Chocolate Fix Needed Stat!

Men may not get it, but I'll bet about 75 to 80% of women will.  A couple of weeks ago, I was in desperate need of a chocolate fix - largely due to hormones - and I didn't want to go to the store. Besides, it was 9:30pm. Who wants to go anywhere that late at night on a weeknight?  Well, besides those devoted husbands eager to satiate their pregnant wives' cravings.

For months, my beautiful little sister (she's nearly 20) and I had been playing around with a microwave brownie recipe she had found on a blog named "Cut Out + Keep". You should check it out, because it was definitely a good idea!  A little side note:  we used Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix instead of NesQuik, because it was what we had on hand. We both appreciated the recipe for the chocolaty goodness that it was. It hit the spot when we needed it, and we were both ever so grateful.

Then, the wacky experimenter in me, decided to play around with the recipe.  I used unsweetened cocoa powder, which meant to cut the bitterness, I needed sugar. I didn't like the idea of oil because it seemed...well...oily. I switched to melted butter but, shamefully, reduced the amount. It was nice and fudgy!  You'd think that would be enough experimenting right?

Heck no!

I continued to play with it for a few more weeks until I became...sickened by chocolate. I know! I am so ashamed to even say it!  How does one become sickened by chocolate?

My sister decided she wanted to play with my experiment as well.  Her recipe came out more cake-like, and she was still using the oil.

Our efforts created this yummy bit.  I love my sister, so I will give her partial credit. Hehe!

Warning...the following recipe is rich with chocolatey goodness. You may want to share. Or not...

Yummy Microwave Brownie Goodness

4 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

5 Tablespoons of granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

3 Tablespoons of melted butter/margarine (sister uses oil)

5 Tablespoons of water

Mix ingredients well in a large coffee mug, soup mug or large ramekin.  Place in microwave and heat on high for 2 minutes.

Let stand for 1-5 minutes. If you don't, you very well may singe your tongue and the roof of your mouth. You have been warned.

I have added a bit of frosting to the top when I had left over. That was good as well. You could add fresh fruit as a garnish, if so inclined. :)

Variation: For a slightly less rich brownie, instead use only 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and only 4 tablespoons of water.

Enjoy!

Cake Pops

Sometimes things go beautifully and other times, things go horribly wrong.

I felt I had perfected the cake ball pops and was ready to try something I had glanced at on a magazine rack in Michael's last week.  The headline mentioned using cookie cutters to form various cake pops. I thought that was a really cool idea, so I wanted to put it into motion sooner rather than later.

This past weekend was my first opportunity and I had the perfect "guinea pig". My nephew is turning twelve and asked for Funfetti cake pops.  We're a group that LOVES Disney. No joke. Look up "Disneyphile"(Disney's name for it's freaky fans), and you just might see a picture of our crazy crowd.

Back to the task.

I have a Mickey Icon Cookie cutter. It's about two inches tall and about an inch thick - a little big for a normal-sized one-inch cake ball, but it's Mickey! So, why not?

I was forming the Mickey Icons and was loving how they were turning out.  It was so hard not to show anyone what I was doing.  I was so excited and couldn't wait to see the look on my nephew's face.

Normally I can get 40-50 cake balls from one cake box recipe, whereas these Mickey cookie cutter cake pops only allowed for fifteen big pops and one teensy little ball.  The pops were going to be about serving size for fifteen people.  I decided the ball would have his birthday year, and he could decide who got that little nob.

Easy solution!  

I put the sticks in with a little bit of chocolate and then had a thought that these might fall apart at the ears, given the size and weight of them.  I decided one of the flat sides needed to be painted with white chocolate so that no disasters would befall Mickey.

**No mice, fictional or otherwise, were harmed in the making of these cake pops**

I decided to test my theory on the first Mickey Icon pop.

**Remember my opening remark**

Painting one side wasn't enough.  Poor Mickey split right up the middle and took a header (pun intended) right into the melted chocolate.  I, not wanting anything to go to waste, took both halves out, pushed the two together, stuck the stick back in, let it lay in all it's chocolaty goodness, and told it I would deal with it later.  Yes, I spoke to it. I was that upset.

Since painting one side hadn't worked, I stepped away from the cake pops, and the mess, looked at my tools and tried to hash out another plan of attack.  I had plenty of gadgets and yet not enough.

The question that popped into my head next was, "What would Grandma or Nana have done without all the fancy-pancy kitchen gadgets?"  The answer came back so quickly, and given my calm, I knew someone was watching out for me. :~D

Spoon it! 

So that's what I did. I used a spoon for the remainder of my venture. It worked out much better than I'd expected.


Though they were ridiculously rich - the kids loved them - they weren't too horrible. They were messy to look at for someone who is ridiculously picky about how things should be presented.  Given that this was the first attempt at cookie cutter pops, I'm letting it slide.

Ta Da!

Lessons learned:

*     Use smaller cookie cutters.  One inch is plenty big enough for a cake pop and the results will most likely be cleaner.
*     "Basting" chocolate on is a good idea for frosting, but not for candy coating.
*     When that inner voice tells you that something is too heavy and maybe you should rethink what you're doing, listen to it!  It knows of what it speaks!

And if you're wondering what happened to the Mickey that took a fall, I shaved off the excess chocolate with a knife and smoothed on a thin layer of chocolate. I was the only one that knew which one had fallen apart.

If you'd like to make your own attempts at Cake Pops, check out Bakerella.  A friend introduced me to the site last year, and it's been great for some really cute ideas!

Some of my more successful attempts at "Cake Poppery"

Easter eggs - Sprinkles over the candy coat while wet.

Cowboys! - Had to mix the Cowboy blue myself.

My very first attempt at Cake Pops. Notice the "sweating" from the chocolate. I was upset about it until I saw the Mickey in the center. I've since perfected the melting of the chocolate and the coolness of the cake.