I love cooking with my kids!I especially love baking with my kids!I feel like it is not only a great learning time, but a great way to just spend some quality time together. A few Sundays ago, we decided to make cake pops.My sister-in-law brought these yummy cake pops from Starbucks on a recent road trip. They were beautiful and just the fact that she brought them made us all feel special because they just looked so special!Our family was going to a dinner with about five other families. I was in charge of the dessert. I thought cake pops would be the perfect dessert to make everyone feel loved and special!I found out that making cake pops turned into a life lesson on making time.First, here is an easy recipe and the pictures to go with it...Ingredients:*box of cake mix ( eggs, oil, and the stuff written on the box for this)*frosting - flavor to match cake*cake pop sticks ( get at any Jo-Anns or baking store)*Melted Candy Wafers ( flavored or colored)
Next, bake a cake according to box directions.You may certainly use a homemade cake, but the thought of crushing something that I made from scratch seems too painful too handle, so the box made cake was perfect.
Next cut up the cake into several big pieces and put them in a large bowl.
Here is what it looks like with Funfetti cake mix!My daughter was in charge of this one.
This is the fun part!Take about 3/4 of a can of frosting and mix it with the cake.This is what helps it stick together.Mash it with your hands to make a big ball.You read right...with your hands.It's really the best way...
It will end up like a softball size of doughy cake.
And the chocolate ball will end up looking like...poop... :)
Scoop out about a spoonful and make smaller balls of thecake mixture.Now, take those bags of melted candies andput them in the microwave or melt them over the double boiler.Follow the directions on the bag. I used the microwave. I also did not flavor them because I wanted the cake part to be the tasty part.
Now, this next part is important:It is important to dip the sticks in the melted candy mixture and then shove(Yes, shove...remember, I am doing this for a dessert that starts in 20 minutes!) them onto the cake pop. This will help the sticks to stay in the cake pops.
Here is a bowl showing the melted candy and the first dipping of the cake pop.It takes a while to get the hang of it.
This is the part where you can be super creative.A girlfriend of mine made the cutest animals.Here are some examples of fun ideas:
And a perfect one for Father's Day:
This one is for my Man and My Daddy!You are my heroes!!!
Yes, I will try the Superman ones next. For now, these were my special desserts in hopes of making some friends feel cherished and special.Now you might wonder why they are all not fully dipped.Going back to the sweet wisdom of my daughterwho said it was okay just to have blank ones, I agreed.The cake pops still tasted great!
Yes, they were still yummy!And here is what I was talking about when I saidthe bottom of the pan was the only clean part:
Oh Yeah...That's a whole lot of mess to clean up.I usually do clean a little more during the process, but we were pressed for time ( who isn't?!) and we had to focus on the preparation.As I was trying to finish these quickly, a friend stopped by to say hello. I ran out of the house, barely having time to say hi, much less invite her in and visit with her.We were also 20 minutes late for our dinner.So, in all my attempts to make people feel special, I actually probably made one feel rushed and not listened to (she said she understood...it was a drop by visit) and the whole group was fine as they had just started the meeting, yet I really wanted to make them feel special.I realized that I need to make time for the special in my life. {click to tweet}Not just try to pack it in quickly.Make time for an extra bedtime story.Make time to create a homemade card.Make time to pull up the sheets for my bed and not just the blanket.Make time to go to the grocery store for a fresh meal for my family.
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