holidays and recipes: red velvet cake pops for valentines day and photography tips

holidays and recipes: red velvet cake pops for valentines day and photography tips We love that cake pops have become so popular. We have cake love, but do not love cake butts. The cake pop is the perfect bite of cake allowing us to have our cake and eat it too! Making cake pops have become a simple task if you own the handy Babycakes cake pop maker. There are also cake pop pans , available, if you prefer baking in your oven. We love the ease in which you can create perfectly shaped pops in a short period of time. These are an ideal alternative to the cupcake, which we love, but can be cumbersome to transport if, say, making thirty of them for your child’s classmates. Easy to bake, easy to decorate and easy to wrap! holidays and recipes: red velvet cake pops for valentines day and photography tips For Valentine’s Day we suggest using a rich red velvet cake. We love Paula Deen’s recipe as it is a little heavy and holds up well. We have not adjusted the recipe to make a certain number of cake pops. We love red velvet cake so we make as many pops as we need and then we bake any remaining batter as cupcakes. While we have dipped our cake pops in white chocolate, we have also included Paula Deen’s heavenly frosting recipe should you decide to bake cupcakes or a cake. Instructions for coating the cake pops follow the cake and frosting recipe. holidays and recipes: red velvet cake pops for valentines day and photography tips Blogger(s) we Adore:{Editors Choice Award} We can completely relate to Chrisi, the amazing talent behind Love from the Oven, when she says, “I LOVE to bake. I HATE to cook.” Ok, we admit, we love to cook, but we love baking better. And, we admire Christi, who makes it look so incredibly easy. That is what happens when you love what you are doing. Her blog is bright, bold, well organized and fun! We invite you to take a peek. How to set up the shot: 1. How to get the background Bokeh. You can get a good bokeh by setting your aperture value low and then focusing on a subject. Have fun with it, do a few practice runs. 2. You can buy them almost anywhere (we get a lot of our stuff from Rosanna), but why not try making your own. 3. This place is such a gem, gourmet sprinkles, spice, you name it! We adore Indian Tree. holidays and recipes: red velvet cake pops for valentines day and photography tips
Red Velvet Cake Adapted from Paula Deen Ingredients For the Red Velvet Cake: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (recommended: White Lily) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cocoa 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups canola oil 1 teaspoon vinegar 1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup buttermilk For the cream cheese frosting: 1/2 cup margarine 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese 1 box confectioners' sugar, sifted 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup chopped lightly toasted pecans Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) round layer cake pans. Sift flour, baking soda and coco together. Beat sugar and eggs together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together oil, vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla. Add to the bowl of eggs and sugar and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet mixture by alternating the buttermilk and dry ingredients. Always start with the flour and end with the flour. Pour batter into pans. Tap them on the table to level out the batter and release air bubbles. Bake for 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the middle comes out clean but be careful not to over bake or you'll end up with a dry cake. Let layers cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out of pan. Cool completely before frosting. For the cream cheese frosting: This is the "official" cream cheese frosting recipe but we always use about 1 1/2 recipe on each cake to cover it well. Let margarine and cream cheese soften to room temperature. Cream well. Add sugar and beat until mixed but not so much that the frosting becomes "loose". Add vanilla and nuts. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cake. Creating the Cake Pop 1 (12oz) bag Wilton white chocolate candy melts (or gourmet white chocolate one without all the partially hydrogenated oils) 1 package Wilton 6 inch treat sticks Decorating Stand (or a large Styrofoam cube works well) Coloring or flavoring (optional)* White Chocolate Coating Chill the cake balls for at least 30 minutes In a microwave safe bowl that is deep enough to dip the cake pop in one motion, melt the white chocolate candy in the microwave, at a low level, constantly checking and stirring the white chocolate. Do not over heat. Remove as soon as the white chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the end of the treat stick into the melted chocolate (just about ¼ inch) and then insert into the cake ball. Dip the cake pop into the bowl of melted chocolate, coating the entire ball of cake. Do not swirl. Simply dip down and up. If a section is not coated move the cake pop gently, slowly, until covered. Remove from the bowl and let the excess drip into the bowl. Be patient and make sure it drips well. Place the cake pop into the cake pop stand or into the Styrofoam block to set. *With darker cakes, such as the red velvet cake, the white coating may appear a bit pink. If you would like a pinker coating add food coloring to your liking.
Photography Data: Guest Featured Photographer: Elisabeth Coelfen ApertureFNumber: f/6.3 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II ExposureTime: 6/10 FNumber: 63/10 ExposureProgram: 1 ISOSpeedRatings: 100 MaxApertureValue: 3/1 MeteringMode: 5 Flash: 16 FocalLength: 90/1
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30 comments

    • February 15, 2012 at 7:59 am //

      Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting Angie, it means a lot to us = )

  • February 14, 2012 at 10:29 pm //

    I’m liking this whole photography tip thing!

