Visions of Peppermint

I know I just started this blog, but wow... does time fly by or what?

The count-down to Christmas is well underway... and while I haven't written my Christmas cards yet, or managed to get my tree up and decorated, I WILL post a blog about my new Christmas inspired pops BEFORE the blessed day comes!

How did I become such a procrastinator during a time of year that I really love?  The decorating and the parties and the FOOD... the giving of presents that make a face light up... Baking Day with mom that wasn't quite a tradition until the last few years, but better late than never... and the lights!  A spectacle of delight that brightens the darkness and turns every man and woman into a child of expectant wonder.

Maybe it's overload... so much to see and do and all crammed into a single month of joyous celebration.  There are so many choices during the holidays.  So many ways to decorate the tree... themed?  traditional?  red and gold?  hot pink?!  so many songs to hear piped over store speakers and elevators and in the next car over in traffic where the driver is singing at the top of his lungs and didn't realize his window was cracked slightly open.  so many delicious goodies... from spiced apple or pumpkin pies, fruit cake and spiced cake and gingerbread.

I knew I wanted simple and evocative.  A shock to the palate, but undeniable in its Christmas spirit.  I started with the one thing you can't escape during the holidays.  Peppermint.

I don't know about you, but the one thing I never fail to get for Christmas is a handful of peppermint candy canes.  One or two, I may actually eat, but the rest usually sit in my coffee mug at my desk at work until it's Easter and I realize I've left those babies sitting in abandoned, procrastinated shame like that neighbor that waited until the 4th of July to take his Christmas lights down.

So for once, I want those peppermint candies to feel that I've done right by them... and long-winded intro coming finally to its end (or am I just making up for the fact that my last post was barely a few sentences?) I give you Peppermint Crush: chocolate cake smothered in milk chocolate and topped with shiny chunks of beautiful crushed peppermint candy.

The Frog Prince

I'm a sucker for fairy tales.  What girl isn't?

So when I came across this charming frog prince figure I knew he'd make an adorable topper for a diaper cake.

Some ribbon with some funky, but regal looking patterns.  Blue and green for a princely, but earthy touch.  And this amphibian royalty has a perch even Kermit would envy.

Cake Truffle Wedding Favors

I always thought that my little cake truffles would make the cutest wedding favors.  So one night I made a few cake truffles and dressed them up in some elegant looking attire, fit for a formal wedding.  I think mini silver foil cups would  have been better (or black ones if I can track some down).  But here are the results of the trial run.

This one is topped with a little fondant flower dusted with edible glitter and with a pearl sprinkle in the center.

And this little morsel is studded with pink pearl sprinkles.

Ginger Head Pops

My boyfriend's mother, Jamey, loves pumpkin.  With her birthday coming up, I knew I wanted to make some pumpkin flavored cake truffles for her.  What I came up with were yummy spiced pumpkin cake dipped in vanilla candy coating and rolled in one of two kinds of crushed cookies: graham cracker crumbs reminiscent of pumpkin pie, and ginger snaps for some extra spiciness.

The cake truffles covered with the crunchy ginger snap bits really worked out well, so I made cake pop versions.  For our craft show at work.  When I told my friend Nicole (who is also a big pumpkin fan) about the pops and showed her a picture, she said they looked like mini ginger heads!   (We love gingers... my boyfriend, RJ, and Nicole's best friend Steph both happen to be redheads.)  I laughed, and the pops were thereby dubbed Ginger Head Pops in their honor.

Strawberry Pop Tart Pops!

Another genius idea from the boyfriend who asked if I could make a cake pop like a pop tart.  I thought about it for a while, I mean, the graham cracker crumbs I thought of right away.  That's half of what makes a pop tart so good: that sweet, crunchy bite.  My cake crumb mixture is so moist, it has that consistency that you find in the middle of a pop tart, but it wasn't until I saw the confetti candy melts that I knew I could pull it off!  The white candy with the tiny multicolored dots reminded me so much of the strawberry pop tarts I love.

So here it is... strawberry cake, surrounded by vanilla candy and rolled in crushed graham cracker crumbs and then topped with confetti candy.  I don't suggest putting these babies in the toaster, but we're happy they turned out so yummy!  And so cute!

Lion Pops!

When my sister-in-law, Shayla, was about to have my nephew, Caleb, we threw a baby shower for her.  Since her nursery was going to have a jungle theme, we naturally decided to make the shower jungle themed as well.  I was brand new to making cake pops, having only made some once before.  So what did we pick for her party favors?

Lion cake pops, probably the most time-consuming pops I will ever make.  Pretty ambitious for a beginner, but boy, did they turn out darn cute.

Since Shayla loves Reese's, she picked chocolate cake for the core of her pops which were then coated in peanut butter candy coating.  For the mane, peanut butter chips were laid in a line around the pop.   Candy eyes started the face.  Originally, the nose was half an m&m and the mouth was drawn on with a food coloring marker.  I wasn't happy with how the marker worked; it didn't write on very thick, and the tip ended up gouging the candy coating.  In the end, I ended up using bits of tootsie roll and was much happier with the result.  It took a while to glue on all those individual chips, and shaping all the little noses and mouths.  But they were so worth it.  Two dozen pops later and I think the Lions made a memorable impression at my sister-in-law's baby shower.

Captain RJ's Cure For Scurvy

Yeah, it's a mouthful of a name, but when I decided to create a cake pop for my charming boyfriend, it not only had to be tasty, but also a bit witty.

The tasty part was a bit of a challenge.  I mean, this is a person who is not a fan of desserts.  You offer him a ten layer chocolate torte oozing with layers of rich cream and smothered with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries and he'll say, "Eh".  Give him chunks of creamy Swiss chocolate and he'll say, "Nah."  I know, crazy, right?

So what does peak his interest?  The minute I said Grand Marnier, his eyes lit up.  So orange cake laced with Grand Marnier became the core of the cake pops.  And the candy coating?  Dark chocolate has always been a favorite pairing with orange flavor (I absolutely loved the dark chocolate covered orange peels I used to get when the department stores had their own candy counters where they sold luxury truffles and the sort by the pound).  Fortunately, RJ perfers dark chocolate over milk chocolate, so the choice as immediately approved.  Simple and clean flavors... nothing else was needed.  Just a name for this new concoction.

Dessert may not be RJ's favorite subject, but there is one thing that is.  And that's PIRATES!  We threw him a pirate-themed birthday celebration where the guests came in pirate costumes and the beverages came with plenty of rum.  I even designed a pirate flag for him.  And anyone who knows anything about pirates knows that they fought off the effects of the scurvy by making sure they carried plenty of citrus on board.  I bet even hardened blood-thirsty pirates wouldn't say no to these cake pops.

So the journey to make these pops turned out to be quite an adventure.  Little did I know that it would turn out to be a "pirate" adventure, but creating these pops was still a lot of fun.  Tied off with a little kitchen twine that looks like rope, all I need to complete the dressing on these pops are some skull and crossbones stickers to put on the wrappers.  When I find some I will post pictures of the finished pops.