Introducing APRON BUDDIES!!!

For those of you who have been following our mission adventures at Cove Fort, Utah, you know that we are now back home in Colorado trying to adjust to post-mission life. While on our mission, I had a lot of time to ponder about what I wanted to do with my cake business once we got home. One thing I definitely decided was that I had to spend less time doing huge extravagant party cakes, and more time doing what I enjoy-teaching. So I have decided to change up my business a bit, and add a new dimension at the same time. For my Custom Creations business, I will continue to design wedding cakes, dessert cakes, cupcakes, and cake pops. I will leave the  party cakes to the younger and more energetic bakers. 

The teaching side of my business will be known as  Apron Buddies. I will be passing on my skills as I teach decorating classes and offer cake decorating parties. I may even throw in a dinner roll/cinnamon roll or other baking class from time to time. I hope my past customers and friends can feel my excitement and enthusiasm that I have for this new venture, and help spread the word! 

Our son, Tom, has designed the new Apron Buddies logo, and I will continue to use our Custom Creations logo for our cake designs. 

Thank you all for your past support, and I look forward to fulfilling your cake cravings again.  We are open for business!

Cake Pops for 1 Year Old...

Wow, this little girl must be loved allot...6 dozen cake pops and cake for her first birthday! Cake pops ... just a little bit of cake, but a whole lot of work. Colors were basically brown and pink with a little green accent. Four different flavors, each designated by a different color ribbon. Happy Birthday Hosanna!

 And her very own cake to smash and eat...

Experimenting with smaller cake pops...

I had some cake and icing left over from a chocolate lover's cake that I delivered yesterday, so I experimented in making smaller cake pops to see if I could eliminate some of the problems I encountered on the last order. Sure enough, my problems were solved. Here are the things I did differently...

I used a small cookie scoop...1 1/4 inch size, then rolled them into balls. 

After inserting the sticks, I refrigerated them for only 15-30 minutes before dipping them. This made less difference in the temperature of the cake pops and the chocolate coating. I used the same chocolate that I use for my chocolate fountain. It is thinner, drips off easier, and sets up quicker.

No cracking, no oozing, and fit into the pre-made 3x4 treat bags perfectly, which made packaging allot quicker and easier. See, anything can be solved with a little practice. Here are the finished products...

Cake Pops...still learning!

Two weeks ago I had an order for 8 dozen cake pops for a wedding brunch. Since it was only my second time making cake pops and actually only my first paid order, there were some things that didn't turn out perfect, but overall, they were still really cute, and each time I make something new, I learn from my mistakes, so I'm OK with that. A few things I learned this time around...I made the pops too large, my coating needs to be thinner, and I need to chill the cake pops, but not freeze them prior to coating or the coating tends to crack and/or "weep." I made two different flavors...chocolate with peanut butter frosting, and vanilla with cream cheese frosting. The cake pops were displayed in baskets, and I tried to match the cake pops and the basket decor to the wedding colors of turquoise and coral. Here's the step by step process of making the cake pops...

Bake one cake mix according to directions, let cool completely, crumble and add about 3/4 cup or so of desired frosting.

 Mix until mixture forms a dough that you can easily form into balls that are approximately 1 1/4 inch in diameter.These cake balls were a bit too large. 

After forming the balls, arrange them on a parchment lined baking pan.

Dip the end of each lollipop stick in the melted coating and insert into the cake balls.

Continue inserting all of the sticks and then chill for a few minutes in the refrigerator or freezer, but do not freeze solid. 

After chilling, dip cake balls in desired chocolate or coating. You may thin it slightly with paramount crystals or a small amount of oil. Allow the excess to drip off and then roll cake pops in sprinkles or...

decorate as desired. Place pops in pieces of styrofoam or punched holes in cardboard box until  set. Wrap in cellophane and tie with ribbon.

Here's the finished products...

4 dozen in each basket.

CAKE POPS!

I've been learning several new things lately...my latest experiment is cake pops. I had some left over icing, so I whipped up a cake mix and came up with these fun little treats...

These are chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and decorated with both semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate and various kinds of sprinkles. I will be donating them to the young women in our church ward for their garage/bake sale to earn money for camp. I had been wanting to try these, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity.

I wish someone would have come up with these things years ago. I can't tell you how many cake scraps I've thrown out over the years, and this is a fun way to use those. Actually, I think it would be better to use "slightly stale" cake scraps instead of fresh cake since mine is already very moist. They are yummy and will do OK as long as they are kept cool. The chocolate also helps to hold them together. 

This is the basic recipe...

Crumble up a cake, add desired amount of frosting, or cream cheese, etc. to make a consistency that will work to roll into balls. Put them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Dip the end of lollipop sticks into melted chocolate and then into the balls. Freeze or refrigerate until firm, then dip in melted chocolate. Let excess drip off and then roll tops and upper edges in sprinkles, or you can decorate as desired. Let set right side up in styrofoam block or box that you have poked holes in. When set, you can wrap them in cellophane if desired.