Cake Bites are done!

Okay now that the cake bites have frozen really hard, it's time to dip them
With a double boiler (or a pot with a metal pan on top) boil the water and melt your candy/almond bark.
I bought the Wilton's candy melts, available at pretty much any craft/baking store in lots of colors. I got white because I have some food color gels that I was trying to see if we could achieve the right fushia color we need. It didn't come out the right color but I will have to work on that. I used a fork and spatula to dip in and roll around.

At first the candy mix was going on the bites really nice, no drips, no mess, but then when the melted coating got too melted and hot it doesn't stay put on your pop as well, it got  gloppy and grainy. So I learned it's best to let it be a bit cooler. I also read the package and that was what it said. The cake even started to crumble off and go into the candy. Well here are the bad ones...

So the lesson here is to keep the candy at a constant heat and be quick about dipping. I didn't do any decorations.
Here is a site that will amaze you and possibly make you feel bad about yourself, be sure to check out Bakerella's blog.
Let them set up in the fridge.
Okay so as I'm now sitting here eating these watching my thighs expand, I was talking to my friend who wants to have these at her daughters baby shower and we decided to make cupcake pops. This blog makes them look sooooooo easy. I think I might have to practice before the shower! 

xoxo

"Celebrating Teens" Photo Challenge

At I heart faces they are having another contest for

Celebrating Teens” Photo Challenge

I was trying all day to get a good picture of my son who by the way was 15. He kept turning around so that I couldn't take the picture, so like a good mom I decided to just take a picture of his back. This turned out to be my favorite picture of the day.

xoxo
 

Cake Bites Cont......

Okay I forgot to take a picture of the cake when I was crumbing it and before I made the balls. I am kinda bad at this for blog land people. I will try harder from now on. So I'll just go ahead and just describe what I did....

    The next step is to crumb your cake. I had just cleaned the kitchen and put all the dishes away from dinner so I used two forks to just start making crumbs of the cake, you want to make it into very fine crumbs with no lumps. I did this in sections. You can just use your hands to do this if it seems easier to you.
    Now we need frosting. These cake bites can be made with canned frosting or homemade. I made cream cheese frosting from scratch.  Here's the recipe I used:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract

6 oz cream cheese

Cream butter and cream cheese with mixer on low speed. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the confectioners sugar and mix on low speed, about 30 seconds. Drizzle in the extract. Mix for another 30 seconds, or until smooth.
I have to say I just added the ingredients without measuring (I'm that kind of cook) so these are not super accurate measurements, I'm one of those taste as you go bakers.

    Add your frosting to your cake crumbs (in a large bowl).
Add the frosting a bit at a time until you had a consistency that would roll into a ball, but not too mushy. Mine was a bit on the mushy side but I put it in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour to stiffen it a bit.

   (Okay don't laugh at my lopsided balls - my family laughed and made comments on what they looked like, but not one of them disliked the taste, remember these are the first batch and only a test)
    Roll all that mushy cake into balls. I made mine smaller than a ping-pong ball. I just kept thinking I wanted them small enough to just pop into my mouth. I used a Tupperware container to line up the balls, then put waxed paper on top and made another row, then I put the cover on and put the whole thing into the freezer. 
Well the cake bites are in the freezer right now and I'm on my way out the door to go to Michael's to get the Almond Bark to make the coating for the bites! I'll make the next post and tell you how they turn out.


xoxo

Cake Pops {Bites}

While looking around the internet at some really talented people who are baking wonderful tiny desserts, I found this really cute idea to try.

I'm really mad at myself because today at a yard sale I passed up a tartlet pan (for a quarter ` that is 25 cents!) that I didn't think I needed. Well now that I've been asked to make cake bites for a baby shower, I of course need that pan. Oh well such is life.
There are so many different methods of making these. So I spent a whole afternoon researching just how to make these adorable little treats.
So I'm starting a trial batch of the cake bites tonight. I'll let you know how things went.

Later that night...
Here's an overview of the way I'm making the cake bites
Bake a 13x9 cake.
You can bake any type of cake you like. Boxed mix or from scratch. I decided to use a mix, just because I had it handy and this is only a trial. I am going to make these and bring a few to my neighbor who just got home from the hospital, as a happy little gift to feel better. I'm cooking this tonight so it has plenty of time to cool before I crumble it tomorrow. 
Okay here is the pan of chocolate cake mix I mixed up. I think next time I will be making it from scratch. just to test the difference.

Alright now one last tap on the counter to get the bubbles out and into the oven. Tomorrow I will show the crumbled up cake and the frosting mixed in, with more directions. See you then.
xoxo

♥ it's all about babies ♥

Over at i ♥ faces this week's photo challenge theme is "All About Babies"

Okay so here is my entry of my granddaughter. She was 2 months old here. I LOVE photographing newborns... so I was thrilled when I saw this challenge.
She is actually laying on top of my daughter because we couldn't get her to be happy any other way.

Check out more babies at their site

xoxo

Organic

My good friend has an organic house cleaning business and today I was at her house, when I just happen to open a jar of her cleanser, just to smell it. I was so surprised that it smelled so good and it felt good too. Okay so does it really clean? I just had to try it and it cleaned good too. I just might have her come clean my shower (I hate cleaning it) She has a very nice web page too, If you live in Simi Valley or Conejo she's the one to clean your home with an organic touch. I had to give her a plug. I really am proud of her for starting up this cleaning service and making her own organic cleaning products.

xoxo