Cake Pop Stand and Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cake Pops

Well, time is flying by for us. I can't believe I'm going on semester four out of five! Wahoo!!! Before school starts though, we have an accounting party tomorrow for the faculty and PhD students and their families. It's a potluck and I gave them the option of honey lime chicken enchiladas or cake pops. Guess what they picked? :)

 My hubby made me this beautiful cake pop stand out of Corian. I LOVE IT!!! Can you say nonporous, sturdy, easy to clean, elegant, and perfect? (not to mention heavy) He will also be making me some that will hold cake pops as I decorate them. This one is for transportation and display. We thought about selling this little beauty, but it is rather heavy, and would probably be fairly expensive as Corian is expensive...but for the serious cake popper, this is awesome!!! I'm still contemplating whether I want an ogee edging, handles, and possibly putting on some vinyl for beautification (not that it needs it - love it Jar!). Anybody know the market for something like this?

 On another note...I got an awesome salted caramel frosting recipe I found on pinterest that you can find here. It is heavenly in a chocolate cake pop with a little of the extra salted caramel, drizzled chocolate, and toasted almonds on top! It's my new absolute favorite cake pop combination. And though the frosting is probably too thin for decorating a cake with anything but a layer of frosting, it was perfect for these little concoctions. The cake pop held together beautifully...much better than the chocolate with chocolate frosting ones I also did (which you can see below).

 I also decided to make red velvet with cream cheese frosting. I really enjoy these ones too. Very nice flavor...just not my fave since good old salted caramel frosting came around.

 And of course, I couldn't make cake pops and not create some little animals from them. I just can't resist!

 All of these little guys are chocolate with chocolate frosting. I figure the little kids will be happiest with that flavor combo (or lack of combo). The hedgehog eyes are just pearls. I wrote with edible marker on them with my markers that I LOVE! I bought them at least four months ago and used a number of times with great results. For the turtles, I mixed some various colors of melts (red, white, and chocolate) and dipped some pretzel stick pieces in it. Then after I covered the cake pop in green, I set it on top of four of the pretzels and then stuck in one more for the head while it was still wet.

 I got the cute little eyes for my birdies from a cake and candy store I have fallen in love with since we moved to Pittsburgh. It's called Sugar and Spice and it's located in West Mifflin. For as long as we're here, this will be my only candy supply store from now on! They carry Merck's chocolate (which kicks Wilton's backside any day of the week). On top of that, just about everything they sell is way cheaper than Michael's or even Wal-Mart. If you're in the area, check them out! We gotta keep local family owned, small businesses in business! Love the service too. Those gals know everything!

 The ladybug has junior mint heads and the rest is just edible marker again. Did I mention i love those?

I also decided to try a new technique out that I found a while back and thought looked fun. It's so easy! Wet on wet candy melts. This is by far the easiest way to decorate a cake pop that still looks awesome.

Whew, I'm cake popped out! Well, I'm done for another month and a half until the next birthday, anyway. Gotta come up with something new for a little two-year old. Hmmm......

Easy Altered Foil Tins for Valentine's Day

 Hi all. Just a quick post to show you a quick project! I keep forgetting that I have these holiday tins until I put away my Christmas decorations and then I get mad at myself for not taking advantage of the ease with which I can give goodies away. Needless to say, I decided that I didn't care if it wasn't Christmas time anymore and I'm not making some kind of bread to put in here. I'm usin' 'em!

 It was really very simple. Just a little glue stick and stamp action on the top, add a little ribbon, and we're ready to roll!

 Clawson's saying, "I LOVE those!" And I'm saying, "They're not for you, buddy..."

These are brownies made from a cake mix that have caramel and chocolate chips in them. Quite tasty if you ask me. You can find the recipe here.

Pie Crust

I got a request for these pie recipes that go with the apple pie recipe I gave a long time ago and the cut file for the small individual pie boxes. I've loved this crust recipe for a LONG time. Recently my mom did pies for a young women's activity and she researched and tried a lot of different recipes and found that the ones just like this (with only slight variations) were the best and most loved. So without any more ado, here is the recipe for a great standard pie crust for a whole double crust pie or chicken pot pie.

Pie Crust

2 c flour
2/3 c plus 1 Tbsp cold shortening (can sub the 1 Tbsp with butter)
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp ice water (approx)

Cut shortening into flour until like coarse cornmeal. Add water gradually. Mix lightly with a fork.

