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!

Personality Pops

I'm actually out in California working right now (I know, tough life I have..) but wanted to post these pops I did for my friend Rob's birthday back in March. He is an "old man" at 30 years old now, haha! and I knew I couldn't make cupcake cake pops for a dude's birthday so I tried to make these as funny as I could. They were definitely a hit and everyone got a kick out of the "witty" personality traits. :) Sorry in advance if these pops offend anyone.

bed wetter was one of my favorites...haha

hehehe...

this was at the debut of the "jersey shore" train wreck on mtv..

oh my...

you know, for that really insecure guy...

snookie..haha

ooh la la!

Tasty Gazpacho

All I can really say is that I heart gazpacho in the summer time...it's so healthy and refreshing! It makes you feel better about having those four hot dogs the day before..oh wait, was that just me?

Roughly chop up 8 plum tomatoes, and place in food processor. (be sure not to over process!) Add to large pot. Roughly chop up 1 1/2 English cucumbers, and place in food processor. Do the same with 3 red bell peppers, and a red onion. Mix all the vegetables together. Add in chopped fresh garlic, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, 1/2 cup of GOOD extra virgin olive oil, and 46 ounces of tomato juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving, it allows all the flavors to come together and get happy. It tastes great the next day as it continues to combine all those flavors together. Serve cold and enjoy!

Simple Open Faced Tea Sandwhiches

My dear friend Dana just got engaged and we finally had a girl's night to toast to her happiness, here and ever after. Everyone made some great food to bring along, and I made these little tea sandwhiches that are always a SIMPLE hit.

I used a 3 inch circle cookie cutter, and cut two circles out of each piece of pumpernickle bread. I smothered the bread with some cream cheese, and topped it off with cucumbers. Simply drizzle some GOOD EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL over the top, with some cracked black pepper and some sea salt.

I also made some with tomatoes and basil, the same with the drizzle of GOOD EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL and sea salt and cracked black pepper.

YUM!

Safari Cake Pops

These are so cute! Little elephants, lions, and giraffes were made for a baby shower this past week, but I didn't want to post them till the lucky mother-to-be got to see them first! They were on her baby shower invites that Christina chose and she asked me to make them in lieu of the theme...so voila!

For the Lions, I dipped the cake balls in candy melts (orange and yellow mixed together) then sprinkled hand colored coconut (just put the coconut in a Ziplock and a few drops yellow and red food dye and shake away) for the mane, a brown m+m for the nose. The other lines I stuck circle flat sprinkles around when the candy melt was almost set. Personally, I like the coconut guys better.. :)

For the orange giraffes, I pushed in tic-tacs for the horns and THEN dipped the in the candy melts....I hand drew the giraffe's spots with a paintbrush dipped in melted chocolate.

The yellow ones I kept the tic-tacs on top of the candy melts, I just thought the contrast was cute on them.

For the elephants I just draped over a rolled piece of cake on top of the cake pop ball, and popped them in the freezer for 15 minutes before dunking them in the grey candy melts I made (combo of white and black). For the ears I used Bakerella's idea of putting melted melts on a plastic spoon and popping them in the freezer to firm up. I attached them with a bit of melted candy melts.