    • February 15, 2012 at 7:51 am //

      Thank you Movita, we were thinking of including a few tips in each post, so glad you like the idea = )

  • February 15, 2012 at 1:02 am //

    Thank you so much for linking to that cake pop maker. I had no idea such a machine existed. Purchasing today. I can’t wait to start making these cuties!

    • February 15, 2012 at 7:50 am //

      Isn’t that way cool, the cake pop maker? When we were browsing we found some silicon molds too, I love the idea of just dropping batter into a mold = ) Thank you for commenting Lindsey.

  • February 15, 2012 at 4:29 am //

    What a great treat for Valentine? Absoutely loving this cake pops. Great looking and beautifully captured.

    • February 15, 2012 at 7:58 am //

      I wonder if cake pops are the new “cookie”? Thanks so much for commenting.

  • February 15, 2012 at 4:29 am //

    Gorgeous pictures yet again, and I love that you made your cake pops from scratch! They look great :)

    • February 15, 2012 at 8:15 am //

      Thank you so much for commenting Natalie, WE adore your heart shaped pizza’s TOO cute, and they look scrumptious.

  • February 15, 2012 at 3:39 pm //

    Oh, I didn’t know that there’s such thing as cake pop maker. How handy! I got to buy myself one of those. The cake and the pictures are gorgeous. Love it so much!

    • February 15, 2012 at 5:15 pm //

      I know, there is a mold for anything and everything now, it’s PERFECT. Let us know if you pick one up and your thoughts on its uses? Thank you so much for commenting Priscilla.

  • February 15, 2012 at 9:41 pm //

    I recently made pink velvet cake pops…wish i had ur photography skills to capture though, do visit some time my space

    • February 16, 2012 at 12:05 pm //

      Hi Pradnya! What kind of camera do you have?

  • February 15, 2012 at 9:57 pm //

    Oh so pretty and thanks for sharing all the links. I’ll be busy for a while.

    • February 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm //

      Thank you so much for commenting Sandra, hope your V-day was spectacular!

  • February 16, 2012 at 3:32 am //

    I love cake pops, and these certainly are adorable :)

    • February 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm //

      Thank you so much Kiri = ) Hope you had a fab v-day!

  • February 16, 2012 at 3:43 am //

    These cake pops look amazing. So beautiful!

    • February 16, 2012 at 11:17 am //

      Thank you so much for commenting Baltic Maid.

  • February 16, 2012 at 6:20 am //

    Wow these cake pops look amazing and all of your photos are GORGEOUS! I’m absolutely taking your tips. Great post, thanks so much! :)

    • February 16, 2012 at 10:23 am //

      So happy you are loving the tips Lacy = )

  • February 17, 2012 at 1:17 pm //

    These cake pops are so cute! I can’t believe I haven’t made cake pops yet, but you’ve inspired me. Your photography is stunning!

    daisy

    • February 17, 2012 at 4:00 pm //

      I’m sure you’d have fun Daisy, please give them a try, thank you so much for commenting = )

  • February 20, 2012 at 8:46 pm //

    These cake pops are supe cute.. and so is the photography.. amazing!!!
    I never tried my hands on Bokeh effect… I have to try it now.. I am still an Amateure Photographer.
    Thanks for all the tips.

    • February 21, 2012 at 7:55 am //

      I think you’ll enjoy trying it out, it just takes a little bit of patience and lots of clicks “wink”. Thank you so much for commenting = )

  • February 21, 2012 at 12:44 am //

    I HAVE to make these !
    Great photos ! What camera do you use ?

    • February 21, 2012 at 7:56 am //

      Thanks for commenting Mary, this photo was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, but I have a Nikon 7000 and Nikon D3s.

  • February 24, 2012 at 7:28 am //

    What a great idea! You should share your recipes on BeBetsy.com
    Thanks!

    • February 24, 2012 at 8:16 am //

      Thank you Denise, we’d love to do a guest post sometime, just let us know.