Cake Pops for the Birthday Boy

Lucas turned 13, and never gets to have a party since everybody's out of town usually, so I wanted to surprise him with cake pops at least. He's been asking me to make some for about a year, so instead of the usual surprise cake, I bought a cake pop pan and accoutrements in JoAnn while he was at band practice Thursday night. Stashed them in a cabinet till Saturday night, and while he was upstairs on the XBox with friends, I made my first cake pops. Of course, it might've helped to Google how to do it first, as most cake pops are a mix of baked cake and icing. Oh well, this silicone pan just said pour cake mix in, bake, and apply the sticks, so I went with it.


Too generous with the batter, so I shaved off the excess with a knife. These are flat pops according to the picture - not really like your Starbucks sphere.


So you melt some chocolate, dip the stick in it, then into the pop, and the chocolate supposedly hardens like cement, especially if you freeze them for a few minutes. I found that when I tried to cover them in chocolate with a little torqueing action, they got loose though.


So they're not real pretty in my homemade cake pop holder, which is some cardboard from the recycle bin covered in foil with holes punched in it, but I did have a nice selection of sprinkles, M&M's, and chocolate chips to put on them. I was just finishing up when I heard Lucas shutting down the XBox, so I raced around wiping sprinkles and chocolate off the counter, throwing away the candy containers, etc., and had just put them in the freezer to set when he came around the corner. Phew, thank you, God, for the timing on that one!


Here's the final product in the display stand I bought at JoAnn.


Sorry for the out of focus pics!


So here's the green innards - the Funfetti cake mix is actually really moist and tasty. Lucas and Drew both said these were better than Starbucks - I can die a happy mother!


But I was a little PO'd with the stand. We couldn't get the bottom and middle pieces to rotate away from each other, so when I squeezed some into the bottom, they rubbed the middle springs, and you obviously can't put pops in all of them, so I just used the top 2 tiers. Turns out you can unscrew each section, and it'll be a little bit wobbly, but would work.


And the big boys went to Washington, D.C. for yet another Spartan race. Lots of scrapes and scratches, and an open weeping blister - sorry I don't have pics of THAT.


OHH! One heartbreaking thing for me today was that I ran out of maroon button and craft thread for my couched skirt, and apparently Alabama Chanin is the only place that carries it. JoAnn, Michael's, and Hancock all let me down by only carrying red - AGONY! I'm halfway through the 4th panel and was hoping to wear it to Chicago next week for our last big vacation with Drew. Oh well, maybe I'll start on an Auburn-themed skirt while I wait....