Cake Pop Probs…

Cake pops and I have a complicated love/hate relationship. I absolutely love the idea of cake pops and I love making cake pops. Whenever I have a lot of cake scraps, I make cake pops with them and everybody loves them! … Except for me.
You see, a few summers ago, my sister and I spent a lot of time making cakes and cake pops with my grandma. I had a lot of fun and those were some of my first great cakes that inspired me to start baking on my own. But I ate so many cake pops that summer and I got so sick of them that it still to this day makes me feel sick to eat them. I guess that could be a good thing though. Everyone else loves them so I can make however many I want and sell them but not be tempted to eat them! Brilliant!
Making cake pops is a great way to get rid of left over cake scraps and they make great party favors and valentines.

Petit Fours

Last weekend I made petit fours for the first time and they turned out pretty good. (I’ll post my recipe when it’s perfected) But I had a lot of cake scraps and glaze left over so I decided to make cake pops! They turned out splendidly but there were a few struggles along the way. Usually I use a dense cake for my cake pops because it stays together more easily with less frosting but the petit fours were really light and I was using the glaze to stick it together instead of icing. It was a bit harder and I was worried that it was going to taste a little grainy but I just went with it. They still weren’t holding up very well so I put them in the freezer for a bit before I dipped them in the chocolate… bad idea. You cant dip something freezing cold in melting chocolate that hardens when it gets cold. It hardens and gets all clumpy before you can pull it out! So I just waited a little while for them to warm up a little bit. All was good after that and I decorated them and wrapped them up and gave them to my family and friends and they all loved them!

This time I used real chocolate for the designs but I’m gonna let you guys in on a little secret. I use the candy melts from Micheal’s to coat my cake pops… I know… All my instincts tell me “Just use real chocolateeee!!!” and I probably will start using real chocolate one day when I figure out a good way to color it but right now it’s just a lot easier to use the candy melts. That’s the way my grandma does it and that’s the way I’m gonna go it until further notice. Let me know if you guys have any tips! 🙂

Thankful for pie

Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and raisin pie.

Hello lovely people! I know it’s a little late but how was your thanksgiving? Mine was turkeytastic! It was so good to have some of my family and friends all together to enjoy a lovely thanksgiving meal. We had about 15 people come over but we started cooking a few days before so we had plenty of food.
Everyone chipped in a little bit. I was in charge of the dessert! I made 5 different pies. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pecan pie, and vinegar raisin pie.

If you didn’t already know, this thanksgiving was also Hanukkah so I put a little pie crust menorah on top of the apple pie (that also helped to cover up some of the places where I ripped the pie crust. It was my first time making a pie with a top crust.) I used a recipe for the filling but I thought it needed something so I added some fresh squeezed lemon juice. It turned out delicious and most people said it was their favorite of all the pies I made.

I also made a vinegar raisin pie with a vodka pie crust. I got the recipe for it from one of the chefs at NOCCA. It was her family’s recipe. We made it for our pie of the month a few months ago and I knew I had to try making it at home. It’s a delicious pie but it’s a bit hard to explain. Most people just decide they won’t like it as soon as they hear “vinegar raisin pie” but you don’t really taste the vinegar. The only reason for the vinegar is to balance out the sweetness in the pie. I think if I make it again I’m just going to call it raisin pie because that’s really what it is. My brother is pretty picky so I just told him it was raisin pie and he loved it.

Most of my memories of pie are of pies made by my aunt Heather. Her pies have always been my favorite so I asked her if I could use her recipes for my pie crusts and my pumpkin and pecan pies. She said yes! She felt so honored that I asked her for her recipe but I felt so honored to be able to use her recipes! They turned out great! I used the crust recipe for all of the pies I made except the raisin pie. Her pumpkin pie recipe called for evaporated milk and I didn’t have any so I used half milk, half eggnog. The eggnog made it taste really good.

I had extra filling from the pumpkin and pecan pies so I put them together and made a pumpkin pecan pie. I had tried a pumpkin pecan pie before from We’ve Got Soul where the pumpkin and pecan was layered so I attempted to layer the fillings by cooking the pumpkin in there for a few minutes before I put the pecan in but when I put the pecan in the fillings just mixed together. It still tasted great though. I’ll definitely make it again next time.

Even though we spend most of our thanksgivings cooking and eating, the real point of thanksgiving is to be thankful for what we have. This year I’m thankful for food and the great opportunities I have at NOCCA. I’m also thankful for my family and friends and that we’re all healthy and happy. What are you thankful for?