My Love/Hate Relationship with CakePops

We have a little niece who turned 10 this week! Happy Birthday to little C! Ten is a big age full of opinions, pouting, energy and ideas. It just so happens that the week before we had all been to an event and C wanted cakepops sold by a vendor. Daddy said "no" and Nana mentioned that if C wrote me a letter, maybe I would make cakepops for her birthday. So I got a letter and who could resist?

I have to admit I cringed inside. I do not like cakepops in their popular incarnation. They may be a "pop" but they're not cake, more like gooey truffle on a stick. If I wanted truffle on a stick, that's what I'd make. Since C hadn't actually had a cakepop at last weekend's event she wouldn't know what to expect so I set out to make a better cakepop, one that was actually cake. Mine contained no icing. I had some cake oops moments but all turned out well. Here's what I did.

New Picture Background

I realized that I'm bad at taking pictures, even with sweeties beautiful camera. I'm forever clearing off something just so you won't see the clutter that surrounds my genius. I decided I needed a nice, consistent background so I decided to create one. Here's the result (disregard the fork and spoon, I'm using them for a future project).

Here's the process:

Snack Crack Caramel Corn

I am a sucker for sweets and this popcorn is snack crack in my book. I love the caramel corn that comes in the tins over the holidays and remember my excitement seeing it over the years. There's something about the lightly crunchy caramel shell over soft popcorn that gets me every time. When I saw this recipe from King Arthur Flour, I knew I had to try it. I've made it twice (in a week) with some adaptations. Don't be freaked out by the candy making process, this recipe's really forgiving. It's awesome and will be in my arsenal for a long time coming.