Star Wars Cake Pops

I know everyone heard about Denver’s “historic” snow storm last week on national news and, as someone living in Denver, let me tell you, it was all true. We still have snow EVERYWHERE. It started last Thursday evening, right after rush hour and it snowed all night, all day Friday (the children had a snow day,) all  night Friday and into Saturday afternoon. At the end of it, we had almost two feet of snow in our garden alone with about three feet in certain areas where the wind blew. Yes, it was definitely a national event!

We made it through though. It was nice to just relax and stay warm and watch the snow fall. It is a very calming activity; you get a cup of tea, pull back the curtains or blinds and just mellow out watching the flakes dance to the ground.  Try not to concentrate on the fact that you will, eventually, have to go out and shovel out the snow from the side walk and drive way!

As I mentioned in my last post, it was Laith’s turn to be “Star Student” in his class. He printed out pictures of his family and, of all the the things he likes and, what he wants to be when he grows up (an astronaut…if there’s still a space program left.) It was very cute to see him all excited to talk about himself. It’s a great way to build self esteem and confidence and I am so glad his teacher had this program arranged for the children.

At the end of the week, it is customary to bring a treat to share with his classmates. Since he absolutely loves “Star Wars”, I wanted to do something Star War-sy for him. After days of dealing with the design and decorating logistics, I decided on the “Star Wars” cake pops. They turned out really well, I think. Laith’s classmates loved them.

This cake pops craze has taken over everywhere, like cupcakes did back a few years ago. They are everywhere and everyone is making them. I really wasn’t even sure what they were. I had seen all the paraphernalia needed to decorate them at the decorating stores  but never really paid attention.

I picked up a cake pops book at Williams and Sonoma, out of curiosity, and was surprised (and slightly grossed out) when I found out how they were actually made. After reading that, I knew I wouldn’t be making them! The idea of squishing broken up boxed mix cake with that ubiquitous, canned frosting and shaping into balls, just wasn’t for me. However, I knew there had to be someone who had cashed in on this phenomena with an “As Seen on TV” cake pop pan. Sure enough, after Googling a cake pop pan, I found one at Bed, Bath Beyond and off I went with my trusty 20% off coupon in hand.

The pan I bought utilises either  a cake mix or your own recipe and forms the cake into balls, where you then proceed to decorate them with your endless imagination. If you don’t have a pan and you don’t want to buy one, you can try the original recipe here from Bakerella. Of course, I don’t see why you can’t make your own cake and frosting and squish them into balls. Their huge popularity suggests that however they are made, they are delicious and very cute to look at.

If you do end up getting a pan, you can use the recipe that comes with it but I used my Vanilla Cupcake recipe and they came out fine. The rest is up to your imagination! The decoration and inspiration is all yours. Many craft stores sell the candy melts in different colours that you can use to decorate. I, personally, don’t use them because they contain an high proportion of partially hydrogenated oils. I use pure chocolate, in bars or chips, to decorate my cake pops and, even though it is more expensive and more time consuming  (because you have to dye each batch different colours), I have less guilt.

I hope you enjoy my little “Star Wars” people. They were so much fun to make and worth all the time it took to make them!