I was recently given the opportunity to Review AND give-a-way Noel’s (from the Cake Poppery on Facebook) Newest Cake Pop Book, The Art Of Cake Pops!

WOW!

This book really has it all!  It is so detailed and has so much useful information I just couldn’t put it down.  I would have saved so much cake, so many candy melts, so much time and so much aggravation if only I would have had access to this knowledge from the start!!

I must say, we do things different, him and I, but mainly because Noel went to culinary school where as I only wish I did;)!  This book is not only full of extremely helpful tips and tricks, pages and pages of beautiful/ different cake pop designs, but he has also included his tested and most guarded until now CAKE RECIPES:)!!!

If you are just starting to make cake pops then this book is a must read, hurry up and click here to order;)!  If you have been making cake pops for a few months or even a few years or are somewhere in-between, then this book is also a must read, even if you just pick it up to get a peek at all the awesome & original cake pop designs!!

Check out these “teasers”

Yum Right?! Wouldn’t these cinnamon roll cake pops be amazing with a “snickerdoodle” cake as the base?!

 …Or get Ready for Summer with these “Sand Pail Cake Pops”

 …And there are 73 more amazing designs:)!!

I am sure you will learn something new or helpful that you didn’t already know~ I know I did… I wonder what is left for his next book coming out in Feb/2014:)!?

Now for the Give-a-way!!

To be qualified you must like The Cake Poppery Page on Facebook and to enter, just submit your email below! Winner will be drawn at random soon:)  International entrants Welcome:

Graduation is just around the corner!! Graduation Cake Pops are my FAVORITE cake pops to EAT due to the use of Ghirardelli Squares in these Super Simple Delicious Cake Pops!!!  ….Just in case you were wondering my favorite is Dark Chocolate Raspberry and the Milk Chocolate Caramel;)

To make these pops you will need to bake a cake, let it cool and turn it into dough by either kneading that down to a doughy consistency (food processor is the fastest) or mix it up with some of your favorite binder, like buttercream, jam, pudding, the list is endless;)!!  Then roll them out into little 1.25″ balls.  (kinda important so it looks right with the squares of chocolate:)!! Of course to knock this boring part out in no time flat, may I suggest you take a look at the Easy Roller and roll up to 21 cake balls at a time;)!!

Once you have all your cake balls rolled to 1.25″ in diameter (about the size of a ping-pong ball) dip them into your white candy melts (or an opposing color to your chocolate squares)! Let these set before you go to the next step!

As these cake pops are setting, prep your Ghirardelli Squares by taking them out of the wrapper and setting them face up onto a piece of wax paper

Then prep your milk chocolate  (or the candy coating that matches your chocolate square) candy melts by melting them down (microwave on 50% power). Then dip just the bottom half into the milk chocolate candy melts, swirl off the excess.  Then place the wet half of the cake pop right on top of the Ghirardelli chocolate squares, right on the Ghirardelli logo:)!

Can you start to see it??  Once this is set you will need some sort of cake pop holder, like the one’s you can find at KC Bakes  and place them in there, so you can start work on the top tassels!!  Take a look below to see how I pipe them on!  You can use candy of course, but I like to keep with a chocolate medium when ever I can:)!

First start out with a center dot and pull that line to one of the corners, from the end of that line pull a little off to one side of that, so it looks like a little heart or (triangle works too) at the corner.  Wait for that to set and then add a dot just at the base of the “Heart”  or “triangle!”   That’s it!  The best tasting Graduation Cake pops around!  It would also be cute to pipe on the year or make the tassel match the school colors if you can:)!!

I just LOVE the idea of having a little and a big version of the same type design to celebrate Mother’s Day this year!  This is just another example of a simple to make yet professional looking cake pop perfect for Mother’s Day!  What do you think?!

To make these cake pops I used the Easy roller in both the Standard 1.25″ round insert (for the large version) as well as the optional 1″ round insert (for the little version)

Easy Roller with the standard 1.25″ insert (included) has 7 rolling channels to roll 21 cake balls at a time…

With the 1″ (optional) insert attached there is 9 rolling channels and you can roll 27 cake balls at once!