One hint here: don't be afraid of water. Be afraid of mixing too much. Some of the best pie crusts I've made have been just a little wetter than I thought they should be. I barely mix with a fork and make sure that as I put in the water, I am sprinkling it all over and I try not to get any one spot too wet.

Split dough in half. Put half of dough on floured wax paper. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap. With hands on top of the plastic wrap, form dough into a ball. Roll out dough from center to ends all around the circle, making sure not to roll too much. Keep the plastic wrap stuck to the pie crust and fold the dough in half. Fold dough in half again, removing the wax paper as you go, but keeping the plastic wrap adhered. Put the dough into the pie pan, using the plastic wrap to center and pull the dough to the right areas so the whole pan is covered.

(These steps will help you with a number of things. First, cleanup is a snap. Second when you roll out, the ball shape will help you create a better circle without as much waste and breaking of the ends. Third, it makes putting the dough into the pie pan easy peasy.)

Pour your pie filling into the crust. Top with a little butter for apple pie. Repeat dough steps for other half of the dough. Fold the top dough under the bottom dough and crimp to seal. Cut slits in middle of pie. I like to then brush with milk and sprinkle sugar on the top. I bake apple pie at 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

If you're making the little pies, here is the recipe I really liked for that:

Mini individual apple pies

Enjoy!!

Sweet Christmas Treats

Hi there! We've been busy over here creating some goodies to give out to neighbors - I'm sure we're not the only ones either! Stress city is almost over - I can't believe how much work making goodies is. Thank goodness for awesome helpers! Thanks Jen, Sarah, and Amy - you're babes! (quite literally too, they're gorgeous!)

The first new recipe we tried was sugar cookies with chocolate and crushed peppermint. My favorite part about this is the new sugar cookie recipe I found while searching for this cookie (that I was introduced to by a good friend in school. (Thanks Kristi!)

You can find the awesome new sugar cookie recipe here: Delicious Sugar Cookies

Tips: Cream butter and sugar while the butter is cold. I used a thin vase to cut out 1 1/2 - 2 inch circles for this recipe. (You'll see why this is important tomorrow!) The chocolate used in this recipe is just chocolate chips, so it's not tempered and needs to be kept in the freezer/fridge. If I did it again, I might just use the sugar cookies on their own with festive sugar crystals on the top. This recipe does NOT need frosting. It is delicious without!

If you want the chocolate peppermint version, here it is: Chocolate frosting and filling recipes

For this next dessert, there is no real recipe needed. If you've never had them, you must try them. This is one of my all time new favorite Christmas goodies. (Introduced to me by my used-to-be neighbor Jill Morris - who is not there to make them for me this year, so I'm doing it myself - miss you girl!)

Recipe (sort of): Make peanut butter Ritz sandwiches by smearing some peanut butter in between two Ritz crackers. Dip them in chocolate candy coating. Chocolate almond bark worked well. Make sure you don't use chocolate chips - they won't set at room temp. Drizzle with almond bark (white). Let set. Done!

I'm very excited about these next ones too. Caramel chocolate covered pretzels are the ones I really wanted to get the hang of this year. This is an AWESOME recipe!

Caramel Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Hints/Tips: Do not cook caramel to soft ball stage. It will be too hard...it will stick to wax paper without any kind of successful chance of being removed (unless you like a mouthful of paper)...but it will make delicious caramels! So, when she says boil for five minutes, she means five minutes! When you dip them, do not place directly on the wax paper. Prop up on the cookie sheet so that you will have less to mold (which can get sticky). Don't mold the caramel at room temperature...you'll get sticky. Have I mentioned it's sticky? Make sure it's been in the fridge for a while first.

Also, make sure you use chocolate almond bark or Wilton's candy coating, etc. Don't underestimate the power of tempered chocolate! You will be SO happy with these pretzels! I know I am!!!

P.S. Stay tuned for tomorrow or Tuesday, as you will need something to put the cookies in! :)

Have your cake pie and eat it cut file too (Free SVG)

We've all seen the individual cake slices and boxes that are so cute together. But cake doesn't go with Thanksgiving...does it? I didn't think so. What does go with Thanksgiving? Well, I'm pretty sure the title gave it away, but you woulda guessed it anyway. PIES! I was introduced to the cutest little individual pie cutters from Williams Sonoma from Judy at work (thanks Jude!). And, of course, they needed their own little boxes to go with them.

