Red Velvet and Carrot Cupcake Pops!

If you have never seen Bakerella's blog you are missing out! She has the cutest ideas and fantastic photos. You may remember an earlier post I did on cake balls which I also found on her site. Though she did not make up cake pops, she has great instructions. These cupcake pops, however, are a Bakerella orginal. If you need more instructions she has a video of her making these on the Martha Stewart Show. Since I wanted to do two types of cake and the decorating part of these yummy treats takes a while, I opted for cake mixes. The recipe below is for one cake type so just double for 2 cakes. Note - Constantly refrigerating after each step helps them to maintain the cupcake shape and prevents them from leaving crumbs in the chocolate.


What you need:
-Cooled fully baked 9x13 cake (any flavor)
-1 Can of cream cheese frosting
-Mini flower cookie cutter to shape the bottom
-Lollipop sticks (about 50 for one cake)
-Almond bark or candy melts in chocolate/brown
-Almond bark or candy melts in another color (white/pink/etc)
-Sprinkles!
-M&Ms (one for each pop - I used one color for each type of pop)
-Styrofoam for drying (or something comparable) - use a stick to pre-make holes

What to do:
1. Crumble the cooled cake into fine crumbles. (A food processor would be fantastic for this, but I just did it by hand)
2. Mix in the whole can of cream cheese frosting
3. Form into balls and place on a pan lined with wax paper (you may have to wash your hands a few times)
4. Refrigerate for a couple hours or chill in the freezer for 15 minutes
5. Remove chilled balls from the fridge and roll into cylinders. Using the cookie cutter, shape cylinder into cupcakes.

6. Place cupcake shapes back in the fridge or freezer to chill.



7. Melt chocolate according to package instructions (I microwaved on half power for 30 seconds about 2 times). Stir after every 30 seconds. Be careful not to get water in your chocolate!


8. Remove cupcakes from fridge and dip the bottoms in the chocolate. Place a lollipop stick in them and let cool upside down. Place in fridge.

9. Prepare colored candy melts according to instructions.
10. Remove half dipped pops from the fridge and dip in pink/white/colored chocolate.
11. Immediately place M&M on top and add sprinkles.
12. Stick in Styrofoam with pre-made holes to cool. Store in airtight containers or cover with individual candy bags.

Hot Mocha Rum Soufflés

Hot Mocha Rum Soufflés Oh My! I was at this discount baking store the other day that I am just a teensy bit obsessed with, and I bought this really cool pan (so of course I had to use it in my next post)! Luckily I have this giant book of desserts (by Martha Day) of which I picked out this recipe (and slightly modified it).



Here is what you need:
6 ramekins and a walled baking sheet (I only had four so yes I did waste a little)
2 tbs unsalted melted butter (for greasing ramekins)
generous 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
generous 1/3 cup of sugar
4tbs strong coffee (I used instant espresso/hot water)
2 tbs dark rum
6 egg whites
powdered sugar for dusting

The Steps:
1. Fill baking sheet with one inch of water and place in oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


2. Grease ramekins with butter. (dump out any that pools)


3. Mix 2 tsps of the cocoa with 1 tbs of the sugar and coat each ramekin with a thin layer.


4. Mix the remaining cocoa powder with the coffee and rum in a medium/large bowl.


5. Whisk egg whites until they form firm peaks. Whisk in remaining sugar.


6. Stir a generous spoonful of egg whites into cocoa mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest of the whites.


7. Spoon mix into prepared baking dishes and smooth tops. Place on hot baking sheet (the one from the oven), and bake 12-15 minutes or until well risen.


8. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
They taste like molten lava cakes so grab some vanilla ice cream to go with it!