velvety enough), the pies still disappeared like cupcakes. Probably because they actually tasted like cupcakes! This recipe called for about a cup of cocoa powder - whoa!


Anddddd, I made baby versions of the pumpkin & cream cheese cupcakes that I have been so obsessed with this fall. I'll post the recipe later. Someone please remind me!


Baby cupcake pans are the devil. It is far too easy to create tiny morsels of deliciousness in a bite size form. What did I do during the 6 hour drive from my parents house back to my house? I popped baby cupcakes into my mouth.

Odd Facts

I'm about to share some odd facts about myself with you. So, if you don't want to read them (or if you just don't care) then please ignore this post.

For those of you who don't care - you really should read this. It's going to be entertaining. I promise!

So, here it goes...

Every time I sneeze, my hips pop. My right hip always pops. My left hip only joins the party about half of the time.

Also, I've noticed that the older I get the skinnier I get. Is that normal? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Now, I'm not complaining about these 2 facts at all. The hip popping is a blessing in disguise because it makes my work outs much more enjoyable. And I don't have to stop in the middle of a run to do my crazy kick stretch in an attempt to make those suckers pop out. And the skinny thing... well, I mean... what girl doesn't want to be skinny?!

Someone get me a cupcake.