A Rendezvous with Sneakers

I remember looking at Bakerella’s site on cake pops–she is brilliant at crafting cake pops and decorating them, and scrolled through all her different cake pop ideas, while trying to contain my drool. Since it is almost Valentines day, and the fact the Super Bowl is coming up, I decided to take an idea of Bakerella’s and do some Valentines day teddy bear cake pops. It was the first time I had ever used them before, but, you need to learn somehow. I also made some American Football mini cakes–some actual footballs, and some NY Giants helmet cake pops, even though I won’t be watching the super bowl since I really am not a football fan. Should I say that out loud? Cake pops aren’t too difficult to make–you just need to practice lots, and you will get better at it. So, since I somehow retrieved a sinus infection and could not go outside (I swear, I have no idea why all of a sudden my immune system has hit the rocks), I decided to make some of these cakes in between a quilting activity (inactivity and Molly just don’t go well together, can you tell?). My Valentines pops look a lot different from Bakerella’s, which are stunning pieces of art, but bear with me, as it’s the first time I’ve ever attempted to create something like this since I don’t like cake myself. Hahah, like that pun? Don’t worry, even though I myself do not like cake does not mean I do not bake it for others. I love decorating cakes.

Molly’s Cake Pops

1. First what you do (and I took this method from Bakerella), is mix the cake mix according to directions, bake it according to directions,  then let it cool completely.
   

   Ingredients for cake

2. When it has cooled, its time for the fun part. Run a knife through the cake making small squares. Then, pour those squares into a bowl. Some people use cake beaters, or big kitchen aid mixers to help crumble up the cake. I just used a fork.
   

   Squish squish crumblecrumbs

3. Since the crumbs were still slightly warm, I placed them back in the refrigerator for a bit to help chill them, before adding the container of frosting. Add the whole container of frosting.**Note: you can make your own cake and frosting. I was being lazy.
   

   After frosting has been added

4. After mixing the crumbs, I placed them back in the fridge to cool a bit before taking them out to form (roughly) one inch balls on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. For the footballs, instead of making balls, I formed mini football shaped “eggs.” Then placed back in the fridge.
5. While the balls were cooling, I prepared my decorating station and started to melt the candy melts according to the directions. Note: if the candy melts get too hot, instead of becoming a liquid, they turn solid. Simply add a couple teaspoons of shortening and re-heat, stirring every 30 seconds. If using the microwave to melt, use 50% (or the defrost mode) and stir every 30 seconds. You can also use a double boiler. 
   

   Wilton baking suppliesCandy needed for bears

   

   decorating station

   

   melted chocolate

6. For the helmet color, I used special candy coloring (similar to food coloring) to the white candy melts until I got the blue color I was looking for.
7. Take the balls from the fridge. For the bears, form them into a peanut shape and press a 1-inch conversation heart into its belly. Then place in the freezer for a few minutes so they retain their shape.
   

   pressing the heart

   

   with the ears and noses attached

8. When they are firm, take a pop stick and dip the end in the candy coating, then stick it into the bottom of the pop. I did this for each cake pop so the coating has a chance to firm up and, literally, stay stuck in the pop.
9. Dip sides of chocolate chips and place on the sides of the head for the ears, and then place one chip on the face which will act as the nose. You can use frosting to use as “glue”, or the melted candy coating. Once they are attached, dip the whole bear into the coating, tapping against the side of the bowl to get excess coating off.
   

   coming out of the chocolate bath

   

10. Since I didn’t have a styrofoam mold to stick my pops in so they could cool, I improvised and used an egg carton.
11. 
12. When the candy coatings have firmed up, now time to decorate. Dip the pointed sides of two Hershey Kisses into the candy coating and hold against the lower body of the bear until they stay by themselves. Then, add coating to the back of a conversation heart and press on the belly of the bear. Attach two M&Ms to the sides of the heart for the arms. Using black piping gel, make the mouth and eyes and nose (you could also use those pens that can write on cakes). Then pipe two dots, one on each Kiss, and press a small heart decoration in its place. Et voila, the bear is complete!
    

    My very first cake pop!

    

13. For the footballs, I dipped the cake “football” into the candy coating, letting it cool, and then used a white piping gel to decorate it.
14. For the Giants helmets, I dipped the cake balls into the blue candy coating and let them cool. Then, I used white and red piping gel to decorate.
    

    NY Giant Helmet BallNY Giants Cake Pop

    

    NY Giant Helmet pops