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!

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.

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.

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