holidays & recipes: st. patricks day cake pops plus a free logo for your photos

Spring Cake Pops made with Matcha Celebrated on March 17, St. Patrick's Day is the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death which is believed to be March 17 (between 461 and 492 A.D.). Saint Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. St. Patrick was born, Maewyn Succat, in Roman Britain around the year 387 A.D. . The Romans ruled England at that time. Calpurnius, Patrick's father, was a high Roman diplomat living in England, but a Roman citizen. This is, if you reach far enough, is why many Italians declare that St. Patrick was actually Italian. (It is quite the stretch.) His Father was Calpurnius, a Briton and a Deacon; his mother, Concess, was a Frank and a close relative of St. Martin of Tours. From St. Patrick’s Confessions (autobiographical ): "I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people.." There was much unrest in Ireland (Eire) as tribal kings continually vied for control. One such king, Niall, attacked England, taking thousands of prisoners for slaves. At the age of 16 St. Patrick became a slave in Ireland. Patrick was taken to Northern Ireland and sold to another tribal king named Meliucc. After six years of slavery, at the age of 21, St. Patrick escaped. . “And after a few 'ears I was again in Britain with my parents [kinsfolk], and the welcomed me as a son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great tribulations I had endured I should not go an where else away from them. And, of course, there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and the were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.' And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke. Thanks be to God, because after so many ears the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry. “ St. Patrick returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. As more and more tribal kings and their people became Christians, they came together to worship, uniting more closely. The mythology surrounding his life became ingrained in Irish culture. One of the most well known legends is that St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock. Today, the shamrock is Ireland's national flower. So, for approximately 1000 years the Irish have been celebrating the feast day of St. Patrick's which happened to fall during the Catholic season of Lent. While eating meat during Lent was prohibited, the Irish would attend church on the feast day and then permitted to eat meat, feast and dance. It wasn’t until March 17, 1762 in New York City, in Colonial America, that the first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place. Irish soldiers who were serving in the English military marched through NYC. The Feast Day of St. Patrick was placed on the liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a Roman Catholic holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. In 1903, Saint Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland. Today one can attend the Saint Patrick's Festival which was first held on 17 March 1996 in Ireland. While it isn’t a legal holiday in the United States, St. Patrick's Day is widely celebrated. The famous parades in NYC and Boston are attended by many. American celebration includes the wearing or decorating with the color green, feasting, consumption of alcohol and religious observances. Many other countries have St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, some of which might surprise you: Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Montserrat and Argentina. There may be other countries and we’d love to hear from you if you can add to the list. Free Gift From Us to you: Here is the file. 1. PSD Logo Transparent, editable, or to use as an overlay for your photos (watermark) 2. Cake Toppers (printable) 3. Thank You Card (PSD File editable to suit your size) 4. Invitation (PSD File editable) To Download the entire set please follow this link: Zip File {Logo Watermark for your Photos} Free Watermark Logo for your Photos PSD FIle {Sample Below} Cake Pops {Thank You Card} Free Printable Thank You Card {Free Editable PSD Invitation} Free Editable Invitation {Cupcake Topper} Free Cupcake Topper Download Useful Products: 1. Nordic Ware Cake Pop Pans from Sur La Table. 2. Cake Pops Tips and Tricks by Angie Dudley
Chocolate Matcha Marble Cake/Cupcake (Recipe from Fresh From the Oven) 2 cups cake flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder 1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa powder 1 1/3 cups sugar 1 whole egg 1 egg white 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup low fat yogurt 1 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 ½ teaspoons matcha powder Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the lower third of the oven. Spray cake pop (oven) mold pans with cooking spray. 2. Use a whisk to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift together. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the espresso powder, cocoa and 1/3 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Whisk until smooth. Set aside. In another small bowl, whisk whole egg with egg white. Set aside. 3. Cut the butter into pieces and place in an electric mixing bowl. Beat for 1 minute to soften. Gradually add remaining 1 cup of sugar and beat at high speed for about 3 minutes. Dribble eggs in slowly, about 1 T at a time, beating constantly for about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture. On medium-high speed, beat in half of the yogurt. On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour. On high speed, beat in the rest of the yogurt and the vanilla. On low speed, beat in the remaining flour. 4. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of yogurt batter and mix into the cocoa mixture. Set aside. Add matcha powder to the rest of the yogurt batter in the mixing bowl. 5. Use a spoon to fill the bottom of each cake pop mold with about half of the green batter. Cover the green batter with chocolate batter. You can give each pop a little swirl with a knife (only a swirl or two otherwise it will blend together). You don’t have to swirl. You will get a nice two tone cake pop. 6. Bake for 10-15 minutes. 7. Cool for 10-15 minutes on a rack. Unmold the cake. Cool completely before serving or storing. Creating the Cake Pop Ingredients 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) Green food coloring (Matcha works well to avoid any chemical coloring, use natural food coloring when possible.) Flavoring (Optional) Wilton Ready –to-Use Fondant (green, white and yellow) (or make your own) Wilton Floral Collection Flower Making Set Coating the Cake Pop 1. Chill the cake balls for at least 30 minutes 2. 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. Add green food coloring to desired color. 3. Dip the end of the treat stick into the melted chocolate (just about ¼ inch) and then insert into the cake ball. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. Roll out the fondant and shape into flowers (or Shamrocks) To make the shamrocks pop you can lightly color the chocolate making a pale green and then use a dark green fondant for the shamrocks. You can make shamrocks using fondant or you can buy shamrock sprinkles to use. Place the sprinkles on when the chocolate coating is medium-firm, but not hard (or the coating will crack)
Photography Data: Featured Photographer Olga Lyubkin ApertureFNumber: f/7.1 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III ExposureTime: 1/20 FNumber: 71/10 ExposureProgram: 3 ISOSpeedRatings: 100 MaxApertureValue: 3/1 MeteringMode: 5 Flash: 0 FocalLength: 57/1
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22 comments

