Tuesday, July 03, 2012

weekend project part 26

It's been so long since I last made a 'weekend project' post. Wow somebody's been slacking in the baking department, huh? Oh well, juggling work, motherhood, wifeyhood and household ain't easy my friends. It's all do it yourself baby, or the house will rut, the hubby will starve and the baby will stop growing lol. OK not funny. Recently, my baking mood has slowly started to come back. We have a huge oven as a wedding gift from my besties but I left all my baking utensils at my parents' place and I never bothered to bring them to my place just because well, urmm, I have my hands full. Weekends are the time when I would clean the house, do laundry (this requires a whole different post altogether) sweep the floor- gosh that reminds me, I should actually mop the house! When was the last time the floors see water?
Anyway, I have forgotten that baking can give me a slight sense of relaxation and happiness after finishing and looking at the end product. But I hate the cleaning up part, though. Pfft.
Now that I have brought all baking utensils to my place, it's bake time! It started with a buttermilk cake with hazelnut praline topping which I copied from here. It looked so tempting so I decided to bake it for Father's Day. It was a hit. Then my mum was saying things like "see, how nice it is that you bake your own. you should bake more often yada3" and before I know it, I started googling for recipes and also watching videos on YouTube. I then stumbled upon a video on how to make cake pops and gosh who would have thought that it was so easy to make? A bit tedious but easy peasy! I made them last weekend.



I used an instant cake mix as I was too lazy to bake from scratch. Thank God for the invention of these instant cake mix. I feel like a pro in an instant. The fewer the ingredients needed, the better. I bought White Wings Our Favourite Moist Chocolate as it only requires milk, eggs and vegetable oil but I simply used cooking oil because I don't have any vegetable oil. I baked the cake on Friday night and let it cool overnight.

The next day, when the cake is obviously cooled, crumble them into pieces. I did not crumble the whole cake in the beginning as I need the right texture for my cake balls. I added Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Vanilla frosting bit by bit so that the cake won't end up soggy. In the event your dough becomes too moist because of too much frosting, you can always add more cake in it.

Mix the frosting and the cake crumbs either with hand, spatula or a cake mixer- I used a spatula as it would be a hassle to clean the cake mixer later. It's all about being efficient, people! Once you've got the right texture, ie not too soggy or moist and not too hard, roll the dough into little balls. Do not make them too big or the stick won't be able to support them.

Lollipop sticks are available at baking supplies stores. Once the balls are ready, dip one end of the stick into melted chocolate and stick it into the balls. (that doesn't sound right, does it?) Shoooh dirty minds! Anyway the melted chocolate acts as the glue to stick the balls on to the stick.

Refrigerate for an hour or more so that the balls are set. While my cake balls are in the fridge, I managed to iron some clothes, sweep the floor and take a bath. Thankfully Babycakes were having her afternoon nap so I managed to get all these done. Phew.

She woke up just as I finished bathing (talk about good timing, huh?) so after entertaining and feeding her, I placed her in her pack n play, put on her nursery rhyme dvd and I went back to finish my cake balls. It ended up refrigerated more than an hour, which is better. I then melted some milk chocolate buttons, and once the milk chocolate has cooled slightly or to room temperature, I slowly dipped the balls in it. This has to be done carefully as you don't want the sticks to be covered in chocolates as well. Plus, you need to be careful that the balls don't slip off the stick. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle some colourful strands or beads or almonds on it. I don't have a styrofoam block or clay or sponge so I used whatever was in my kitchen, a styrofoam pack. I simply poked holes in it and slipped the sticks in it so that it will stand upright. Improvise, remember?

So there you have it, the end product- my very own home made cake pops. Told ya they were easy, didn't I? I wasn't sure if I was supposed to refrigerate them afterwards but I did. However, the chocolate buttons that I used are very thick and it ended up a thick coating. But wait, why am i complaining? They're yummy milk chocolate! Chocolate balls covered with milk chocolate- a true chocolate lover's delight. Lucky I didn't use the Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate Frosting or that would mean triple the chocolate. Take note that the frosting is a bit too sweet so use in moderation.

These cake pops were a hit at my aunt's house as I brought them over that night for a kenduri. When eating a cake pop, you have to be careful as the cake might drop so it's best to make small balls so that the whole ball can get into your mouth in one bite. Kids and adults alike love cake pops and they are a great party favour too. I might do this for Babycakes' birthday.

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