The Bee's Knees and Cake Pop Tree's

Its official, I LOVE cake pops! Although mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as I had imagined them, or as perfect as bakarellas, I like to think they had a little quirky charm of their own (a cross between a bumble bee and pikachu from pokemon?) and they tasted simply delicious!

I opted to dip them in candy melts rather than melted white chocolate, as I had read that it would result in a smoother finish and would be easier to dip, and I'm really glad I took that advice. I had no idea what to expect in a candy melt, and as they are not readily available in my area, I had to buy them online at Baking pleasures (Bakers Heaven!) and was really surprised to find that they are very much like white chocolate, and tasting similarly of caramel buttons. They also come pre-coloured, so you don't get that bitter food colouring taste when trying to achieve vibrant colours.

I used white chocolate melts (cut up in quartres) for the wings and black squeeze icing for the stripes and face.

They were fiddly to decorate though, and I even had to buy cone shaped Styrofoam to dry them! perhaps next time I will just dip them in coloured melts and then role them in fun, colourful sprinkles.

My cake pop drying tree's!

Fiddly as they were to make, there was nothing fiddly about eating them, I can tell you! They practically flew into my mouth....

Unfortunately, and maybe somewhat due to their "quirky charm", I didn't win the bake off. There was some steep competition though, and my colleague and ballet/fencing buddy was awarded the most delightful, for her very delightful rainbow layer cake! Well done Karlie!

If I was feeling at all bitter about this, I was very quickly sweetened up with a tasting plate of all the baked goodies.

Not bad for a weekday, is it?

I'll be back tomorrow with an update on my sewing classes and quick snap of my first muslin.

Bye for now!