Cupcake Pops

Cupcake Pops
For complete list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions, check out Bakerella's site! She even has a video demonstration from when she was on Martha!

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While scouring the internet for recipes for my St. Patrick's Day treats (or trash, because that's where they ended up), I came across a website dedicated to American Food Holidays. Now we've established that I love holidays--numerous times--so food holidays are right up my alley! These are celebrations I can really get behind! Scanning the list, I noticed that my birthday happens to fall on National Prime Rib Day. Nice. There are some bizarre holidays included on the list too, such as "Shape Up with Pickles Time," to be celebrated the first week of February. Sadly, I missed this one. Although I'm really not sure what shaping up with pickles entails.. However, there was one holiday I noticed I hadn't missed yet that was worth celebrating. Today, March 28th, is National Something-On-A-Stick Day. Alright! Now how am I going to celebrate? Corndogs for dinner is a must. Sides are going to be a bit harder to come up with. And dessert? I could go with popsicles or lollipops. But that's too easy. How bout cupcakes. On a stick. It's time to try out what I've been lusting after for awhile now. Cupcake Pops--Bakerella style.

I've been without internet at my house for almost a week now. So yesterday, I snuck over to my boyfriend's (not really. He knew I was coming over.) and hijacked his internet, along with his kitchen, and started the task of making Cupcake Pops. (I also stole my favorite pair of his pajama pants, the ones with pirate-looking skulls wearing Santa hats, and later, his bed for a quick nap.. Shh. Don't tell.) Looking at Bakerella's site, the cupcake pops seemed pretty easy, but quite time consuming. Oh well. I had the whole day ahead of me! I started with the cake mix from a box that I've had hanging out in my pantry for who knows how long. It almost felt like blashphemy. I've taken pride in making things from scratch rather than a box, but I have to say, I'm glad I used the cake mix. It made it so much easier. Plus I would have felt bad ripping apart my beautiful cake as soon as it cooled. Although, that was actually kinda fun! It got quite a bit messy though after you mixed it with the cream cheese and rolled it into balls. My hands looked like they were covered in blood. Maybe red velvet cake wasn't the best idea. After the cake balls chilled in the freezer for a bit, it was time to make them look like cupcakes! Too bad I didn't have the kind of cutter Bakerella showed on her site. I'd have to make do with my 1.5 inch biscuit cutter.. Which didn't do well at all. The cutter was way too wide, and way too tall to make it look anything like a cupcake. Looks like I was in for another Michaels run.

$2.50 and a half an hour later, I was back on track with cake balls that were looking more like cupcakes than blobs now. Time to chill again and start melting chocolate for dipping! I had trouble dipping the bottoms into the milk chocolate. I couldn't seem to hold on without squishing the tops or dripping all over everything. My boyfriend seemed to have better luck. (I actually let him help for the first time ever! I figured since I was making a mess in his kitchen, I may as well let him in on it. He did a really good job too!) He dipped the milk chocolate while I dipped the pink and topped with sprinkles and a red M&M to look like a cherry on top. Only a few looked absolutely disasterous.. The dripping pink chocolate on some reminds me of a melted ice cream cone.. But all in all they came out looking alright. Not as beautiful as Bakerella's, but not terrible either! The cake inside the pops seems a tad too moist, bordering on squishy, but they're still incredibly tasty! It just took a bit longer to put them all together because we had to keep refreezing them so they didn't fall apart. Maybe next time I won't add all the frosting right away. I'm not sure that was the problem, but it could help. I'll definitely make these again! Who knows, I may even attempt the absolutely adorable Hello Kitty Pops someday! (The first time I saw these on her site, I squealed at a pitch I'm sure only dogs could hear.. They're just so cute!)

Alright. I've got the main course (corndogs) and of course the dessert (Cupcake Pops) of our celebratory Something-On-A-Stick dinner.. Now what are we going to have as a side?? Anyone know how to get mashed potatoes on a stick?