sweet inspiration & fun baking ideas

Chirp! Chirp!

I had wanted to make these bluebird cake pops around Easter, but I decided on these bunny cake pops instead. I sketched out my birdie ideas and tucked the paper away for later. When I came across the sketch the other day, I decided I had to make them this weekend to share with my mom. They’re pretty cute for Mother’s Day – plus, I didn’t want to wait until next spring for a reason to see how they would turn out.

To shape the heads, mold cake balls so they are bigger at the top than the bottom and have a slight indentation on the front side. If you were to look at them in profile, it might look like a big, round bean shape. Hmmm or a big round kidney shape. : )

And if you need the basic cake pop instructions to get started, check them out here.

I made these little birdies blue, but they’d be cute in pink or yellow, too. How fun would they be for a baby shower. And of course they’d work for Spring and Easter time, too. Plus, all yellow would be great for Tweetie Birds.

Or make them any time. Cute is always in season.

I wanted the bluebirds to have big eyes. So I had to improvise a little bit… with these Marshmallow Bits.

I usually use white confetti sprinkles for eyes because the size and shapes work so well. They come in mini, regular and jumbo sizes. But the mini and regular size was too small and the jumbo was too big.

So I went into my sprinkle stash for a solution.

If you flatten marshmallow bits, (smaller than mini marshmallows) they are the perfect size for big eyes. Just use a flat surface to press the bits onto wax paper. Attach them to the cake pop with melted candy coating and you can add details to make them look less like visitors from outer space.

Big pupils and eyelashes go a long way don’t you think? Yes, much better.

You can draw them on with a black edible ink pen. I like using Americolor pens. Then you can dot the eyes with melted white candy coating to finish them off.

But eyes weren’t enough. I wanted them to have flower bonnets for spring.

Sometimes I like using a toothpick to apply melted coating instead of a squeeze bottle. It can be easier to control where the coating goes since you are working on a small round surface. Easier for me anyway. Draw on the bonnet and straps on either side of the head with the toothpick. And after applying the melted coating, just add some small sprinkles on top to represent flowers while the coating is still wet.

I used these powder blue nonpareils for tiny flowers, green daisy sprinkles for a large accent flower and yellow rainbow chip sprinkles for the beaks.

Then you just need some ribbon to finish the bonnets off…

… with a pretty little bow.

Hope you find a reason to make these. They’ll bring big, bright smiles.

I’m so glad I didn’t wait to try them, because I love them. My mom did too. But you know – I think she would have loved anything I made. Last year I was on dialysis and this year because of her, I’m not. We were both just happy and grateful to enjoy Mother’s Day together… without me feeling sick. Can you believe it’s been almost a year since the transplant? Mom … you deserve Mother’s Day every day and so much more. I love you.

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I often receive emails from people sharing how much they love cake pops or how much cake pops have made a difference in their lives. It’s incredible to see and read how far reaching they are…and how much joy they bring. I could have never imagined how many people would be making them or how many ways they would touch lives when I was just playing around in my kitchen trying to make something cute. I have certainly wiped away tears many times from the kind words and beautiful stories shared with me over the years.

This is one of them shared with me this week from the folks at Kohl’s and how cake pops were used to represent a world with less breast cancer and more birthdays.

::::::::::::::::: From Kohl’s :::::::::::::::::

Greetings Bakerella!!

I wanted to share a few photos with you from the 2012 American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk that took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday, May 5. As part of the festivities, there were more than 8,000 cake pops on a 12 ft. birthday cake. Instead of pop sticks, the cake pops were on birthday candles representing the “Wish for a World with Less Breast Cancer and More Birthdays.”

I wanted to be sure you saw these because you created the cake pop! And, as this event was so inspiring, the cake pops just added to the fun and awareness of the cause. It’s not every day you see a cake filled with 8,000 cake pops!

C. Adam’s Bakery in Milwaukee worked day and night to complete the 8,000 plus order. They custom made a “pink velvet” center to go along with the event theme and the cake pops were delicious!

Best,
Ale

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The cake pop filled birthday cake. Amazing.

And if you’ve ever made cake pops, you have a pretty good idea how incredible this is. Very impressive C. Adam’s Bakery!

The cake was part of a Birthday Bash Kohl’s hosted for participants of the walk. In addition to being a presenting sponsor, Kohl’s has also committed nearly $5 million over three years to American Cancer Society’s Midwest Division to support breast health programs.

