I♥cuppycakes!

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.

Ugh I am stressed out! Kill me now.

When I am stressed out. I bake. But I don’t bake just anything.

I tend to choose projects that take more than average creative energy and many steps. Why? You ask. I think it’s because the more brain cells that are occupied on my baking project leave less to be occupied with the “thing” that is stressing me out. Make sense? So basically I just admitted that I have limited brain cells. Hmmm… maybe that has something to do with my memory (or lack thereof). LOL

It didn’t take long for me to decide what I wanted to bake up.

Actually it just “popped” into my head.

*readers groan simultaneously*

Cupcake POPS!
Recipe from Bakerella

Makes about 40 cupcake pops

INGREDIENTS
1-13X9 baked cake (I used Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake mix)
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 flower shaped cookie cutter (1.25″ wide X .75″ tall)
1 package chocolate candy melt*
1 package pink candy melts**
lollipop sticks
garnish for cupcake (sprinkles, M&Ms)

*I used Mercken brand
**I used Wilton brand

INSTRUCTIONS

Bake a 9×13 cake from a mix or from scratch and cool completely.

Crumble cake into a fine consistency into a large bowl. To make it easy, you can run it through a food processor. Add a can of cream cheese frosting. Blend thoroughly.

Prepare a wax paper lined baking sheet. Roll cake mixture into 1.25-1.5″ size balls and lay on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours. (You can also freeze for about 15 minutes if you are short on time.)

Remember when Martha Stewart said on her show it looked like a turd? LOL. Man I love that woman.

[NOTES: I used my digital scale and weighed each cake ball at about 1.0 oz]

Remove cake balls from refrigerator and begin to shape into cupcakes using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter. Take the chilled ball and roll it into a “log” shape and slide bottom into cookie cutter. Push it into cutter halfway. Then push the shaped cupcake carefully out of the cookie cutter from the bottom. Set right side up on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining balls. Cover and return to refrigerator overnight. (You can also freeze for 5-10 minutes.)

I made some cupcake pops and some bites.

Melt brown and pink candy melts per package instructions in large bowls. Remove naked cupcake pops (NCP) from freezer and prepare another wax paper covered cookie sheet. Take the NCP and dip bottoms into the melted chocolate halfway – just to where the “cupcake top” starts. Lift from chocolate and shake so that the excess chocolate drips off. Then lay on the wax paper “cupcake top” side. Insert the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is still wet. Continue with rest of the cupcakes. (Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms.)

Let chocolate set completely, about 15-20 minutes. Once set, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the pink chocolate until the “cupcake top” is completely covered. Rotate and let excess chocolate drip off. Place an M&M on the top and add sprinkles. Let set upright in a styrofoam block.

To complete the presentation, cover the cupcake pops in a little plastic bag and tie with a ribbon.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He was very impressed with how “cute” and tasty they were but requested that red velvet would have been better with cream cheese frosting than the chocolate cake. One track mind.

Wifey rating: A+
These are so fun and whimsical for any occasion and they are pretty darn delicious too! Call me silly but I am also excited to cross “cupcake pops” off my baking bucket list now! w00t!

Other rating: A+
I brought some cupcake pops over to see my godsons. J, age 5, loved them (esp the green M&Ms pops because that’s his favorite color) and E, age 18 months, had more end up on his shirt than in his mouth but he cried when mommy took it away so I think that means he liked it. HAHA