Holiday baking and candy-making

I hope you had a break from your usual routine and had a chance to enjoy the Holidays. I had a chance to take a little time off to spend with family. I was also busy making cakes and candies though for all these family visits too! There is no way I can show up empty-handed or I could be in danger. :-P I had to take a day off of work to ensure I had time to get candy made for some Christmas gifts.

A family tradition each year are Ohio State Buckeye Candies...the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Here is a quick picture after dipping them and then another after I started to cover up the hole left by the toothpick.

Another candy I like to make and gift each year is Peppermint Bark! A quick and easy recipe and it is always a big hit. I found the recipe in a Martha Stewart book. The recipe is still available on her website here.

I also make puppy chow each year - I think that is MY favorite. Another favorite is a simple snack - peanut butter crackers - but then dipped in white chocolate, yum!

Here is a mix of all the candies together.

This year, at the request of my niece, cake pops were added to the mix. I used a spice cake with cream cheese icing.

I love the holidays and all the baking that comes with it, but now I need to get back on the treadmill to burn some of the calories from all the puppy chow I've eaten. :)

Happy Baking!

Holiday Cake Pops

The "holiday season" is upon us! I love this time of year!! When I was growing up my Mom always had me in the kitchen with her while she was baking or making candy. You can make candy any time of year but there are special treats saved for the holidays that everyone looks forward to. This year cake pops are added to the mix. :)

I was completely clueless before I tried my first batch that there was such a huge cake pop community that always traces back to the Queen of Cake Pops, Bakerella. I've only created a few batches of cake pops but I definitely know why they are so addicting now. They are delicious and such a treat but completely satisfying with just a few bites.

Even though my cake pops don't even come close to Bakerella's creations and there are no cute characters represented (yet), I think my cake pops are pretty cute and I know they taste awesome! My most recent batches were for a friend wanting to send some goodies home for the Thanksgiving holiday. I used chocolate cake with a homemade chocolate buttercream icing then dipped each one in peanut butter flavored candy melts. I then sprinkled each one with some fall colored, leaf-shaped sprinkles to make them a bit festive.

I need to give a shout out to Wilton for their Chocolate Pro Electric Melting Pot. I recently ordered this from Amazon and it was so easy to use and improved the entire process.

I also did another batch of winter-themed cake pops. I was asked to use a Coconut Cake recipe similar to one my friend's Mom would use to make homemade cakes. I thought they were delicious! I made the white cake mix as directed and then used the sour cream, sugar and coconut mixture to bind all the ingredients. I dipped each cake pop into the blue candy melts and then sprinkled each cake pop with some sanding sugar and toasted coconut.

Here are the cake pops wrapped and ready for shipping!

I hope you are enjoying your holiday baking and candy making as well! :)

Cake Pops for a Cure

I was going to be walking in the Race for the Cure again. I thought this time I would try to raise a little money by selling cake pops. One of my first attempts and the money went to a great cause.

Strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream dipped in white and dark chocolate. Yum!!!!