 Sizing is important for these large/small versions of the same design cake pops as you can lose the effect quite easily!  If the big ones are all off by a little to where the smallest “big” one is the size of your biggest “small” one then it might just look like a bunch of odd sized pops instead;)!  See what I mean?!  Of course you don’t NEED the Easy Roller to ensure the sizing will be all uniform, but it sure doesn’t hurt!  Plus it is so much faster than scooping and weighing each one, then rolling each one.

Next dip them in your mom’s favorite colors and put a simple little drop flower on top!

**To make these little drop flowers just make some pretty stiff Royal Icing and color it your favorite color (use a water based color).  Put the Royal Icing into a small piping bag, with the Wilton 2D tip (that is what I have anyway).  Hold the piping bag straight up and down, and while using even pressure push out the icing while turning the piping bag a 1/4 turn, then slowly lift up to release the icing and add a sugar pearl sprinkle at the point.  Let these sit out to dry and harden and then they are easily pulled off the wax paper and added to the cake pops:)!  I love these because they can be made far in advance (once dried, stored in an air tight container for up to 3 months) and taken out to decorate when you need them!  Beautiful cake pops in a pinch:)!

Here is a quick video, sometimes it’s easier to see it:)!

Here are mine (displayed in my KC Bakes Stand …of course), but I cant wait to see how yours turn out!!

I get asked all the time if the “Oreo Pops” work with the Easy Roller!  Have you heard of these?  It’s just a package of crushed up Oreo’s and a 8 oz package Cream Cheese.  How easy is that?!  No Bake Pops:)

So this is it!

Now you don’t need THAT many Oreo’s or THAT much cream cheese, but this is what I had on hand;)!! Just 8 oz of cream cheese and the equivalent to one box of Oreo’s (the weight on the box of Oreo’s is 1lb 2oz in case you were wondering!)

Put all that into the food processor and let it crumble all the Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheese together:)!

If you want to get a little creative you can add 2 TBS of this stuff… YUM!!!

Here it is all completely combined!

To make this work with the Easy Roller I find it’s best to let this mixture sit for a bit!  If I were to feel this ”Dough” it would feel “grainy” from all those dry Oreo Cookies… The Easy Roller works best when these crumbs soak up the cream cheese and it no longer feels like wet sand or “grainy.”   You can let it sit in the fridge overnight, but it really doesn’t need to be THAT long!  It should be good in about 20-30 minutes, again, just until it doesn’t feel like there are dry cookies in there;)!

Here we go, just business as usual with the Easy Roller at this point!  Measure it out into the frame (included with the Easy Roller)

 Place it into the Easy Roller and press the lid down once to cut out the strips of dough.

Take them off (carefully they are fragile-I lift from the top with one hand and support the middle of the strip with my other hand) and lay them across the other direction.  1 strip will go on the side closest to you, as far down as it will go.  1 about in the center of the Easy Roller and the 3rd strip goes between those two! OH!! Did I mention this is the *Optional 1 inch insert?  I thought the taste of these were pretty rich in comparison to traditional cake pops (but yummy for sure!) so I wanted to make them smaller;) Just a FYI:  The Easy Roller comes standard with the 1.25″ ball insert, so these, at 1 inch will be a little bigger then a whopper malt-ball candy, the insert that comes with the Easy Roller makes a pop the size of a ping-pong ball;)!!

Place the lid down on the Easy Roller to just cover the dough strips that are on there!  It will not match up;)! Then slide the lid all the way forward until you can kind of see the dough balls out of the back *as pictured.  Slide now back towards you until you have reached the point where it was when you started … Slide it any more back toward you and they will fall right out;)!!  Less is more on the sliding!  If you slide too many times they will just fall apart, it doesn’t take much to make them round:)!

