It’s only Tuesday, but T.G.I.C.: Thank goodness it’s Courtney from Neighbor Food!
This girl is a lifesend and a lifesaver, period. It has been nearly one–count it, one–full month since I’ve last had a chance to bake. Cue brief flickers of bloggy unease, followed by a 9.6-magnitude shock of panic, immediately assuaged by the soothing tones of Courtney’s calm, smiling (I imagine) assurance that she could write this guest post for me.
You’ll see why I love her, her blog, her recipes, and just everything about her so much once you read on! Plus, since I haven’t had time to do baking of my own, I had my face plastered to the screen as I attempted to lick the pixels clean off while writing a coherent introduction. The results are disappointing, but that’s why I’m handing this space over to Courtney, who has her stuff together way better than I do today.
So without further ado–here’s Courtney!
*******************************
Hey Wallflour friends! I’m so excited to be visiting today from my little cozy Internet home, Neighborfood. The World Wide Web can be a royal World Wide Pain at times, but it’s things like this that make me incredibly thankful for its existence. Thanks to Ala for inviting me to share this virtual space with all of you today!
Let’s talk about cake pops. Are they out of style? I seem to always be about 8.5 months behind the food trend curve. I’m just now getting into donuts, and I feel like everyone’s already moved on to ice cream sandwiches. Don’t mind me. I’ll just be the one raving about the cronut two years from now, when I’m sure some other bizarre hybrid food (pizztacos? waffleburgers?) will have taken the blogosphere by storm.
Frankly, the reason I never got into cake pops is because I simply didn’t like them. I always thought they were sickly sweet and required way more work than their taste was worth. But sometimes you bake too much cake, and as much as I’m not a fan of cake pops, I’m even less a fan of wasting cake. So there I was with a big ol’ bowl of yellow cake crumbs and nothing to do but craft a cake pop.
Friends, I’m happy to tell you I’ve had a change of heart. These cake pops are different. Easy to make. Not overly sweet, and covered in chocolate. They’ve got a lot going from them.
Let’s start with the cake itself. The typical cake pop is made with a combination of crumbled cake crumbs and canned frosting. Until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t questioned this formula, but since I don’t normally stock canned frosting, I found myself scrambling for another option. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and I’ve found this to be absolutely true in my kitchen endeavors. It’s amazing the creative juices I can work up when it means I can avoid an extra trip to the store.
A little pantry searching led me to a half opened jar of marshmallow creme just begging for its time to shine. I snatched it up and added it to the cake crumbs until they adhered to each other and could be rolled into balls.
Of course, the moment the marshmallow creme hit the crumbs, these cake pops were destined for smoredom. After being rolled into balls and frozen so they stayed together, the balls got dipped into melted chocolate then rolled into crushed honey grahams. Of course, you can use regular graham crackers as well, but the honey grahams stayed crunchier, which I liked.
Now this is a cake pop I can’t resist. The marshmallow creme and chocolate keep these from becoming overly sweet, and the grahams add a nice unexpected texture I appreciated. These disappeared at my work, and when coworkers requested the recipe I was happy to tell them it was only 5 ingredients and easy peasy.
If you’ve never made cake pops before, here are my suggestions. Cake pops are made more on feel than precision. What I mean is, don’t get caught up too much in specific amounts, especially when it comes to the crumbs and the marshmallow creme. You can easily adjust this based on the amount of crumbs you have. The important thing is to add just enough creme to get everything to stick together.
My second tip? Always, always freeze the balls before dipping. I usually put the sticks in them then freeze for at least a half an hour. A little shortening in the melted chocolate will help keep it nice and smooth and make it easier to dip.
And finally, I find the easiest way to store these is to punch the sticks through an empty egg carton once they’re dipped. They’ll be able to dry without touching. Recycling is awesome isn’t it?
I really hope you’ll give these summery treats a try! And if you’re not a cake pop lover, I think a change of heart might be in your future.
- 4 cups yellow cake crumbs
- 1/4-1/2 cup marshmallow creme
- 12 ounces milk or semi sweet chocolate
- 2 Tablespoons shortening
- 1 cup honey graham cereal, crushed
- In a large bowl, combine the cake crumbs and marshmallow creme. Add just enough marshmallow creme to get the mixture to stick together. You should be able to roll it into a ball without it falling apart.
- Roll the mixture into 1-2 inch sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Place the popsicle sticks three quarters of the way through the balls then freeze for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and shortening together in the microwave (in 30 second increments) or in a double boiler. Place in a deep bowl for dipping. Place the graham cracker crumbs in another bowl.
- When the balls are frozen, dip them into the chocolate, making sure it overlaps the stick slightly. You can use a toothpick to get rid of excess dripping chocolate. Immediately roll the balls in the crushed graham crackers then place right side up in an egg carton or foam core board to dry. Store in a cool, dry place.
Loving what you read today? Connect with Courtney!
Blog: http://www.neighborfoodblog.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NeighborFoodie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Neighborfoodblog
Instagram: http://instagram.com/neighborfoodie
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/neighborfood/
Cake pops are fun! And this recipe looks like a winner to me. Great guest post — thanks.
You nailed it with these, Courtney, they look amazing!
Isn’t she a gem, Matt? Sooo agreed.
Hi Courtney, cake pops are great in that they make any occasion seem more special because of the way they look and it’s a great way to eat sweets but not too much at one time. Yours look very special!
Heh, I am totally a gal who eats more than one “serving” of cake balls and cake pops anytime I see them. They’re so tiny and cute! And isn’t Courtney a gem?
Thanks so much Cheri! They are good for portion control (unless you eat five of them…which I may or may not have done).
Wonderful tips..and gorgeous gorgeous smore cake pops! I’m normally not a fan of them but I’m seriously swooning over these!
I’m definitely the same way–Courtney’s hit it on the nail!
These look and sound amazing! What a great idea!
S’mores make everything better, right? Glad you could stop by, Meriem–Courtney’s a blast!
Love these smore cake pops that Courtney shared! I find cake pops too sweet too but these are such a great idea and so much more fun!
Thanks Kelly! I thought I was the only cake pop hater. 🙂 Hope these will change your mind!
Courtney is the best. Seriously. I’m talking from experience because not only have I gotten to know her through social media over the past few years, I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend with her at the Food and Wine Conference. She is just as sweet, lovely, hilarious, smart and all-around-amazing as she is on her blog. Girrrrrrrl, these cake pops are something else. I’ve never liked them for all the reasons you didn’t like them – too sweet, not “cake”-y enough, just blech. But these sound incredible and tasty! Brilliant move on using the marshmallow fluff (because hell naw to canned frosting). I can’t wait to try these myself.
Heck to the no, canned frostings! She is SO awesome–but I’m not surprised because basically everybody I’ve met somehow through your blog (and this seems to be a LOT of people–whaaaaat why are y’all so amazing) is incredible. Like, every single one. Gahhh there is so much awesomeness happening here I fear my awesome-sensors might implode!
Thanks so much for inviting me to post Ala! I had a ball and was so happy to share this space with you!