Santa Hat & Christmas Tree Cakepops

Oooooo..!!! Merry Christmas some more everybody.!!! Hadta make more cakepops. Obviously. Tis the season and all...so this time, I made peppermint fudge cakepops...in the shape of santa hats..and christmas trees...respectfully. First, I mixed up a chocolate cake mix but added an additional egg, a package of instant white chocolate pudding and pie filling mix (a 4-serving size box), and 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract. BAKE. Then when the cake has cooled, crumble it up and mix with 3/4 a tub of vanilla icing (I added some peppermint extract to that too.!) & form balls of cake..THEN FREEZE THEM. or that's what I do at least. When you're ready to decorate..! I recommend only working with 2 or 3 at a time- leave the rest in the freezer, because they are easier to work with when they are more frozen..and solid...frozen solid some might say. For the Santa Hat, I decided to use yogurt covered cranberries for the ball of the hat. Once I opened the bag, I realized that the cranberries were kinda gross looking, so I dipped them in white candy melts first to fully cover all the cranberry..ness.. Meanwhile, I shaped the balls of cake into more hat-like, cone shapes, and also dipped the base of each hat in the white coating.. and inserted a stick into each..to make them cakepops. I then covered the rest of each cakepop with melted red candy coating, and stuck a cranberry on the top of each. EASY. (As cakepops are drying between stages of decorating, stick them in foam  blocks. It just makes your life easier) For the Christmas Tree Cakepops, similarly form each cake ball into a cone shape, but more like a christmas tree than a hat this time. After sticking each onto a stick...dip into melted green candy coating...and decorate however you like to appear christmastree-esque.! Since I already had star sprinkles, I topped each of my trees with a star sprinkle, and then used a variety of other sprinkles to make unique, beautiful Christmas Tree cakepops. GO WILD.!!! ...& Happy Holidays n stuff :) enjoy.!

Cranberrry Chai Cupcakes

Okay, so I didn't make up this recipe..but I did find it & thought it would be delicious- and it SO WAS.! ... & a perfect excuse to make your own blend of chai with this yummy wintery cupcake. First I piped white candy melts into snowflake shapes on a baking sheet covered with wax paper, and sprinkled with white nonpareil sprinkles to better emulate snowflakes.! After setting that aside, I used a coffee grinder to grind 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, and then mixed them in a bowl with 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 2 teaspoons ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper= your chai spice seasoning.! wonderful. The cupcakes themselves are flavored with a tablespoon of freshly made chai seasoning and 3/4 a cup of chopped up fresh cranberries.! For the cream cheese icing I also added 2 teaspoons of the chai seasoning. YUM :)

Snoopy Giant Cookie

This may be one of my favorite things I've made- what's not to love.?! I realize that this isn't technically a cake..or a cake at all. GET OVER IT. :) I thought a cake was a bit much to make for one person but wanted to make something special for my best friend Smink's birthday..so I thought a giant cookie would be a fun surprise...but a giant PUMPKIN cookie would be EVEN BETTER.!! ..especially if it was Snoopy themed.! Thus, this is what I ended up with..although you don't realize how gigantic a cookie this really is until you make it. I found this basic recipe: (http://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/08/mm-chocolate-chip-cookie-cake/)   & then tweaked it a bit by adding a cup of pumpkin, using only brown sugar, adding pecans and a LOT of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, & omitting the M&Ms.! I created the Snoopy and Woodstock figures a few days before with colorflow icing that I then let dry completely. For icing, I combined butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & a bit of milk to reach the correct consistency. Notice the Woodstocks' festive celebratory purple bowties- they're my favorite :)

Reindeer & Gingerbread Men Cakepops

Merry Christmas everybody.!!! :D Since each batch of cakepops makes sooooo many cakepops..I decided to make both reindeer AND gingerbread men gingerbread cakepops.! For cakepops, I generally use a cake mix and tub of icing (I know, I know O_o)..everything else I make pretty much ever is completely homemade..because it tastes better..and is better..but for cakepops, you know you'll always end up with the right consistency & texture if you use a boxed cake mix and 3/4 a tub of icing. Your call. Anyways..to make my gingerbread cakepops, I started with a yellow cake mix, but added yummy things like molasses, ginger, pumpkin/apple pie spice, and cinnamon. I also added a bit of cinnamon and ginger to the vanilla icing I used. For the reindeer, I first formed their antlers out of brown gumpaste which I left out to dry. I then took the previously formed cakepop balls out of the freezer a few at a time (the more solidified they are, the easier they are to work with), and formed a reindeer head shape..with little ears on the side. I then dipped each reindeer in dark chocolate candy coating, and then quickly added the antlers, black chocolate pieces for the eyes, and a red chocolate piece for the nose.! For the gingerbread men, I molded vague gingerbread like shapes which I then stuck back into the freezer for a few extra minutes. After dipping each in the same dark chocolate candy coating, I used various sprinkles (snowflake and christmas tree shaped.!!) for buttons and piped on extra detail with white chocolate candy coating.!