 Here it is! Super Easy! With the 1 inch insert you can get 27 little balls at once …you know you were counting !!  These were pretty soft with the cream cheese so I put them in my cake pan and covered them with clear wrap and stuck them in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.  Remember, they are EASIER to dip cold, however, if they are too cold they will crack after they set, so be mindful not to leave them in there too long!  Check on them and as soon as they are firm enough were you feel comfortable dipping, take them out and start;)!!

All dipped and ready to decorate!  These were for a baby shower and they wanted Polka Dots:)!!

Can you guess if it was for a boy or girl shower;)!!

I bet you are wondering if the Easy Roller would work for those yummy Nutter Butter no Bake Pops?!  If you have never heard of those, they are the same (cream cheese and cookie) as these Oreo Pops but with Nutter butter cookies instead! Yes!! They did work just the same!  The trick is to just let those crumbs soak in the cream cheese before you start it in the Easy Roller.  SO if you are sick of hand rolling all these little treats, may I suggest you visit this page !!

What better Cake Pops to make for Earth day this year then little “Earth’s”   These were pretty easy!  I think you can do it!! Check it out!

Here is what you will need to make these Earth Day Cake Pops:

1. Cake Dough
2. Easy roller …optional – but we recommend it;)!
3.  Blue Candy Melts, 2 shades of green and white candy melts
4. piping bag
5. small white sprinkles
6. bowl for dipping

First I rolled a quick batch of cake dough in the Easy Roller of course;)

Then dip them in a “sky blue”

Next get your piping bag …aka ziplock sandwich bag   and start dabbing on some green candy melts!  Don’t worry too much about the shapes of your continents or their placement, it will all turn out OK:)!

Next just go over your land masses in a lighter shade of green to add a little dimension.

Wait for that all that business to dry and then get out some white candy melts.  Make sure to put some wax paper down to catch drips and then squeeze the white candy melts and twist your cake pop!  It should look like this:

Then quickly add your white sprinkles for Clouds!

 Tap off the excess sprinkles…

Now just keep on going!  How many lil Earth’s are you going make?!

Of course you will need a cute cake pop stand to display them in, so check out KC Bakes !

This week in AZ it feels more like Summer then the start of Spring, but with Easter and Spring Festivals around the corner it’s time to post some Cake Pops with a Spring look!  I  try to cater my blog posts around the questions I most frequently get asked…  And this time of year I hear, “What is an Easy Spring Cake Pop to make?” Or “How to do you make your Cake Pops Sparkle?”  If you have ever asked that, this post is for you!!

The easiest Spring design that will look professional even if it’s your first time baking Cake Pops is the Pastel Sparkle Cake Pops!  Of course we ALWAYS start with the Easy Roller to roll out a bunch of cake dough (shameless plug)!  In just a few quick steps you will have more traditional cake balls to decorate then you will know what to do with… Next you will dip all these cake balls into some pastel colors!  I mix all my pastels myself, but you can buy them pre tinted as well.  To mix yourself start with white candy melts of your choice (I use Plymouth Almond Bark because it’s convienent), melt them on 50% power, and then add one to two drops of candy color to the melted candy melts.  Continue to add color until the desired tone is reached.  I usually use Wilton Candy Color, and just a little goes a long way, so start with just one or two drops.  Another tip… Icing Color and Candy Color look pretty darn close to each other (only the Icing color is a bigger jar) DO NOT be tempted by the bigger jar, DO NOT BUY ICING COLOR!! It’s a water base dye and will seize up your candy melts!  Please double-check your color, just read the ingredients and make sure it DOES NOT contain any water.  Even when buying Oil Bases Candy Color it’s best to shake it well before using.

Once you have all your colors dipped it’s time for the FUN part!  Lots of Pearl Dust!! I have quite a collection, this is only a little bit of my stash, but no worries you don’t need to go out and buy a ton of colors!

For the Pastel Cake Pops, all you REALLY need is the white or Pearl one!  Sometimes the white sparkle will mute the color a bit, but for pastels it’s perfect!  Wilton makes the long skinny tubes (you can find them at your hobby store like Micheal’s – They are called Pear Dust and come in lots of colors, but like I said, just start with the white/pearl one.)  And the other jars I find online or if you are lucky enough to hit the “cakey conventions” The Sugar Art is always there and you can get more pearl dust for the same price or less!