Here's a little tutorial on how to make the pies. After you make your own pie crust (the box for this has a recipe for crust that is actually better in this setting than any other fantastic pie crust recipe you have - believe me, I've tried both! The one on the box is the right consistency and dryness so that it doesn't stick to the mold when you cut it out), press the mold onto the rolled out crust like so...


Then simply put a bottom and a top into the mold and put in the apple pie filling you canned when I posted that recipe. What?! You didn't can 32 quarts of apple pie filling to use for things like this? Shame on you. Brush edges with egg wash, and close mold to seal crust together.
Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Then, bake for about 20 minutes in 400 degree oven.
Enter box.
Lay down some wax paper so you don't ruin the paper box and stick that baby in!

Decorate with some cute ribbon, and, if you're better than me, make a cute tag to go with it to say thanks this Thanksgiving!
As always, here is an svg for you to use in your quest for pie giving.

Free SVG
Octagonal Box with Ribbon and Window - .svg
Octagonal Box with Ribbon - .svg

Mini Cupcake Box (Free SVG)

This post is a direct result of Tracy in Ecuador requesting a file...thank you, Tracy! Ever since I bought my mini mupcake pan from DI (1.00) I've wanted to make a cut file for this. I mean, hey, we all want to do a lot of things, right? I find, though, that I typically get more done if it's for somebody else...so here it is!

I decided to make brownies for the women I visit because I thought the brownies with nuts would be fun for fall. You'll notice the box here is a little tall for the brownies, but I did that on purpose. I wanted it to be tall enough that I could make a swirling tower of frosting on cupcakes should I want to put those in next time.

Here are the files for the mini cupcake box along with the dimensions you'll want to size them at in order to get them to fit together right.

Free SVG

Mini Cupcake Box Top .svg - keep proportions, size width at 9.327"

Mini Cupcake Box Bottom .svg - keep proportions, size width at 11.4"

Mini Cupcake Box Insert .svg - keep proportions, size width at 8.0935"

I didn't have any brownie mixes, so I took a chance on a homemade recipe that was highly acclaimed on Recipezaar. I actually thought it had a really good taste. If you want it, here it is: Brownies

Chinese and/or Frog Wedding Cake and Ganache Recipe

Hi all,

I really have been doing stuff...so busy doing stuff that I don't have time to post it!!

About a week and a half ago, I made this cake (with my sister's help of course!) for my sister in law who had a chinese wedding. She has also collected frogs since she was who knows how old and I was supposed to have a cake that incorporated these two things. Not the easiest thing, that! It was fun though.


I actually planned to do the ganache dripping down the sides of the cake, but the ganache recipe I used wasn't necessarily the best for that. So, after trying it on the big cake (stupid, stupid, stupid!!), we had to take what did drip over the sides and scrape it off (Thanks, Mindy!). Then, reput more butter cream on, then decorate in the ganache. The ganache was very good for piping with.
Disclaimer...I am not very good with flowers. (Mom/Rebecca I should have had one of you do it!)
Can I just tell you a few things I learned this time around with cakes? First, people care more about how it tastes than how it looks...take time to make it taste awesome! Here are a few recipes you can use that were a hit!

Black Forest with Ganache:
Just devil's food cake mix made per the directions on the box
Cherry filling bought from a cake decorating store (there's one in Spanish Fork, UT that's fantastic)
Buttercream frosting (or other frosting of your choice if you have a great one you love)
Ganache topping

Ganache -

2 cups Chocolate Chips - I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate 60% cacao chocolate chips
8 oz Cream
1Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

Pour chocolate chips in metal bowl. In saucepan, heat cream, butter, and sugar to almost boiling (I accidentally boiled the first batch...still tasted good, but wasn't as smooth as I wanted it). Remove from heat and immediately pour over chocolate chips. Wait 2 minutes and whisk until smooth. You can pour over cake when still warm or wait for it to cool to room temperature, put in pastry bag, and pipe a beautiful design.

This combination was absolutely amazing! I got loads of compliments on the way it tasted and there was not a chocolate piece of cake to spare...those were the first to go!

