Cake Pops Revealed

After numerous requests, I have finally decided to give some step-by-step instructions detailing how to make cake pops. Or, you could bypass my instructions and go to bakerella.com, because she is the true genius behind them. At least I stand as proof that an idiot can make them.

First, you bake a cake, chocolate, preferably. I went with Duncan Hines Devil's Food because I got it for 50 cents thanks to my mad couponing skills.

If your cake turns out scary like mine, you might be tempted to bag the whole thing. It might be easier to just go to the store and by some Ding Dongs. While those are delicious, the effort of the cake pops is totally worth it.

Am I the only one that can take a simple boxed cake mix and turn it into a mess? I'm going to blame it on my 4-year-old assistant.

Once your cake completely cools, break it up and put it in a large bowl.

Next take a can of cream cheese frosting...

And mix it with the the cake until it's completely combined.

After a while, you will realize that this is a complete pain in the rear.

If you are anything like me, you will give up and use your hands. You will also wash your hands first.

Are you still with me? I know, they don't even look appetizing anymore. I'm sorry.

Anyway, then you take them and roll them into the shape of a ball. My balls are encroaching on perfection. I'm not even sure what encroaching means.

Then, place all the balls on a tray/plate/whatever and put them in the freezer. I didn't take a picture of this, but I trust you can figure this out on your own.

In the meantime, get some chocolate out for dipping. I use 3 bags of milk chocolate chips. You can use chocolate bark or broken up candy bars or whatever. Just try not to eat too much in the process because then you won't have enough for dipping. Not that this has ever happened to me.

I use a make-shift double boiler when I melt my chocolate. It doesn't burn the chocolate like the microwave does. Plus, the chocolate stays nice and warm throughout the entire dipping process. Continually having to microwave it to warm it back up is a total drag.

For my double boiler, I fill a saucepan with water and put a glass bowl directly on top of it. A metal bowl would work well too. I usually put the temperature on medium-low and then once the chocolate chips melt, I turn it down to low.

Next, I get my trusty 6 inch lollipop sticks. Instead of doing these on sticks, you could just drop them onto wax paper, but we all know that everything tastes better on a stick.

Once your cake balls are starting to get hard (but not completely frozen) take them out of the freezer and start dipping. In case you are questioning my methods, the cake balls stay on the stick better when they are partially frozen. Otherwise they slide off and make a mess. Once they defrost, the chocolate will be set, so falling off later on isn't much of a worry.

Before I put the ball on the stick, I dip it in the chocolate just a bit. This helps with everything staying where it should be.

Next, put the ball on the stick. Not too far because you don't want it to punch through.

Now you start dipping. Don't get to crazy while the ball is in the chocolate because you don't want it to fall off the stick. I usually use a spoon to guide the chocolate onto the ball.


Once the ball is completely coated, gently shake it over the pan to remove any excess chocolate.

Next, put the pop into styrofoam while the chocolate sets. Also if you want to get fancy, you can put sprinkles or something on it. You will need to work fast with the sprinkles because the chocolate cools quickly since the balls were frozen-ish.

At this point, everybody in the house will be endlessly begging you to have a taste. Gwen liked them well enough, but she insisted that whipped cream would make them better.

Once the chocolate has completely hardened, put a little bag over it. I got mine at Michael's.

And finish it off with a ribbon or whatever suits your fancy.

You're done! Now you can either hide in your closet and eat them all yourself, or you can put them in a cute basket and deliver them to well-deserving friends and family.

My Little Chef

Gwen always wants to help me and do whatever I'm doing. Recently, she helped me make a delicious Italian bread salad that I just had to make after sampling it at Central Market.







And now for the recipe...

Roasted Sweet Onion Panzanella

Ingredients:
6-8 thick sliced rustic Italian bread
2 large sweet onions
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/2 t honey
1/2 C olive oil (plus extra for onions)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 C packed basil leaves, torn by hand
1 (5 ounce) package arugula
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions :
Preheat oven to 450. Lay bread in a single layer on a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. Toast in oven until golden, 4-5 minutes. Cut into cubes and set aside

Meanwhile, peel and quarter onions, leaving root intact. Toss gently with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and lightly browned, approx 20-30 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cut out root section to allow onion layers to separate.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a large salad bowl, gently toss together onions, bread, tomatoes, basil, and arugula. Add dressing to taste and gently toss. Adjust seasoning and serve.

I also love Central Market's Shepherds Pie. One afternoon a ballerina princesses took a break from dancing and helped me make it. She loves feeling potatoes!

Shepherd's Pie

1lb ground lamb or beef (I use lamb)

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 large clover garlic, minced

1 C beef broth

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 fresh rosemary, chopped

1 T flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 C frozen peas

2 lbs potatoes, boiled and mashed using your favorite method

1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or more if you want to sprinkle some on top!)

Preheat oven to 375. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat lightly with oil. Add lamb and season with salt and pepper. Brown, then remove to a bowl and set aside. Add onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic and season lightly. Cook until soft. Add broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and rosemary. Boil until slightly reduced. Add parsley, peas and adjust seasoning to taste. Add lamb back in.

Combine cheese with prepared mashed potatoes.

Pour lamb mixture onto a large deep-dish pie pan or 2 quart casserole dish and top with mashed potatoes with extra cheese sprinkled on top.

Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until browned and bubbling.

Blueberries Galore!

Thanks to all the fresh blueberries, alot of calories were consumed in the Bean home in early September. Actually, I think I did most of the eating. Here are a few of my favorite blueberry recipes (all of which I adapted from allrecipes.com unless otherwise noted)...

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3rds full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping (note this makes almost double what you need!): Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Sometimes instead of putting the crumb topping on the muffins, I will do a cream cheese frosting. I might like this method even better.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (sometimes I do a little less sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

I also made this recipe several times when I was craving something tasty but was too lazy to do something fancy...

East Batter Fruit Cobbler

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 cups of sliced fresh peaches or nectarines, or whole blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of fruits (or a 12-ounce package of frozen berries)
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Put butter in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan; set in oven to melt. When butter has melted, remove pan from oven.

Whisk flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour batter into pan, then scatter fruit over batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tb. of sugar.

Bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

With my last batch of blueberries, I decided to make a pie. I've never made a blueberry pie, or even a pie with a lattice top, so it was fun to try. Here is the recipe I used...

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:
3/4 cup white sugar (I would do more if your berries aren't sweet- mine was a little tart)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt 1
/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries and stir gently to combine

Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top.

Crimp and flute edges.

Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

I used my mom's awesome recipe for the pie crust, but I'm too lazy to go dig it out right now.

The only thing I took photos of was the pie. The others were all eaten way too quickly!

Since I had a little bit of pie filling left and also some leftover pie dough, I made a few little "Pies in a Jar" which I found here.

It's basically the same as making a pie, you just stuff it all in a jar and bake it for less time. They are also darn cute!