Get a plate, because you will have a lot of dust fall off your cake pops and you can re-use what falls onto the plate!  A soft paint brush …preferably one you buy just for food;)!  That’s it!!

We are just going to dry brush the pearl dust directly onto the Cake Pops.  So dip the end of your dry paint brush into the White Pear Dust and over the plate just start brushing the dust all around the cake pop.

That’s it! It will be a pink sparkling cake pop when you are done!  See all that dust that fell onto the plate?  I will use that left over dust to cover the next cake pop before I dip my brush back into the jar of new pearl dust.  By doing this, that small little tube of Pearl Dust will last me long enough to cover about 80 cake pops!

When you are done you can display your Sparkley Pastel Cake Pops in your Cake Pop Stand, or in a Basket for an Easter Center Peice!

Don’t Forget to take a look at our Easy Roller! It rolls up to 21 cake balls at a time, with more consistent sizing, and professional looking cake rounds fast:)

For more Spring Cake Pops, check out all of these AWESOME BLOGGERS who share in my love of cake pops.

I saw my first Cake Pop Rose made by the Very Talented Carol at Just a Little Something almost 2 years ago and I was in AWE!  I thought I would share with you how I made a smaller, “rose bud” version  …A little easier to master and still pretty;)!  Supplies I used to make Candy Clay RoseBud cake pops:  Easy Roller (Of course!) For these roses I used the additional 1 inch insert for the base of the rose; Lollipop sticks; Candy Clay we made in the How To Video; Cake Dough; Circle Cookie Cutter; Almond Bark; rolling-pin; Wax Paper; Cake Pop Stand (not pictured here)

 If you don’t have an Easy Roller or the 1 inch insert:(  you can roll them by hand of course, it just takes longer;)! If you want additional information click here!

Next step is to form little tear drop shapes like this from the 1 inch balls.  Take the 1 inch balls and pinch one end and twist to shape them.  This step I found to be the most important.  If they are left just ball-shaped when you wrap the “pedals” it just doesn’t look right.

Then dip them into the candy melt color of your choice!  I used white, but they will be covered up;) Place them in a cake pop stand to dry completely.

Then you will need to prepare some of the candy clay!  I made one of each color, so for each color rose bud you will need one oblong piece (this doesn’t have to look perfect, just flatten out the candy clay), and 2 half circles.  The Circle size will depend upon the size of the pop you have and how big you want the rose bud.  This circle cutter was about 2-3 inches. Make them pretty thin, yet thick enough to pull off the wax paper without tearing. I think they look best when the outer most edge is thinner then the body of the piece of candy clay.

You will take the oblong piece first.  Hold the cake pop sideways and lay the oblong shaped candy clay over the top.  The candy clay will hang over the side of the pop.

Stick one of the sides to the pop and then twist the pop so that oblong shape wraps around the pop. You are trying to get the center most part of the rose bud. See below!

  Next will take one of the half circles and place it over the section of the “rose bud” where the two sides come together.  Loosely apply this “pedal.”  It’s better to attach it at the center point of the half circle and move over to only one side of the pop, leaving one side loose.  This way  you can tuck the other half circle into the opposite side.

 Take the other half circle piece of candy clay and tuck it into the opening of the first half circle “pedal,” the side you didn’t attach and left open.  Secure that side,  then wrap the candy clay around the pop until it covers over the start of the first half circle “pedal.”  These are the pedals that look best when the edge is thinner then the base!

Next take a small piece of wax paper and start blending the base of the pedals.  Leaving the top portion of the pedals alone.  Smooth out all the candy clay so it covers the base of the pop and all the connecting lines from the assembly of the flower are gone.

When you are finished you should have something like this

Repeat for each color and each rose bud

And the Pink

The Final Photo Shoot:)!

So what do you think?  Are you ready to make some rose bud cake pops for Valentine’s Day?!

