Pop Tart Pops

Hello all,

Can you believe I'm back at college already? Where on earth did my Spring Break go?! Sigh, well, back to real life I suppose. As real as college life is anyway.

Did I ever tell you what a smash hit the homemade pop tarts were? My boss was so happy with them that he heated his up in the microwave and actually ended up burning his mouth on it in excitement. So I wasn't surprised when another supervisor mentioned to me that our boss was really in the mood for pop tarts again. 'But I already did a post on pop tarts' I thought to myself.

'But this was important' she explained 'He won't accept the cinnamon challenge unless you give him more pop tarts.'

Cinnamon challenge you may ask? It's when you ingest an entire teaspoon of cinnamon by itself and try to swallow. Yes, I know, college students have weird ideas concerning entertainment. This is one of them.

But how could I say no to seeing that happen? So I thought to myself 'how do I switch up pop tarts to make it delicious for my coworkers and still new and exciting for my readers?'

Answer: Pop Tart POPS!

Like cake pops, only more pie-ish. I decided to stick with the classic strawberry which is always a favorite, along with a few Nutella-filled Pops for those daring eaters.

I used the basic pop tart pie crust from my previous post here with the only switch of using Nutella as a filling for some along with a chocolate frosting. Can I tell you though, between us, buy the premade pie crust. Seriously, just do it. Homemade is neat and all, but it gets finicky really quickly. and the pre-made is already rolled out to the right thickness and will save you a good deal of time.

 

Needless to say they are sure to be a huge hit at my job (where I believe I may slowly be giving everyone diabetes with all these treats). If you enjoy your co-workers' company as much as I do, maybe whip a few up for them, or if not, for some hungry housemates!

Oh, and as for the cinnamon challenge? I will try my best to get a video of every exciting second of it for you all to see. I know I can't wait. :)

Happy Baking!

Pop Tart Pops

1 homemade or store bought pie crust (recipe link here)
1 jar strawberry preserves or 1 jar Nutella
Popsicle sticks
Chocolate or Vanilla Glaze

1. Roll out Pie Crust to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into equally sized small rectangles. Place rectangles on parchment-lined cookie sheet and place one Popsicle stick in the center of each.

2. Scoop one teaspoon of filling over Popsicle stick and center of pie crust rectangle. Cover with another pie crust rectangle and use a fork to crimp the edges all the way around.

3. Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes or until golden.

4. Coat with frosting and sprinkles and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake Pops

Hello all! I apologize; I know I said to check back the following day for photos and an update on the "Cake Pop Conundrum" but I ended up spending over three hours in the kitchen with these! For all good reasons though, don't worry. The question of "to dip, or not to dip" is solved my friends: to dip. Definitely dip.

I decided to use Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Recipe for these cake pops, since this is my all time favorite red velvet recipe. It is actually the recipe that brought me to the realization that red velvet is one of (if not the) best cake out there, after carrot cake anyway. Naturally I forgot to buy any buttermilk, but I found this nifty substitution in the Cake Pop Maker Manual that says to mix 1 1/2 tsp of vinegar with 1/2 cup milk and voila: buttermilk.

Warning: making bite-sized red velvet cakes is dangerous. If you are like me, and have little to no self control when it comes to cake, I urge you to think wisely (but not too wisely, I mean they ARE uber yummy) when it comes to whipping up these little beauties. 

There were a few...mishaps, when getting these out of the cake pop maker (when isn't there a mishap in my kitchen?) but I decided to crumble these into a topping for the other pops. I will make one suggestion if you plan on using the cake pop maker: this is a super moist cake, and perhaps lowering the amount of vegetable oil in the recipe might make the pops easier to remove from the maker. They are just so delicate and delicious - so be gentle! 

I decided to be even more meticulous today with my pops: after dipping the sticks in the candy melts I stuck these puppies back in the freezer for 20 minutes. It made such a difference; I cannot express how much easier this was. But it could have been easier because I used Wilton Candy Melts instead of the ChocolatePro Chocolate, which I find to be way to thick for cake pops. From now on, its candy melts for me and my pops.

Look how cute they are! I'm telling you - candy melts are the way to go. The ones I made the other day with the chocolate had to be put in the fridge for almost 40 minutes to set up. These dried in all of ten minutes on my counter. Wilton has it right with the candy melts, just not with the Chocolate Pro Chocolate. Figures, since the Chocolate Pro Chocolate is a much bigger bag and more economical. It would just be too easy for it to work well with cake pops. 

These are absolutely my favorite type of cake pop. Red Velvet is just so rich; it's so nice to just be able to have a bite (or three!) of it without feeling like you have to make the entire cake and have it tease you on your cake stand until you inhale it all (not that I ever have...). 

So the conundrum is no more - dipping is great - if you use the right coating. But, if you don't want to dip, feel free to enjoy these little cake bites as is. :)

I've included Bakerella's recipe here for you all to enjoy, with slight adaptations for the cake pop maker and the substitute buttermilk. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake Pops - slightly adapted from Bakerella

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup buttermilk OR 1/2 cup milk with 1 1/2 tsp vinegar added (let substitute sit for 10 min before use)

1 1/2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 oz red food coloring

For coating: 

1/2 bag Wilton White Candy Melts

Red Velvet Cake Crumbs

lollipop sticks

1. Whisk egg and all liquid ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Whisk together all dry ingredients in large bowl.

3. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients, just until it's well combined with no clumps.

4. Pour roughly 1 tbsp of batter into each cake pop reservoir

5. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Carefully remove and let cool.

6. Use any cake balls that fell apart while removing to crumble into topping.

7. Put cake balls in freezer for 10 minutes. Melt Candy Melts

8. Dip lollipop stick in melted coating and put into cake ball. Put cake pops back in freezer for another 15 minutes to harden.

9. Dip cake pops in melted coating and tap gently to remove excess. Dip top of cake pop in cake crumbs and let dry.