Another little tip:

Use cake recipes that hold their shape well and have some meat to them, especially if you're going to do a shape!

The bottom layer was a white almond sour cream cake with chocolate bavarian cream filling, buttercream frosting, and ganache. I also really liked this combo although it didn't get as many rave reviews. However, it had awesome moisture retention and was a heavier cake (more like pound) that would be awesome to use in a shaped or cut cake because it would hold so well. You can find the recipe here: WASC Cake Recipe


Here's just a little table that got decorated to kind of get the frog theme in with the Chinese theme. Just a fun little vignette.

Christmas Candy and Boxes (Free SVG)

My sister-in-law Jenny and "her people" came over this week and we made chocolates to give away to people. I love that we do this every year! We had so much fun and J.J. and Ryan loved having them over. It was fun seeing them play together.

Jenny made the Rice Krispies Treats that we dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. She also made delicious fudge that we cut shapes out of (recipe on back of marshmallow creme jar). If you want the recipe for the other chocolates (you won't regret trying them out - they're SO delicious!), here they are:

Copycat Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Mint Chocolate Candy

Peanut Clusters

And of course...here's the file for the boxes we made. It's basically like a larger pastry box. Very simple design (cuz that's what I had time for!) If you size it as large as it will go on a 12 x 12 paper, you will get a box that fits eight mini baking cups just perfectly!

Free SVG

Rectangle Pastry Box - .svg

chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate cake

This was a very good cake! It has chocolate chips inside that melt for a little bit of liquid chocolate goodness in every bite! Mmmmmmm. Very moist cake and the glaze on top is just right...not too much, not too little. I think it also looks pretty too which is great if you want to bring it to a social function. But the most beautiful part about it is how easy it is!!!
I got this recipe from recipezaar...Here is the link.

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake

I made this for a girls' night out. The night it was made it kind of tasted like chocolate mousse. The next day like a cheesecake - I preferred it the next day...but others might disagree. Either way it was goodness!

1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (can use oreos with frosting scraped out)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 pounds cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
4 ounces melted semisweet chocolate, cooled slightly
Fresh strawberries, for garnish
Whipped cream, for garnish
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (if using a silver springform pan, or 325 degrees F if using a dark nonstick springform pan).

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the chocolate wafer crumbs, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix well. Press onto the bottom of springform pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, remaining sugar, and vanilla extract and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and sour cream and mix well. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just blended. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, until the center is almost set. Allow cake to cool in cooling oven for one hour to prevent cracking. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving. Preferably overnight!  Cheesecake may be made up to 2 days in advance before serving and will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Serve the cheesecake garnished with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and mint sprigs. (Great the next day with nothing!)

Canned Apple Pie Filling

I've been wanting to do more food storage...so my next adventure is in canning! I went to a friends house last week and we did a bjillion (yes, that's totallly a word/number) cans of apple pie filling. I was so excited to do this! So I've done peaches and applie pie filling now. I'm going to be asking for a canner and the utensils for Christmas, so, Mom Ford, if you have those cans still...I know someone who might want them! (ME!) I just wish I had more time for these things. It's so fun, especially when you do it with friends.

Here's the recipe for the applie pie filling. It makes about 7 quarts.

4 1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1 c cornstarch

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp lemon juice

10 c water

A LOT of peeled, cored, and sliced apples

Mix corn starch and sugar, then combine the rest of the ingredients and boil until filling gets dark, a little more translucent, and thickens. Keep very hot! As soon as the filling is done, put apple slices in hot quart cans to fill halfway. Then pour filling up to where apples end. Fill the rest of the jar with apples, stuffing to bottom of the part where the jar becomes the lid. Put more filling to same place. Burp the can by knife or by moving it side to side. Wipe the top of the can VERY well with a damp cloth. Put a boiled lid on and then twist into place. Put into canner with boiling water. Water should cover the tops of the lids. Cover canner with it's lid once all cans are inside and boil for 30 min. Do not start timer until the water is boiling. When done, put hot cans on a counter or table away from any drafts and place towel over them. Let cool for 24 hours. Test to make sure they sealed. This makes really good pies! And you can also put at the bottom of a 9x13 dish and pour yellow cake mix over the top for a really easy and yummy dessert or use in a cobbler!