OMG!! I just found this on my cake travels:) THE CAKEULATOR from CakeBaker This is a MUST HAVE Business Tool for anyone who makes cakes to sell!

How do you know if you charging enough for your cakes? People are ALWAYS asking me what they should charge. Well it’s more about what your treat costs to make and how much profit you want to see! Don’t forget about coming up with a wholesale price as well;)!! Where to start? It took me days and tons of research and Excel spreadsheet to figure this out back when I was pricing my pops, but this seems like a MUCH easier way! Where was the CakeUlator a couple of years ago:/!!

Here’s how it works:

THE CAKEULATOR calculate your cost and sends a quote in 4 simple steps:

Step 1. Set your contact details, chosen currency USD ($), GBP (£), Euros (€), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Australian Dollars (AUD), New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and the South African Rand (ZAR), unit of measure (Imperial or Metric) and profit level!

Step 2. Create your recipe using our extensive list of stored ingredients (price checked monthly, not just in one supermarket but all major supermarkets, US, UK and Aboard) or by simply adding your own. You can even add an image to accompany your quote!

Step 3. Add customer details, import your recipe, select required cake quantities and delivery dates.

Step 4. Preview and send your message via SMS or Email.

Step 5. Sit back and wait for your order!

Here’s the Link because you KNOW you wanted this YESTERDAY:)!!

Coming Soon for Android!

I absolutely LOVE marshmallows (did you know The Marshmallow Studio ‘s book pre-sale is going on NOW with over 70 designs -SO EXCITED!!) so when MaddyCakes Muse told me you can MAKE them I was right on it!!

First came across Martha Stewarts Recipe and I must say the first time I made them they were perfect!! But the next time I must not have boiled the sugar long enough, (they just gave an amount of time, not a temperature) because they never “set!” What I found out was you need to bring the sugar mixture to a certain temp for them to turn out right!! So here is my new recipe that I use and LOVE! I hope you enjoy it!

Homemade Marshmallow S’more Pops:

• 1 cup cold water split in half
• 3 packets unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 3tsp. vanilla
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• Crisco
• Wax Paper
• Chocolate candy melts
• Graham cracker crumbs
• Candy thermometer
• Easy Roller (optional)

Directions.

1.  Put 1/2cup of water into a stand mixer …it needs to mix a LONG time so I recommend a stand mixer if you don’t want your arm to fall off;)!!
2. Then add the 3 packets of gelatin powder to the water in the mixing bowl.

Let set while you make the sugar mixture.

For the Sugar mixture:

1. Put the other ½ cup water into a medium sauce pan
2. Add 2 cups of sugar
3. Add 2/3 of a cup of light corn syrup

On medium to medium high stir the sugar mixture and let it get to 240 degrees Fahrenheit!  VERY IMPORTANT!! Like I said the marshmallows will be way too soft and not really “set” if you take it off the heat too soon!

Once the mixture gets to 240 degrees, turn on the mixer on low speed and slowly add the hot sugar syrup. Once all the sugar syrup is in the mixing bowl turn the speed on the mixer up to medium high for 1 minute and then bring it up to high speed for next 5 more minutes.  After about 6 minutes of mixing add the flavoring.  You can substitute the vanilla and cinnamon for a flavor of your choice.  But for these S’more Pops this is what makes them AWESOME! Let the flavor mix through for another 1-3 minutes.  When it has about tripled in size and if you put a thin dab on the counter if it dries firm it’s done! The total time mixing is about 8-10 minutes.

I turn this mixture out into a WELL GREASED silicon pan. You can use a regular pan, but I find they are easiest to release from a silicon pan! WARNING** They are SUPER STICKY**!! So also grease your spatula before sticking it into the marshmallow mixture.  After I dump all the marshmallow mixture into the pan I take a piece of wax paper and grease one side of it well.  Then I take the paper, greased side toward the marshmallow and use it to push the mixture into the corners of the pan and flatten out the top.  You can try to do this with the spatula but I think it much easier with the wax paper!

Once you get the marshmallow all flattened out into the pan place it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.  When it’s firm it’s ready to cut!

