Pumpkin Cake Pops

Are you ready for this? Remember my first attempt with the basic cake balls?

Well here's the next step, turning those into pops.

I decided to start with the pumpkin ones because they appeared to be the easiest. And, if you've seen the recipe then you've seen them with jack o lantern faces. I decided to forgo the faces. Maybe I'll do faces next year. That might be fun (but I'll have to learn how to make these a little smoother).

I'll just admit that while I like how the pops turned out, my pictures aren't the best. I got so wrapped up in my project that I kept forgetting to take pictures. I wrapped them up individually and started using cute ribbon to tie the bags, but that ran out after about 8 pops so I switched to black gift ribbon, which still looked better than I thought it would.

And, I thought they tasted pretty good. Really rich, but what else would you expect from candy coated cake?

I think that finishes up my October/Halloween baking.

I was planning on turkey pops next month, but I looked at the recipe while I was doing the pumpkin pops, and I just don't know if that's going to happen. "Gluing" the feathers on just sounds like it might be too much.

Return to Sugar

I am hoping that after exactly six months off of cakes, candies, and cookies my sugar addiction has been weakened. Because I am back on.

Last year I did six months off sweets, followed by six months on, and I just ended another six months off. Can I pretend that cuts my diabetes risk by 50%?

Actually, I am not planning to keep this going in six month increments. Last year when I got back on sweets it was like a major explosion. I had no plan. By the end of the first week I was back in full frenzy addiction mode. I am going to try to not let that happen this time.

Yesterday I decided to try a pumpkin cake pop (more on that later), and I did pop a couple balls that hadn't been candy coated yet. Then, I decided to try some pretzel m&ms. Those have been calling my name for months and we had some in a candy dish. I ate about three. Not worth it. The chocolate to pretzel ratio was disappointing to me. Old me might have eaten them anyway, but like I said, my sugar addiction is slightly curbed right now. I did have a handful of chocolate covered almonds and I ended my day with a couple of candy corns. All in all, not too crazy for a sugar addict. (okay okay, it would have been a lot worse except I had exact plans for those pumpkin pops so I really couldn't binge on them or I wouldn't have had enough for all the people I had planned them for).

Now, to keep myself from that dark place, my plan is not to indulge every day, but to indulge on special occasions. Like Halloween. I am hoping to score a couple of fun size candy bars. And after that there aren't really any special occasions until Thanksgiving. Maybe then I can have a piece of pie. See? It all sounds very doable. And if not, well, the minute I turn back into a sugar-crazed fiend, I'm going to have to ban them again. I'm hoping that doesn't happen.

Pumpkin Baking

I am a big fan of using pumpkin for my baking. I wait for this all year long.

First, if you haven't tried the Pumpkin Smash smoothie from Jamba Juice, go try that right now! It's delicious. I have been getting my weekly fix and I hope they keep it around at least until Thanksgiving, which will give me the chance to suck down four or five more.

And now, pumpkin baking. With my current avoidance of most things sweet, this year hasn't been too eventful.

First, I tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, from Betty Crocker's fall baking magazine. I have a million pumpkin recipes but I always like to try different variations.

If you are looking for something not too sweet, this is a good one. Even though it has mini chocolate chips, it's very bland (someone said he thought it was bitter, but it's someone who doesn't like pumpkin, so hard to judge).

The recipe is:

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (and if you need this, please ask me, I bought a new one just to make this bread not realizing I still had a container from last year, and I'll never use it all before it expires)

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted these)

After you bake this for 65 minutes it calls for a glaze. I only glazed half. Use a 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2-3 teaspoons of milk. The gaze really sweetens it up, since you're just covering it in more sugar. So I would try it first and unless it's too bitter, save yourself some sugar and skip the glaze.

Overall, this recipe is okay. It's not to die for. I liked trying it once and I could see making it once a year. It just makes one loaf of bread, so if you don't like it you haven't wasted too much.

The only other thing I have made this season is Pumpkin Bars. I don't know where this recipe originally came from, but my dad made these once when I was a teenager and I copied down the recipe because I loved them. I didn't love the raisins and nuts, so when I make these every year I leave them out. I love these pumpkin bars and I think you should give them a shot if you're looking to try yet another of the million pumpkin recipes.

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 15oz can (2 cups) pumpkin

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup raisins

Beat at low speed until moistened, then beat at medium speed for two minutes. Stir in nuts and raisins. Pour into greased 15x10x1" pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely, 40-50 minutes.

Combine until smooth:

1/3 cup softened margarine

3 oz softened cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tbsn milk

1 tsp vanilla

Ice cooled bars.

I made these bars just three days ago for a Halloween party (no pictures). I had to have something to make them for so I wasn't tempted to eat the whole pan (because I am sure I could). I wanted to try the pumpkin whoopie pies from bakeat350 for the party, but I didn't have enough time. Maybe next year.

Currently I have a cake cooling. I am hoping to find time this afternoon to turn it into Pumpkin Cake Pops. I'll keep you posted.

Fall???

I would just like to tell you that I saw the forecast for today, and it says 104. Is that possible? Two days until October, and already a week into fall and we get this? It really kills my fall time buzz.

For the last two weeks I have been planning out some fall time baking. You know, pumpkin bread, pumpkin sandwich cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cake pops. You get the idea. I have been trying to wait until the first of October. And, I couldn't wait at Jamba Juice any more. On Saturday I had a pumpkin smoothie. I thought it was delicious. It tasted creamy, sweet, and delicious. Like a pumpkin pie milkshake. If you go for that kind of thing I definitely recommend it.