I think that’s pretty awesome.

Here’s a little recap video Kohl’s made from the event if you’d like to hear what they’re doing in the fight against breast cancer or if you’d like to see the cake in motion.

Thank you Kohl’s for everything you’re doing! Thank you C. Adam’s for your hard work!

And thank you and hugs to every one of you who have personally made cake pops for a cause and used them for good. Whether it’s 8,000 cake pops or 8, my heart smiles every time I hear a story like this.

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Okay, so I got a bit excited about jars and handheld pies my last post. Individual desserts. Portable pies. Personal puddings. Endless possibilities.

Then Saturday I found some little jars and scooped them right up.

I wanted to make a banana pudding for my mom. Similar to this one that I usually make and that she loves.

I make it. She makes it and so does my sister. It’s easy and creamy. And cold. We like it cold.

I thought individual puddings would be fun to bring over on Mother’s Day, but I couldn’t wait to use the jars so she’s getting treats early.

Not all of them. I’m keeping one or two. You know for investigative purposes.

The jars work great to contain and carry desserts and definitely make a dessert more special.

This time I changed the pudding up just a little… adding peanut butter, cookies and chocolate.

And I started with a vanilla wafer crust.

Crush cookies. Mix with sugar and butter and press in the bottom.

The next layer was a melted mixture of chocolate and peanut butter.

And the next layer … vanilla pudding combined with COOL WHIP Whipped Topping.

Fold it in to the pudding to make it light and creamy.

Then layer the pudding in the jars and fill it with banana and broken peanut butter cookie pieces. Drizzle more chocolate and add more pudding.

Looks good.

And then put a lid on it.

You can add your own custom label and make it more special. These canning jars can easily secure the label under the lid.

I love that I can carry these to my mom’s and she can have her own… but so can I. Win. Win.

So what does your mom like? Are you making her anything yummy for Mother’s Day?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

30 vanilla wafers
3 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons sugar

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup peanut butter

2 – 3.4 oz packages vanilla pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
8 oz. container COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed in refrigerator

Nutter Butters, about 16 broken in small pieces
3 medium bananas
lemon juice

4 – 1 pint glass jars with lids

• Crush the vanilla wafers in a food processor or in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin.
• Add sugar and melted butter and stir together until crumbly.
• Press the mixture into the bottom of glass jars.
• Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave on medium. When melted, stir in the peanut butter until completely combined.
• Spoon about 2 tablespoons of melted chocolate on top of the crushed vanilla wafer base.
• To make pudding, combine pudding mixes with milk and beat with a mixer or wire whisk for two minutes.
• Slowly fold COOL WHIP Whipped Topping into the pudding. Don’t over mix.
• Slice bananas and dip in lemon juice to help prevent them from turning brown too soon.
• Then layer bananas, cookies and pudding into the jar. Drizzle more chocolate and layer more pudding.
• Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Notes: You can change this up as much as you like. Eliminate the peanut butter. Don’t want chocolate? Want to try a different cookie? No problem.
You can even forget about the crushed vanilla wafer base and go all pudding. But if you do want the base, you can also just use peanut butter cookies in place of wafers. I probably would have done that too, if I hadn’t crushed my wafers too soon. : ) You can also just layer everything in one big dish.

Update: Mom loved them. But we both agree that the chocolate would be better if it were not layered on top of the crust. So first place some bananas, cookies or pudding and then a layer of chocolate so it won’t such a hard surface to break through at the bottom.

And update 2: I didn’t include the labels originally because the file crashed before I saved it. But I received several comments and emails that you would like it so I recreated it tonight for you.

Here you go: Pudding Jar Labels

This post is sponsored by COOL WHIP Whipped Topping. Join them on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it. #coolwhipmoms . Sponsored posts are editorial content presented by a participating sponsor. Sponsors do not produce the content.

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I thought it would be fun to share some books I’ve been wanting to bake from. Just some of the sweet reads sitting on my shelf. Well, actually they are on my mantle and on my floor because I am in desperate need of a bookshelf to house them all and keep them cozy.

They pretty much stay stacked to save space. I can get more stacks on my mantle that way. But you know – the book I want to pull down is always the one on the bottom. Of course. But do I unstack them to get to the one I need? Of course not. I strain and push and wiggle to lift the ones on top and try to inch the one I want out.

