Thursday, December 29, 2011

Lego Cake Pops


So my first attempt at cake pops was pretty much a complete failure. I saw the idea for Lego head cake pops  here and thought they would be perfect for my son to take to school for his birthday treat. Unfortunately, I didn't quite grasp the appropriate size of the pops. When I make them again, they'll be a lot smaller...


I thought they should be, well, cupcake size. Not a good idea. They were so heavy that the pops buckled under their own weight. Luckily, I made six extras, so there were enough unbroken ones for the 21 kindergarten and first graders in my son's class. (On Mackinac all our elementary classes are splits. The first graders attend school alone in the morning and the kindergartners join them after lunch.)

The day we made them was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. Not only did the pops bend the sticks and crack, but we also had problems with the candy melts (the yellow coating). And I'm a direction reader! I read them all - and yes, I read them before we got started.

The candy melts (Wilton brand) did not want to melt well, and even when they did liquefy, we had to add shortening to get them liquidy enough to coat the pops. But even then the coating wasn't smooth. Luckily the kids weren't the least bit critical. They identified them immediately as Lego guys and hastily began attacking them (complete with zombie noises.)  The kids didn't care that they were lumpy, cracked, and on bent sticks - because, while they looked nothing like we wanted them to,  they were really tasty!

I'll let you know how round two goes. Right now: Cake Pops - 1, Liz & Miranda - 0...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, Liz! I feel partly to blame because I tried these for my sons' lego birthday party last summer....total fail! They are so hard! I couldn't get the cake/frosting mixture to stay on the sticks, the candy melts either scorched or hardened, the end product was not smooth and even the edible black pens didn't seem to work on the candy melts. Luckily, I made some more with large marshmallows and nobody minded the fact that they looked lumpy. At least kids aren't critical, right? But maybe if I'd blogged about my saga, I'd have saved you some trouble! I read all the directions, too, but to no avail. If you ever figure out the secret, let me know!

zakkalife said...

I knew right away that they were Lego faces as soon as I saw them. I think they came out great for your first try. The first time I made cake pops it was a complete disaster. My kitchen looked like a cake blew up in it!

Wishing you a happy New Year.

Michelle said...

Hi Liz - the Bakerella website has some very good and easy to follow directions for delicious pops.

My advice: always use the food processor, regardless of what she tells you. Start with 1/2 a can of frosting. (As they say, you can always a more, but never less.) Figure each will be about 1/3 of a cupcake. I use the large pampered chef measureed scoop. I think it's 2". That seems a nice 3-bite size. Never do two colors. The first is easy as pie, but I always burn my fingertips trying to get the next one to meet. Not worth the hassle, imho.

Liz said...

Thanks Michelle! We did it by hand, but the food processor is a really good idea! Thanks.

Melody said...

I could tell they were LEGOS! Right away! Not bad for your first attempt! Over the past year I have really gotten into baking/decorating. I have even been creating a bit of a side business. If you want an easy, no mess cake pop, try the BabyCakes cake pop maker. It's all I use. You can see some of the cake pops I've done on my FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Ivy-Confections/247776648584544
Or my baking blog:
http://sweetivyconfections.blogspot.com/
Or website:
http://www.sweetivyconfections.webs.com/
DON'T GIVE UP! You can do it! :)
It can be intimidating, but just have fun with it! It all tastes the same in the end, LOL!

Unknown said...

I have never tackled cake pops even though they are all the rage - seems like a LOT of work and a LOT of icing.

It's funny how we are so critical of what we make and the kids are just thrilled! I think you did a good job with a hard project. I love the chocolate mold you made for the cupcakes. I couldn't find one when we had our party so I made up my own "lego" shapes. Not as beautiful, but (again) the kids knew just what it was!