Stay Safe & Soapy

How are you guys doing during this crazy time? I’m trying my best to stay safe over here and that includes lots of hand washing to try to avoid getting this virus that’s affecting people and places all over the world. It’s definitely not a fun time right now, and I decided I needed to add some cute to my self-imposed quarantine. I’m a big worrier by nature, so I can’t seem to relax lately. But making cake pops always seems to help.

If you’ve ever made them before, then you know how therapeutic they can be. It’s usually a time I set aside and spend in total focus trying to make something super cute, and usually when I do, all my other thoughts wash away. So these sweet soapy cake pops seemed like the right thing to make. Plus, little bars are a lot cuter than a soapy pump dispenser don’t you think.

To make them, you can follow my basic cake pops instructions here and then follow the directions below to shape, dip and decorate. I just made a few of these with some leftover cake I had in the freezer, but if I had baked a cake for this, I think I would have gone with strawberry for the color.

Okay, you should have some rolled cake balls on wax paper ready to go.

• You can use a rectangular cutter to easily shape these little soap bars. Here’s the cutter set on amazon that I have.
• Flatten the ball slightly to make sure it will fill the shape and then cut it out.
• After that, flatten it even more if needed by pressing the side of your cutter against it. Don’t flatten too much though because you need to leave enough space for your lollipop stick to be inserted.
• Then use a smaller cutter with a flat side to press and make an obvious indent in the middle.

Note: If you don’t have cutters like these, you can shape the rectangles by hand. Flatten and slide the balls against the wax paper for a flat surface, then repeat and rotate several times on each side to achieve sharp edges. Using wax paper like this really helps to make smooth surfaces. Then for the indentation, get creative with a small flat kitchen utensil that would be smaller than the shape of the rectangular.

Okay, here we go.

It’s important to mention again, that you don’t want to flatten these too much. There needs to be enough room in between the indented area and back of the cake pop to insert a lollipop stick that also allows enough cake pop mixture for support… otherwise it will fall right off when you dip it.

But the nice thing about these cake pops is you only need one color of candy coating to decorate them.

And if you want to add bubbles, then look for sugar pearls in different sizes. The large ones in the individual package on top are sixlets.

Insert the tip of a lollipop stick into candy coating and then into thickest part of the flat bottom of the cake pop. The layer of coating will reduce the size of the indentation so it is more subtle.

While the coating is still wet, go ahead and attach the white candies and sugar pearls in random positions to represent the soapy bubbles. Then let dry completely.

For a more pronounced indentation, you can apply candy coating around the edge using a toothpick and let it dry before dipping. Here you can see that there is more of a difference in depth.

For faces, I just used confetti sprinkles for eyes and cheeks and a black edible ink writing pen for smiles and expressions. Then I dotted the eyes with coating. Usually I use white, but I didn’t feel like melting a second color and the light pink totally works.

You can also spell out soap on the front of your bars. Go ahead and use a toothpick to etch letters into the candy coating to use as a guide. Wipe off the candy coating shavings. Then dip your toothpick into melted and fluid candy coating and use it to draw carefully on the surface. You can also try using a squeeze bottle, but I felt like I had more control with the toothpick.

Voila … So Soooo-apy cute!

And the only time I wouldn’t mind having soap in my mouth. : )

Hope these brought a little smile and brightened your day.