Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Flight of the Bumble Bee + Lady Bug Cutie Pops!

Recently had a big family party up at Karen and Bill's like we have every year during the summer, and I wanted to bring something a little more upbeat than what I usually make. So I thought it was time to introduce my extended family to Cake Pops. :) And I have recently encountered quite a few lady bugs and thought summer bugs was the way to go! I'm going to break down again how to make them since a lot of people have been asking lately. Enjoy!

First you're gonna need to bake a cake. Just any regular box of cake will do, my personal favorite is Red Velvet....let sit on a rack till they are nice and cool...
Then crumble it up into a bowl...
Then add some frosting, about 3/4 of a can of cream cheese frosting to be exact...
Then mix it up with your hands to combine it. Once you've mixed it with the frosting, you are able to create shapes for cake pops.
Hand shape the cake "dough" into your desired shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once the tray is complete, pop in the freezer for about ten minutes so the shapes can firm up.
Melt a few candy melts down in the microwave and have your Popsicle sticks ready. I like to use the 6 inch sticks.
Take your trays out of the freezer and dip the stick into the melted candy melts, and push into the cake pop. I like to pop them back in the freezer to make sure the sticks will adhere to the cake pop.
Ahh...now the fun part. Decorating!
Melted some yellow candy melts down, and dipped my cake pop into it...be sure to tap off the excess..
As the yellow candy melts are JUST beginning to dry, I popped in two white candy melts on either side for wings...
I had "made" some eye balls by drawing little gel dots on white candies..
I popped the eyes on (you can attach with a little melted candy melt on the back of the eyes as glue) and once the yellow melts were dry I drew black circles around and a little smiley face with my candy writers and gel pens.
Hehehe...
waiting for his friends to be finished!
I almost forgot! I dipped a long black sprinkle into melted candy melts for their stingers!
Buzz...buzz...buzz...
Just a few more smiles to add on...
But the bumble bees needed more friends I thought...
Red Lady Bug Friends!
I added 3/4" eye sprinkles after I dipped the dry red candy coated pops into black chocolate and added little left over Halloween "bones" as the antennae.
Awe, they look so cute looking for their spots!
They found them! I drew the spots on with a black candy writer..those things are a godsend.
Awe. Let's see..how to display them...
I used an old Terra Cotta pot, that I cut down some Styrofoam to fit into (thanks mom!) and added some green moss I bought at the craft store. Voila!
Added a few more..
Looks like a party to me!
They look so cute and happy all together!
They were a big hit!
Enjoy!