It’s never pretty.

Thank goodness all of these books are.

Let’s take a quick peek at them and hopefully you can help me decide which one to use first.

Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson
Photographs by Eric Wolfinger

This is a big, beautiful book of bread. And it scares me a little. I haven’t worked with dough or yeast a lot. But I want to learn. I want to make bread! And this book from the legendary Tartine Bakery in San Francisco is gonna help me. One day.

Ultimate Cookies by Julia Usher
Photographs by Steve Adams

Let me just say that this book could just as easily be placed in the art section as it is in the cookbook section. Julia’s cookie designs and attention to detail are absolutely amazing. Her piping work is impeccable and a little intimidating too. But she has lots of pictures and instructions to help you along the way.

Sugarlicious by Meaghan Mountford

Cute treats and fun sweets. This book is full of whimsical projects to that are easy to make and decorate for any occasion. And many of them kids can make, too.

Handheld Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Rachel Wharton
Photographs by Ellen Silverman

Umm… Pies? In my hand? Sold. Tiny treats in any form are hard for me to resist. And so was this cover. The book is divided into freeform pies, structured pies and jar pies. Too cute.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond

Hey Ree – Thank you for including so many sweets in your beautiful cookbook. The Coffee Cream Cake is calling me. But so are all the other recipes. Maybe I should just start at the top and check each one off. If they are as good as the Chocolate Sheet Cake in your first book, I am in trouble.

Sweet Auburn Desserts by Sonya Jones
Photographs by Deborah Llewellyn

That’s a cover, huh. Completely captivating. I can’t stop looking at it and I think my heart just started racing.
Sweet Auburn Bakery is located in Atlanta and I can’t believe I haven’t visited yet. I must correct that immediately. Oh and stack cakes just moved up on the to-bake list. Oh my. Oh! My!

The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day

Look how adorable these two are. This book is from another Southern bakery and it makes me want to jump in the car and head straight to Savannah, GA to visit their charming shop. Turning the pages, each dessert is more tempting than the next. And there’s savories inside, too. Bacon Jam empanadas and the ham and cheese pastry puffs have my name all over them.

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book by Jake Godby, Sean Vahey and Paolo Lucchesi
Photographs by Frankie Frankeny

With ice cream flavors like Secret Breakfast, Rosemary’s Baby and Fat Elvis … and more than 300K twitter followers, I want to know more about this little ice cream shop in San Francisco. When they say ice cream with attitude, they mean it.

Joy the Baker Cookbook by Joy Wilson

Oh Joy. Your book is a total biggie. I remember when we chatted at the book signing I had in Santa Monica and you were just starting it. Can you believe? Look at the amazingness you made. So happy for you! Oh… and those Baked Chili Cheese Fries… help me. P.S. Great arms!

Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli
Photographs by Antonis Achilleos

With a title like that, how can you go wrong. Divided by vanilla cookies, double chocolate cookies, oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, special cookies, family favorites, brownies and bars … milk is definitely mandatory.

Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever
Photographs by Leigh Beisch

I love this cover!!! Love it. I want to wallpaper my kitchen in it! All I know is marshmallows will be happening soon. I just need a better candy thermometer first and then look out.

Pie it Forward by Gesine Bullock-Prado
Photographs by Tina Rupp

Pies, tarts, tortes and galettes. Yes, yes, yes and yes! Filled with tons of recipes and a passion to pie it forward, Gesine’s book should make any pie lover happy.

The Divvies Bakery Cookbook by Lori Sandler

I’ve had this book for a little while now and have meant to bake from it way before now. All the recipes are vegan and some are gluten free, too. If you have a need for egg, nut or dairy free, you might want to check it out. You can order online from them, too.

The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando
Photographs by Tara Striano

An encyclopedia of cookies. Oh yes. Buttery, chocolaty, fancy, fruity, spicy and nutty cookies fill the pages of this super cute book. It lays flat, too. Love that.

Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw
Photographs by Eric Wolfinger

I’ve baked from this book before but I couldn’t help showing it again. It’s really beautiful and one of the few books that I want to make almost everything inside. P.S. I have a recipe in the book, too. Fun!

Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts by Mark and Michael Klebeck with Jess Thomson
Photographs by Scott Pitts

I didn’t make it to Top Pot Doughnuts when I was in Seattle, but hopefully I can fix that one day soon. I love cake doughnuts and old fashioned doughnuts. Okay, I love any doughnuts. Except filled. Can’t do filled so much.

