Have any of you tried the cake pops over at Starbucks? My son loves them and each time we walk past a starbucks, we need to get him one. Bad habit, I know, but sometimes it’s just easier to deal with than a tantrum.  And they’re just so tiny! What harm could they really do, right ?

So when we were recently visiting Singapore, I had prepped my son that even though there will be a Starbucks on every corner, Singapore won’t have cake pops, so let’s not bother going even asking about them.

Well, I was SO wrong! Having just introduced cake pops in Singapore, there were mega cake pop campaigns, gigantic billboards everywhere for these cute little delights, thus fueling his cake pop eating habit.

Anyhow, just the other day, my baking goddess friend told me she was going to try to make them! So naturally, I decided to tag along and experiment with her. She used this recipe from Bakeralla as a guide for the cake pops.

I was really quite surprised that they’re easy to make. Nothing complicated. Just a few extra steps after baking a cake, and voila. Beautiful and delicious cake pops!

So here’s how we did it!

1 box cake mix (We used Barefoot Contessa’s Red Velvet Box Mix).
1 container Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup of Yellow candy melts
Lollipop sticks

Method:

1) Bake cake according to instructions.  Allow to cool completely and then crumble.

2) Mix 1 container of the cream cheese frosting into the crumbled cake.  Just add enough so you can form round cake balls that are bite-sized, approximately 1in in diameter, unless of course, you have a bigger mouth This is a great recipe to do with your kids! They love getting their hands dirty – you just have to make sure they can resist the temptation of licking their fingers!

(I know, they kinda look like meatballs! Well, it IS red velvet cake

3) Melt the candy melts in a microwave according to the instructions. Dip the tips of each lollipop stick into the candy melt and insert into the cake balls (approximately halfway). Arrange on a tray. Place the balls on a lined baking tray and freeze for about 10 minutes until firm.

4) Remove the cake ball lollipops from the freezer.  Melt additional candy melts if necessary.  If the candy melts get harder as you work through the process, reheat them in the microwave. Dip each cake ball into the melted candy melts, so they form an even coating on the cake balls.  Repeat until all cake pops are coated. Bakerella suggests that you gently tap the excess candy melts off the cake balls as you rotate the sticks.  This worked quite well.

5) Push each cake pop gently into some styrofoam, for drying. Bakerella suggests drawing smiley faces (SO CUTE!) onto each cake pop. We tried it using some food-grade inks from Michaels, but they didn’t work very well, so we gave up. Instead my friend made a cute flower arrangement using the cake pops and decorated the flower pots with some candy grass.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

On my recent trip to NYC, I had stopped by this lovely french patisserie for some french macaroons.  These decadent little meringue-like cookies are such a wonderful treat, but honestly, at $2.50 each, it’s hard to stomach more than one or two.  When we returned from NYC, I happened to mention this to my baking-goddess friend of mine (who has shared some recipes on my blog in the past), and she just mentioned that she’s made them before! What? You can make french macaroons at home? And they actually turn out well? That’s crazy! So she proposed that we make them together. I was all over that!

(I’ve posted a recipe below that we used, and I’ve got a lot of pictures for each of the steps, which makes this post particularly long. I’m apologizing in advance, since I know we’re all busy, BUT these macaroons came out so professionally that I just had to share So now that that’s out…on with the post!)

After doing a bit of research on the making of french macaroons, I realized that they’re not exactly difficult to make. There are a few somewhat annoying steps (like the sifting) but otherwise, it didn’t seem too technically difficult to do. There are few things to keep in mind, however.

1) People say never make macaroons on a humid day. I’m not really sure that’s true, given the day we made them was pretty darn humid and they came out perfectly!
2) Only bake one layer of macaroons at a time. We tried two layers, and the top layer baked perfectly, while the bottom layer appeared slightly overcooked.
3) Weigh the ingredients you are using for your french macaroon recipe. The quantity of ingredients used have to be near perfect. So cup measurements won’t do.
4) Sift the heck out of the powdered sugar and almond flour mix.  We sifted it three times, which took a while, but it’s worth the effort. Several recipes call for sifting, four, five, or even six times! I may try four times the next time I do it, but the three times we sifted this time was just fine.

We used this recipe from Tartellete (with a few modifications of course) and the chocolate ganache from David Lebovitz. The end result was astonishing! These french macaroons were perfect! I just couldn’t believe it.  With a little bit of patience, french macaroons are certainly doable at home.  And I really think I’ll  probably never pay for another macaroon again!

Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven at 280F
For the cookie:
90g of egg white (approximately 3 egg whites. Also note that we only took the eggs out of the fridge that morning, as opposed to most macaroon recipes that call for the egg whites to be left on the counter for up to five days!)
25g granulated sugar
200g powdered sugar
110g almond flour (We used fine ground Red Mill Almond Flour)
Approximately 5 drops of food coloring of your choice (we used red, which ended up making the cookies pink).

For the chocolate ganache filling:
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

Method for the macaroons:

In a standmixer with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until it froths.  Gradually add the granulated sugar to the egg whites and whisk until it forms peaks, just shy of stiff peaks.  Add the food coloring at this point and whisk a little further until slightly stiff peaks form (See images below).  Set the egg whites aside when done.

In the mean time, measure out the powdered sugar and the almond flour.  Blend the powdered sugar and almond flour together in a food processor.  Once combined, start to sift the mixture.  Once you’ve sifted the mixture at least three times (more like four or five, if you have the patience), fold it into the egg whites.  According to Tartelette, you shouldn’t fold it more than 50 times.  I counted about 35 times and it was well incorporated.  Spoon a tiny amount of the mixture onto a plate.  If the mixture flattens on its own, the batter is ready.  If a small peak is seen on the top, the mixture needs a few more folds.

Our mixture flattened quite easily, so it was on to the next step.  Using a spatula, we spooned the mixture into a ziplock bag (because we didn’t have a piping bag).

Once you seal the ziplock bag, cut the tip off the bag and pipe a quarter-sized circle onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  The mixture will spread, so make sure you pipe a smaller circle than what you’d like the final size to be.

Once the macaroons have been piped, allow it to sit for 30 minutes for it to harden slightly before placing it in the oven.  Place them in the middle rack of a preheated oven (at 280F) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  The macaroons should rise and form “feet”, which are the spongy bases of the macaroons. Once removed from the oven, allow them to cool completely (DON’T be tempted to eat them right away  If you aren’t using them right away, the cooled macaroons can be stored in an airtight container (not in the fridge) or placed in the freezer.

For the ganache:

Heat the cream, butter and syrup in a saucepan until bubbles form on the sides.  Remove from heat.  Pour the cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and stir until the ganache is formed. Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes for it to harden slightly and thus make it more spreadable.

Once the macaroons have completely cooled, spread a little of the ganache between two macaroons. There you have it ! Absolutely sinful