Also, I have a beautiful new fall dish (maybe you'll get to see a picture another time) that I am loving. I brought it out last Friday. I was planning on filling it with candy corns and pumpkins this week. But now, it seems a little out of place as the air conditioner is working full time and the sun is blazing. (And I'd rather not mention that I went fall shopping about two weeks ago to get a certain someone ready for cooler weather. All those clothes are still sitting in the bags with the tags on).

You know what I did today? I busted out the zucchinis. Welcome back summer. I made some chocolate chip zucchini bread (recipe can be found by clicking on Kathi's blog). It feels a little summerish and a little fallish, and hopefully when I drop it off tonight people will feel like eating it if they haven't sweated to death first.

I was planning on getting out the fall/Halloween items in two days. That doesn't sound right at all. Maybe by then it will have cooled off 20 degrees.

I don't mean to complain. I enjoyed swimming yesterday and if the heat overtakes me this afternoon I might just end up at the pool again. It's just that my body and mind feel confused. They were excited for fall.

Basic Cake Balls

I did make the cake balls on Wednesday. I have just been lazy about posting it (I was also lazy in my picture taking, but I did get the final product).

I think it went pretty well for my first time (aside from the fact that my little helper managed to pop four of them down before they were covered in chocolate). I kept wondering if I was doing it wrong but I think they turned out well. I didn't actually eat any. They smelled so wonderful that I think my mouth watered non-stop for at least an hour. We had company that evening and I served them and everyone said they enjoyed them (maybe they were just being nice, but then they probably would have stopped at one, no?).

My biggest problem was actually that we just had way too many left over. Yesterday I ended up trashing three plates of them (about 18) because they had just been sitting in my fridge for three days. So next time I will just have to commit myself to getting rid of them in a less wasteful way than dumping them in the trash. And yes, there will be a next time. Betty Crocker cake mixes (my favorite brand for cake mix) were on sale when I went to the store on Friday so I picked up a couple more boxes. I might do apples this month or just wait until next month and do some Halloween cake pops. I guess it will just depend on how much time I have, how interested in baking I am feeling, and whether or not I have anyone I can give them to. I am nervous to try the cake pops, but I actually think it will be easier to dip them than it was to dip the balls.

Cake Pops is here

So I got my cake pops recipe book yesterday. I am very excited! It's kind of hard to get started since I know I won't be eating any and I will have to find people to pawn them off on. I think that I am going to start with the basics first and just do some chocolate cake balls with chocolate coating. Then next month (yea October!) I'll try and step it up with the "pops" idea. The book has pumpkins, witches, monsters, ghosts, mummies, and black cats. I'm very excited. I was planning on starting with pumpkins, but I saw today that they are on the front of the newest Betty Crocker Halloween treats mini recipe book (like the kinds you see in line at the grocery store). So, maybe there will be a lot of pumpkin cake pops floating around this season and I need to try one of the harder ones.

Since I still haven't taken the time to try and load an image on here, I will continue to be lazy and tell you to click on the bakerella link to the side there. She has put up pictures of the cake pops (including the pumpkin ones) if you want to see what I am talking about.

Maybe today I will get around to the chocolate balls. It sounds like a nice Wednesday project. Actually, it's a bit stormy out and we had a few rain sprinkles so it does seem like a baking day, even if it feels like I should be making pumpkin bread instead of chocolate cake.

Jellies and Nectarines

I finally tried making some jelly. I made plum jelly. I had never had plum jelly before and didn't think it would be too delicious, but I got some great plums at the Farmer's Market and then the grocery store had them on a great sale so I went for it. I can't tell how it turned out. It looks nice. It tastes sweet. The problem is I have never had plum jelly before so I don't have anything to compare it too. Like I said, it tastes sweet but that's about it. It doesn't really have a distinct flavor like all the jam has had. I can't tell if that's because I made it wrong or if that's just plum jelly for you. The only thing I can come up with is that maybe I boiled the fruit a few minutes too long before I set it up for the juice draining bit. The reason I care so much is apple jelly. Next month is apple picking month and I will definitely be making some apple jelly. And I want it to be perfect and delicious like I remember it. I even went ahead and dropped $4 for a box of pectin. That's right. $4. I had been to about 5 stores looking for it and it was out of stock everywhere. Maybe now that berry season is over or summer is almost over or who knows why, but I don't think stores will be restocking. And, I could easily end up back at the store paying another $4. It depends on how many apples I end up with. (And, if you are shopping around and find some regular-priced pectin please let me know).

Aside from the jelly I also decided to can some nectarines. I had bought a bunch of cheap nectarines and they were just sitting in the fridge so I decided to do something about it. It didn't go very well, and I haven't even tasted them so I don't how awful they might be. The recipe said to half them and fill the jars cavity side down. There were two options, pack them raw or pack them hot. I chose to pack them raw. I had quite the time getting them in the jars. I didn't have wide mouth jars. Also, they were raw and you know how firm nectarines tend to be. I wanted to just slice them up but I was paranoid that multiple recipes I read were so specific about halving them and placing them cavity side down. I thought, is there a reason for that? I better follow my recipes. It was difficult.

And then one of my jars broke while it was in the pot. It smelled really good which makes me hopeful that the fruit in the other jars will taste good. But I don't know why it broke.

The whole experience makes me feel like sticking to jams and jellies.