Les Petits Macarons by Kathryn Gordon and Anne McBride
Photographs by Steve Legato

I love these little cookie confections. I’ve made them a couple of times, but not enough to feel confident with them, so I scooped up this cute book for inspiration.

Push-Up Pops from Courtney Dial Whitmore
Photographs Kyle Dreier

Hey Courtney! Thanks for sending me your book. I have my push-up pop containers and I’m ready to go. Can’t wait to play with them.

The Sugar Cube by Kir Jensen with Danielle Centoni
Photographs by Lisa Warninger

Twisted treats from the heart of this sweet little food cart in Portland. And yes, those are chocolate chips drizzed in caramel on top of that cupcake. This one looks like it will be fun to dive in to.

Sugar Baby by Gesine Bullock-Prado
Photographs by Tina Rupp

This book is mostly about cooking with sugar instead of baking with it. Working on the stove instead of the oven. And yes, you can make your own rock candy at home. Super excited about that one. The recipes are divided by temperature so a good candy thermometer would be helpful.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer
Photographs by Stacy Newgent

I love everything about this book. The topic, the design, the unique flavors, the way the ice cream recipes are photographed. And I would love it more if I owned an ice cream machine so I could make some too. In the meantime, I just read that Jeni started selling some of her flavors at The Fresh Market last week – Yay for us! And you can also order them online.

Flour by Joanne Chang with Christie Matheson
Photographs by Keller + Keller

Spectacular recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery fill the pages of this mouth-watering book. Nutella tarts, chocolate brioche, and brown sugar popovers sound like a good place to start.

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Phew – That wasn’t as quick as I expected but I hope you enjoyed this sweet peek.

So, which book or books would you want to bake from first?

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, just answer that question here on the website and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $150 Amazon gift card so you can pick out a bunch of books to bake from – or anything else you’d rather get from their site.

Deadline to enter is Thursday, May 3rd at 6 p.m. ET. Sorry, Time’s Up. Winner announced below.

One winner will be chosen at random and announced sometime Thursday evening.

Good luck guys!

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Oh my. That was fun. I really like reading what you guys like. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing with me. I picked the winner and the gift certificate is going to Dawn H! Yay! Looks like you will be able to bring a little bit of Tartine right to your own kitchen. Have fun shopping and deciding.

Giveaway sponsored by me.

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I made some cute chocolate cupcakes for you today.

And they’re mini, too. It’s hard to tell in this picture I know.

But because the cupcakes were mini, I was able to use chocolate chips to dress them up as sweet little pandas.

Chocolate chip covered pandas that are super easy to make.

First frost your cupcakes. Use a decorator bag with Ateco Tip #807 and you can whiz right through this part.

Pipe a small mound of frosting on top. You don’t need to cover the cupcake completely.

Because you will be pressing it into a bowl of sanding sugar to cover all the frosting. And when you do, the frosting will spread out and cover most of the top.

Like so.

Then you can start making panda faces.

Insert a chocolate chip sideways and towards the bottom for a nose.

Then press two chips pointed side down into the frosting to start on the eyes and two more in position for the ears.

I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips because they are a little larger in diameter and were better for panda proportions.

And the great thing about covering them in sanding sugar first, is that you can easily reshape the face if necessary without getting frosting all over your fingers.

If you want to add mouths, try black or chocolate jimmies and press them into the frosting.

Then you just need to finish the eyes.

Use a black edible ink pen to draw on white confetti sprinkles for dotted eyes and then attach them to the chips with a tiny bit of frosting to hold them in place.

You could also just pipe frosting on for eyes if you want to skip the pin and sprinkles.

There you go. Easy little pandas.

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup hot water

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Fill mini cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
• In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together with a wire whisk.
• Add eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix until combined.
• Add hot water and mix.
• Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Cool and decorate.

To decorate, you’ll need:

• Frosting (I used the one from this post)
• Decorator bag and Ateco tip 807 (or just use a ziploc bac and cut an end off)
• White sanding sugar
• Chocolate Chips (I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips for their size)
• Jimmies (Chocolate or black and you could also just leave them off)
• Pastel confetti sprinkles (just the white ones)
• Black edible ink pen

Enjoy!

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