  • March 15, 2012 at 9:33 pm //

    Those cake pops are ADORABLE. Not to sound cliche, but they almost look too good to eat.

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:18 pm //

      Thank you Pauline, with the use of Matcha you can get the green without the faux coloring = )

  • March 16, 2012 at 2:17 am //

    I always love your amazing food creations and your unbelievably stunning pictures. Those cake pops are super duper cute! To die for!

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:18 pm //

      Thank you so much for commenting Pricilla = ) Happy St. Patricks Day!

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:19 pm //

      Thank you so much for commenting Christy = ) Happy St. Patricks Day!

  • March 16, 2012 at 5:06 am //

    Omg…….What a pretty treat!! This is sooooo cutee…Bookmark for this weekend!!! ( St. Patrick’s Day)

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:19 pm //

      Thank you so much for commenting Orange Latte = ) Happy St. Patricks Day! Your Icon is adorable = )

  • March 16, 2012 at 7:41 am //

    The cake pops are beautiful–they are absolutely perfect! I just love matcha, so not only are they pretty, but I bet they’re really tasty too. :)

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:20 pm //

      It’s wonderful to be able to utilize matcha, get that green hue without all the faux coloring too, thank you so much for commenting.

  • March 16, 2012 at 11:37 am //

    Wow that’s a nice little history about St Patrick’s Day! Who knew?! I have to say, these cake pops are the cutest darn things I have ever seen!! I love the ones with all of the little flowers – adorable! Thanks for the freebies, already downloaded! ;)

    • March 16, 2012 at 1:21 pm //

      Thank you Lacy, please enjoy the downloads, if you have any questions on how to edit them, just let us know.

  • March 16, 2012 at 8:54 pm //

    Oh my goodness, these are just beautiful, really, the photo pretty enough to frame and hang on the wall! Love your colors, flavors, EVERYTHING!

    • March 16, 2012 at 9:22 pm //

      Thank you so much for commenting, the matcha cake pops are our favorite!

  • March 16, 2012 at 10:45 pm //

    I wish I could make cake pops that looked that gorgeous!!! Thank you for sharing the lovely recipe:-) Audrey Marie Photography is so beautiful! I love the picture you shared of hers:-) The free gift link did not work, it gave a 404 error code. Sending hugs, Terra

    • March 17, 2012 at 9:46 am //

      Hi Terra, opps, sorry about that, it gave you an error message? (Audrey Marie was just a name we used in the PSD File as an example of what the photos would look like with a watermark, our apologies for the confusion “wink”). Thank you so much for letting us know about the error message, it should be working now. Let us know if you are able to go to the zip file.

  • March 17, 2012 at 8:23 am //

    Fabulous cake pops! We still haven’t tried out one of these adorable confections. Wonderful history on St. Patrick’s Day.

    • March 17, 2012 at 1:11 pm //

      It wasn’t until we began to research the holiday that we found some wonderful tidbits on the history of it, which we didn’t even know. It was a learning experience for us as well. Thank you so much for commenting.

  • March 17, 2012 at 11:37 am //

    Thanks for sharing the background of this holiday. Blogging has exposed me to so many celebrations around the world…. and thank you for sharing the files. Such generosity :)

    • March 17, 2012 at 1:09 pm //

      You are very welcome Shirley, enjoy them, if you have any questions about the editing, let us know, and we’ll do our best to help.

  • March 23, 2012 at 4:56 am //

    Beautiful cake pops and gorgeous photography — I am sure you did Angie proud with those cake pops! Had the pleasure of meeting her last weekend :)

    • March 24, 2012 at 1:32 pm //

      Oh you did, you Met Angie, the author of the book? I bet you had a wonderful time. Does she have another book coming out?