Almost Funfetti Cake Pops

Oliver was nice to all the kids at the park a few days ago, so Dad took him to the store and bought him cake pop kit! These poor kids have had it rough the last couple weeks. There have been many long hours of us working while the kids are left to play in their room. I feel awful about it, but the work is almost done (now we just need to get carpet installed...).

This morning, I told Oliver it was time to make them. He got so excited!

Oliver got to do the mixing. There's not that much cake, so it only bakes about 12 minutes. As it baked, Jo checked out the batter in the bowl. She even got a little taste and let me know it was pretty good stuff.

After it came out of the oven, we let it cool. Oliver then broke up all the cake with his fingers.

He mixed it with the frosting, and then I formed it into tight balls. We dipped the cake pop sticks in the melted chocolate and stuck them into the cake balls. Most of the cake balls held up for this part. Two broke a bit, and I had to use my hands to really mash them together over the stick.

After the cake pops cooled for a full half hour, we pulled them out of the fridge. I told Oliver that I'd dip them in the melted white chocolate, and he could put the sprinkles on. The cake pops did not hold up to dipping. Not even a little bit. After the second one bit the dust, I just spooned the melted white chocolate on. That ended up using too much white chocolate, and we started to run out near the end. I only lightly topped the last few with chocolate to stretch it out.

Of the 12 cake pops we made, four broke off. I used white chocolate to sort of mash them back together. They look like turds.

I poked holes into the box to hold up our pops. Pillsbury should totally do this as part of their kit.

It was still fun. I would definitely make these again with Oliver. He loved it!

The down-side to these were 1) they make a huge mess, 2) they take a long time, and 3) are very unpredictable. I would never make them for a birthday party or gathering just because there would be so much waste to get a few good quality ones. When we make them again, I might try freezing the cake pops solid before dipping.

Heart-Shaped Treats for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love holidays. It's so much fun to hang up little decorations or plan special meals. I've always liked celebrating them, but it's gotten even more fun since having kids.

Yesterday, for dessert, I made tapioca pudding. I was washing strawberries to freeze for smoothies when I had an idea to cut them into hearts. Check out this cute pre-Valentine's Day dessert:

Today, we had friends from MOMS Club come over and help us decorate cookies. It was Oliver's first time having friends to the house, and he was excited to show them his mixer and mixing attachments. The kids were all younger than Oliver. One was mostly interested in feeling the sprinkles. Another had fun decorating, but he insisted on eating his cookies as soon as a bit of frosting got on them. After eating a number of cookies, his mom decided he'd better be done. Oliver decorated about six and then ate half of them. The rest of the 50 cookies were decorated by moms. Well, we had fun.

Hosting this cookie decorating day gave me a chance to compare various sugar cookies. Homemade cookies were vastly superior! Don't get me wrong, I love Pillsbury biscuits, crescent rolls, and refrigerated pie crusts. You can do so many creative things with those products. I've used their sugar cookie dough for fruit pizzas and was pleased. However, I discovered last night that their sugar cookies were terrible  for cut-out cookies. They expanded and puffed up and completely lost their shape. While cooling, they deflated. We were left with weird, oval-shaped, flat cookie blobs. I used the cookie cutter to try to re-cut them. It was better than before, but we were still left with flat cookies that looked icky and had rough edges. So, Oliver and I had to make an emergency batch of sugar cookies ourselves, and they turned out beautifully (you can find that Taste of Home recipe here). Bookmark that recipe! They made the best sugar cookies that tasted great and held their shape.

After cookie decorating fun, I got busy making a heart-shaped pizza!

...and then we finished the night off with a mini heart-shaped, red-velvet cheesecake (I halved this recipe from McCormick, and used a heart-shaped springform pan like this:

                                                                        

Oliver wanted to sing a song, so we sang, "Happy Valentine's Day to You," before diving into our cheesecake goodness.
I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day celebrating with your family, friends, or loved one.

Fruit Pizza

Fruit pizzas are my husband's trademark dessert. He makes them a few times a year, and Oliver loves to help. This was my first time making one.

They are so easy to make, but, best of all, they're a great dessert to make if you have a little helper in your household like we do. You could even make mini-fruit pizzas for a children's party to let each kid decorate his/her own!

Here's what you need:
Crust:
1 tube of sugar cookie dough (I used Pillsbury)
Sauce:
(Note: You can just use a can of your favorite frosting.  I won't tell anybody.)
8 ounces of cream cheese or neufatel cheese
4 ounces (1/2 stick) of softened butter
2 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
Toppings:
Various fruit - We used two kiwis, a can of drained mandarin oranges, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries
Glaze:
The zest and juice from one orange
1 cups of powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)

To make:
1. Spread your cookie dough out on a pizza pan.  I had to use my knuckles to gently push the dough from the center to the edges.  Prick the dough all over with a fork.  Bake according to package directions.

2. Beat cream cheese, butter, and the 2 cups of powdered sugar together to make frosting "sauce."  Alternatively, pop the top off of your can of frosting.

3. While your cookie crust is baking and cooling, prep your fruit. Wash what needs washing and chop what needs chopping. If you're using any fruit that is prone to browning (apples, pears, bananas, etc), toss them in a bit of lemon or lime juice to slow their oxidation.

4. After your cookie pizza crust cools completely, spread the frosting all over the crust, leaving about an inch of space along the circumference of your pizza.

5. Decorate with fruit!  This is the fun part.  You can look up images of fruit pizzas online to get really fancy, or just help your kids put the toppings on.  You really can't go wrong.

6. Whisk the juice and zest of an orange with a cup of powdered sugar until smooth. This is your glaze. Drizzle it liberally all over your pizza.

7. Slice your pizza and dive in!