{recipe: pink velvet xoxo cake pops}

{xoxo}

Since it’s Valentine’s week, I decided to make some valentine’s themed cake pops. This was my first time ever making cake pops and I must say it was a little messy. I did have the handy dandy help of a babycakes cake pop maker which really made the process ten times easier. If you don’t have one, they’re not that expensive and definitely worth it if you are in the pop making business. They even have additional uses which I will be exploring soon.

{it comes with all kinds of goodies}

By the time I was done I had devoured five whole pops (which is the equivalent to one piece of cake in my opinion) and had some cute ones left over to pass out as valentines favors. To keep with the week’s colors I found a great recipe for pink velvet cake at Love from the Oven and dyed my white chocolate melts a nice rosy pink. To decorate my pops I decided to use white sugar crystals and sugar pearls to create x’s and o’s. They looked adorable and were very edible…I checked! The recipe below is tailored to those using a babycakes cake pop maker. If you don’t have one go to the original recipe as it contains another pop making method.

{you start with…}

{then you…}

{after that…}

{later you…}

{then…}

{and after that…}

{almost done…}

Pink Velvet Cakepops:

Servings: 10 - 15

Source: Love from the Oven

Ingredients:

·         1 cup of butter softened

·         1 1/3 cups sugar

·         pink food coloring

·         3 eggs

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

·         1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1/4 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, a perfect substitute is 1 cup of milk mixed w/1 tbsp of vinegar)

·         1 bag of white chocolate melts

How To:

Step 1: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Once light and fluffy add your pink food coloring. Start with a small amount and increase to reach your desired shade of pink. Blend well.

Step 2: Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and beat well.

Step 3: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Step 4: Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter and beat until well combined. Add in 1/2 of the buttermilk, beat until combined, followed by another 1/3 of the dry, then the remaining buttermilk and finally the remaining dry ingredients. The batter may look a bit lumpy after buttermilk is first added, but beat well and it will combine nicely.

Step 5: Plug in your babycakes maker and wait for it to heat up and give you the green light.

Step 6: Add about 1 tbsp of the cake batter to each well in the babycakes maker (or fill close to the top). Then close the pop maker and let bake for about 3½ minutes. It’s that quick!

Step 7: After the pops are done pull them out of the pop maker and set them aside to cool.

Step 8: After they’ve cooled for a few minutes put them in the freezer for another 2-3 minutes.

Step 9: Use a double boiler to melt your white chocolate melts. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a heat-safe bowl in a small saucepan filled with about two inches of boiling water.

Step 10: Once your white chocolate starts to melt, squeeze in a few drops of pink food coloring until you reach your desired pinkness. Keep stirring until all of the chocolate has melted.

Step 11: Take the pops out of the freezer, grab a pop stick, dip it into the chocolate, and then push it into the cake pop. Do this for every cake pop then stick them all in the freezer to harden.

Step 12: Keep stirring the chocolate in the double boiler, then after about 6 minutes take a pop from the freezer, one at a time, and swirl it in the melted chocolate, add your décor (in my case the pearl x’s & o’s), then stick it back in the freezer standing up. You can use a Styrofoam block or the stand that comes with the cake pop maker. Repeat this step for every cake pop.

Step 13: Let your cake pops harden in the freezer for about 10 minutes or so, then take out and enjoy!

{and voila!}

I hope you all enjoy these little cuties! They were fun to make…I can’t wait to see what else I can do with this pop maker!

Bye for now,

The Mrs.

{sweet surprises: valentine treats from loved ones}

{too sweet}

This Valentine’s Day was extra special. While my loved ones were far away from me, they didn’t hesitate to send much love my way. Mom Ellis sent Jesse and me a Valentine’s care package last week filled with chocolate treats, our favorite game---Farkle, and some sweet cards. I woke up this morning to a giant frog with chocolates, left for me by my hubster before he left to catch his flight. Then after being out all day running around town, I came home to another box of chocolates and beautiful flowers from my parents. It’s always nice to get special surprises from the people you love. Now…if only I can figure out a way to keep the pups from attacking our new green monster.

{diy: valentines for your valentine}

Hello!!!

How was your Valentine’s Day? I had a pretty lovely day; I ran some errands, enjoyed a very nice dinner with friends (my valentine is away), and made some cute little valentines for the special people in my life. The valentines were pretty easy to make and turned out very adorable. I think their receivers will be very pleased when they arrive. It may be a little late for these, unless you’re a procrastinator like me, but either way it’s a good project to save on that pinterest board. I made four kinds and used Kraft paper, twine, washi tape, and a sharpie---perfect for the budget conscious crafter.

{so easy, so fun}

Below you’ll find a tutorial for valentines with twine, lovebirds, and bunting.

{first you…}

1. Gather some basic supplies and embellishments. Not seen here—my trusty glue gun and box of colorful papers.

2. Grab a piece of 8x10 paper and fold it in half width-wise. I used brown Kraft paper.

3. Cut your paper along the fold so you have two smaller sheets.

4. Fold your pieces in half width-wise to create two blank card templates. Now you can begin decorating!

{then you…}

5. & 6. Cut out a few shapes or creatures for your valentines. You can use stencils or freehand them. I freehanded my little birds and bunting triangles.

7. Assemble your cut-outs. I added tail feathers to my birds later because they looked like tiny blue t-rexes…haha.

8. I wanted my little birds to sit on a piece of twine with a little heart in-between, so I hot glued it all together. Do this step before you add them to your card.

{to finish you…}

9.  Use an exacto knife to cut a little “x” in your blank card. You will string your twine through here.

10.   Before you string your birds or bunting you should decorate your card, inside and out; it’ll be easier now than later.

11.   Here’s an example of the twine strung through. You want to glue your bunting or birds on the twine before you string the twine through the card though.

12.    Tie a little knot at each end of the twine to keep it in place.

And voila!

{tooling with twine}

The washi tape valentines were the easiest. If you’ve never used washi tape, it’s simply decorative tape. It comes in all kinds of designs and can be found at your craft store or online. It’s a simple detail you can add to almost any project to give it a little pizzazz.

{peel & stick}

13. Add it to the outside edge of your card.

14. Or how about the front to make a simple but cute banner?

{washi tape fun}

It was so much fun to make these and I feel they are a lot more special because they were made by hand.

I hope you enjoy this project!

Love,

Mrs. E.