Chick Cake Pops

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday (if you were celebrating yesterday!). I ate Peeps, glazed ham and coconut cupcakes until I couldn't move (more on that later...) Moving on, today's recipe comes from TAA reader, Keri Campagna Klingman. Her truly adorable cake pops caught my eye and I just had to find out the recipe and steps to make it happen myself. Keri generously shared the recipe, providing step-by-step instructions and photos that are super sweet and tasty-looking to boot. Check it out...

Chick Cake Pops
Cake Mix
Frosting (one container)
Yellow Candy Melts
Milk or Dark Chocolate Candy Melts
Lollipop Sticks
Candy Coated Chips (for beak)
Sprinkles (hearts, flowers, circles, moons, anything to resemble wings and feet - my favorite are the hearts)
Styrofoam block
 
To make the pop:
1. Bake cake mix (any flavor desired) as directed and allow to cool.
2. When cool, take the cake and crumble it into a big bowl.
3. Take the cake crumbs and thoroughly mix in a container of frosting (any flavor desired) - you can use a hand mixer, spoon, or make it even more fun and get messy by using your hands!
4.Refrigerate this mixture for 2-3 hours.
5. After chilling, I use a cookie scoop and scoop out portions to shape into balls. (Size will vary depending on how big you want pop to be. I make them about the size of a small meatball - makes between 30 to 40 pops.)
6. Push lollipop sticks into cake balls and place on wax papered baking sheet. I refrigerate or freeze overnight for maximum firmness for dipping.
7. Melt yellow candy melts according to package (heat in microwave in 30 second intervals - make sure to stir melts between heating) I melt them in a deep narrow bowl to make it easier for dipping.
8. Dip pops into yellow chocolate. Once the cake ball is covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
9. Place into styrofoam block to dry.
10. Once dry, use excess yellow chocolate and put into squeeze bottle. Use this chocolate to "glue" on sprinkles and candy coatings to make face. Use Milk/dark chocolate in another squeeze bottle to dab on eyes or you can use an edible ink pen to draw. (I like the chocolate look better)
11. Let dry & refrigerate.
It's a long process, but the outcome is so cute you really don't mind!! Plus, everyone raves about them - taste and cuteness! Everyone has their cake preference - my husband chooses devil's food cake with triple chocolate fudge chip icing. For these, I got seven orders for French Vanilla cake with vanilla icing. That combo made it easier to coat in the lighter color chocolate! Hope you enjoy!!!

Didn't Keri do an amazing job? Aren't these chick cake pops just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? Though Easter has come and gone, I might just need to find a reason to whip up these little chickies...

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Chocolate Pecan Pie

Last week, I detailed my croque madame at the Elysian Cafe in Hoboken. Though it didn't hold a candle to my first croque madame en Paris, it was a delish adaptation. I also mentioned that my brunch companion and long time friend, Maggie, will be leaving me today as she moves back to Missouri to be closer to her fam. Over the last few months, we've developed a tradition of Sunday brunch, followed by multi-hour Castle marathons while enjoying sweet treats, like sugar cookies and Irish soda bread. But for our very last brunch and Castle viewing sesh (we just can't get enough, and the recent two-parter just added more fuel to the fire), Maggie whipped up a Chocolate Pecan Pie for the record books. Adapted from the southern belle herself, Paula Deen, this pie had all the right moves. Both sugary and nutty, this pie couldn't be easier. Let's get down to it...

Chocolate Pecan Pie
*Adapted from Paula Deen
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
2 cups pecan halves
3 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon, optional (...since M never developed a taste for the hard stuff, she omitted and it tasted just wonderful sans bourbon)
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or as a time saver, you can use morsels)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In unbaked pie shell, cover the bottom with pecans. In mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs. (Note: make sure the butter isn't too hot, or you'll get scrambed eggs) Add corn syrup, bourbon (if using), sugar and chocolate. Stir it all together until combined. Pour the mixture into pie shell, over the pecans. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake in oven for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes more, or until pie has set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

So there you have it. A pie recipe that's both palette pleasing and super simple to boot. Don't you think this would make a sublime and untraditional Easter dessert? I know I'm considering it, but have other concoctions in mind (stay tuned next week)...

Now, I should mention that Maggie did find one fault with this recipe: that the pie, while deliciously gooey, tended to get a little runny as she cut into it. See what I mean in the photo above? And well...I'm stumped. Is this just a hazard of making pecan pie? Is there a way to avoid the overly runny nature of said fabulous gooeyness? Any takers?

UPDATE: This fabulous pecan pie was recently featured on Serious Eats Photograzing...see it here!

Italian Cookies at Court Pastry Shop

In addition to grown-up, buttery sweet cupcakes from Butter Lane, some good old-fashioned Italian bakery cookies made an appearance at our Spring Dinner Party to celebrate my mom's birthday. Not sure if it's the Italian in me or just the innate feeling that all gatherings should, in fact, revolve around good eats and sweets, there's something so wonderfully comforting about real Italian cookies, especially when they're from a real Brooklyn Bakery. Since she was in charge of dessert, and just so happens to live in the land of endless bakeries, she stopped in at Court Pastry Shop for some deeelightful Italian cookies. You know the kind...seven layer rainbow cookies, chocolate dipped sandwich cookies, rugelach cookies, amaretto cookies covered in nuts, chocolate and hazelnut cookies...Bellisimo.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the Italian bakery-style cookie?