Cake Pops!! :)

One of my new favorite obsessions are cake pops!

So this Christmas I got a lot of tools to make them and now I have made them many times. There are two different kinds of cake pops you can make. The first kind requires a cake pop maker (like the one I have). Using this method here's how I did it:

Here is my cake pop maker and the cooling tray that came with it.

1. Make the batter.

 I usually make cake box mix, but you can make your own (either way doesn't affect it). Then I would recommend putting the batter in a large ziplock bag. You don't have to but it will make the next step easier.

    2. Fill the cake pop maker. 

In my cake pop maker, you can make twelve at a time. You have to move pretty fast when filling it because the cake pop maker is really hot so you don't want them to cook unevenly. Using a ziplock bag will be easier because it's faster than taking a spoon and filling each one up. If you are using a ziplock bag and do not have a lot of experience with it or even if you are, I would recommend putting a rubber band or a clipped thing at the top because the batter is very runny and the top may open causing the batter to pour out.

    3. Cooking the cake pops.

Then you will wait about four to five minutes for the cake pops to be ready. I also recommend not opening it within the first two minutes, otherwise the cake will separate because the top will stick to top top half and the cake pops are ruined.

     4. Cooling the cake pops. 

To take them out you can use a fork or your hands and set them on a cooling rack or sometimes the cake pop maker comes with a cooling stand. After taking them out, I would put them in the freezer to cool. A little bit before the next batch is ready, pull them out and put them in an airtight container. You don't have to put              them in the freezer, but it just cools them faster.

Once the cake pops are cooled off you can dip them in candy coating melting.

The other method of making cake pops is making them without a cake pop maker.

For this you are going to make a cake, however, you want to crumble the cake into really small pieces.

Next, you will add frosting, but start out adding really small amounts. You may think you will need a lot, but even I was surprised because I really didn't.

Add the frosting and stir until the cake and frosting mixed together to form a dough. You will know if you added the right amount of frosting because if you added to little the dough will fall apart when you try to form it, so just add more and stir it in. If you added to much it will be really sticky, so if you can add more cake, otherwise just keep going cause there isn't anything you can do and it won't ruin the cake pops, but that's why add less frosting in the beginning and then keep adding. The cake should be easy to shape. You are going to mold the cake pops into whatever shape you want and set them on a cooking sheet.

Then freeze them for about an hour and they are ready to be dipped!

Both ways taste really good, in my opinion! The ones with frosting are really sugary, so if you are someone who doesn't like that then I would recommend the other ones, because I have heard that some people don't like the frosting ones.

 Also, be fun with the flavor you use in the second method! You don't have to use white cake with white frosting or chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Finally, you can decorate the cake pops once you dip them. You can dip them in the candy coating, then dip them in sprinkles, and (if you want) use fondant to add decorations to the cake pops.

I will cover cake pop decorating details later!

Crayon Art

I found a couple websites on how to do this and decided to try it as well. I forget to take photos while I was doing it so I only have the finished products but here's a link to one of the websites http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2011/09/12/melted-crayon-art-tutorial/ This is exactly how I did mine even with the same hair dryer. I made two different ones, so here is how I did it.
 On my first try I didn't realize it needed to be the same brand so I used different types. Some brands melt faster than others, so some weren't melted at all while other crayons were completely melted. I decided to cover up the crayons with blue and gray clouds out of paper because they didn't look good. I also found a picture of melted crayon art except they only used blue and gray crayons to make it look like rain and had a boy and girl standing under the " rain". I loved that idea, but wanted to change it a little so I found a picture of a young girl under an umbrella, printed it off, and traced it onto the blank canvas. Then I covered it up using yellow masking tape and made sure to make it seem like the umbrella was covering the girl so the rain wouldn't hit her.

Here's the link to that picture http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-photos-images/4137R-2811 Then I glued and melted the crayons. After I pulled the masking tape off ( don't worry it came off really easily) I painted the girl black so it was a silhouette except I painted her umbrella and rain boots hot pink so they stood out. Now I loved doing that one so much that I wanted to make another, but I didn't do the rain instead I made a rainbow. Before I did that I first painted my canvas black then put a quote from one my favorite songs " So don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow". I wrote that in a silver sharpie and then covered it up with the masking tape.