The Easy Roller is not just for Cake Pops!!  (No I am not going to “roll” the marshmallows) I also use it to cut my marshmallows into perfect  1.25” squares (I think homemade marshmallows are supposed to square) First like everything that touches this stickiness you have to grease the Easy Roller really well!  Then you’ll have to push down a lot harder to cut marshmallows then cake dough, and kind of slide it back and forth, but it works!! No more pizza cutter or scissors for uneven marshmallows for me!!  Here are the pictures:

Grease the Easy Roller insert well!  This stuff is STICKY!!

 Turn the marshmallows on to the Easy Roller.

 Place the lid over the top and push down.  As you push down slide it back and forth to help cut the strips out!

Replace the strips the other way… if you are not using the Easy Roller to roll, you can use it to portion 42 pieces at a time! So go instead of just 3 strips, go ahead and stack on as many strips as you can!

 Place the lid back on top and push down while sliding a little to ease the cutting!

Look at that!! 42 perfect little 1.25″ square homemade marshmallows:)!! Don’t ya just LOVE the Easy Roller!!  Then take a sheet of greased wax paper to place them on so you can start dipping them in chocolate! (if you just want them to be plain marshmallows mix together about 1/2 and 1/2 of corn starch and powdered sugar and sift over all the sides – so they are not so sticky!)

After you have them all cut and laying on a piece of greased wax paper (they are STILL super sticky) melt you candy melts on half power in the microwave and dip them into the warm chocolate candy coating. (not too hot or it will start to disintegrate the marshmallow;)  Then roll the bottom of the pop into the crushed up graham cracker and let the chocolate Set on a clean piece of wax paper. As soon as the chocolate coating has set it’s time to EAT… YUMMMMM!!!

Who is making Communion and Confirmation Cake Pops?!  I made some for my little cousins and thought I would share some easy and elegant ideas with you!

What you will need:

• Cake
• Cake pop sticks
• Pearl Dust
• Small white Sprinkles
• ziplock baggy
• wax paper

First make (or buy I suppose) a cake of course I just make a standard Devils food Betty Crocker cake.  Wait for it to cool down a bit and then crumble it all up and knead it to a doughy consistency:)  I like to use the food processor, because it cuts the time down to about a 1 minute or two (give it try if you haven’t already)!  If you would like to see how I make them click here!

I then use the Easy Roller to quickly roll out all my cake dough into little 1.25″ rounds.

Next dip them into white candy melts and set them on to wax paper to dry.  These I made to be “stick up” so no styrofoam or KC Bakes stand was needed!

Once they are dry, dust on some pearl dust for the shimmer effect!  I have a tutorial of this too here.

Now as you ponder what design you will be good at making, get out a sheet of wax paper, put your left over white candy melts in a ziplock baggy, cut a TINY hole in the corner and start playing!!  I HIGHLY recommend lots and lots of practice piping different designs you have in your head out on wax paper FIRST!  It takes too much time to get to this point and make mistakes ON the Cake Pops!

Look at all MY practicing:

 Once you have found a design you like and comfortable making, move to the cake pops!  I decided to make a simple cross with chain and cover them in the white sprinkles while they were still wet!  Like in the Earth Day Pops!  The Sprinkles are very forgiving and look and taste great:)!!

Take a look:

Here is a video on how to make Candy Clay!  I first heard about candy clay from “Just a Little Something”!  I wanted to learn how to make this because there is so much more you can do (decorating wise) when you can shape the candy melts and place them where you’d like and not just pipe it on:)!  It works like fondant, only I think the taste is much better:)!

If it gives you any problems here’s a tip!  This is not ideal, but will save your mix if it doesn’t turn out like you’d hoped!  If it is too soft and sticky to work with, add a little more candy melt to it!  To do this warm up the candy clay, just for about 5 seconds on 50% power, and pour some heated candy melts into the mixture and re-mix it thoroughly then let it set again!  If it is too hard to shape or isn’t as soft as you would like it, add just a bit more corn syrup, mix it thoroughly and then let it set again.