My Sadness Leads to Spice Girls, Cake Balls

Liz, my part-time comic-strip artist and full-time bestie, has left the New York Metro Area for greener pastures—well, she will certainly be surrounded by greenery—her far homeland of Connecticut. And since I’ve made, like, two whole other friends after five years in NYC, I’ve been acting like a whiny turd for months. Anywho, I’m drowning my sadness in old Spice Girls songs, specifically:



It’s incredibly apt for this situation, you have to admit.

There was also a wake (errr…going away party) for the departing and beloved Elizabeth. I contributed spinach dip (of course), but I also tried something new—Red Velvet Cake Balls—which you may recognize. Basically, these are the simple version of the Easter Cake Pops from Bakerella. I wanted to make little Liz zombie heads, but I thought I should keep it simple since this was my first attempt. Maybe someday I’ll manage to do more than the basic version.

Word of advice, if you make these—and you should, because census was they were delish—give yourself a lot of time. The directions seem simple, but it is time-freaking-consuming. The cake alone takes about 30 minutes to bake, another 45 minutes to cool. And then there's the rolling of the balls, the chilling of the balls, the chocolate coating of the balls, etc. (Yes, lots of balls. The hilarity of that sentence is not lost on me.) Of course, if I hadn’t started baking at 11pm when I had to get up at 6am the next morning, maybe the time issue wouldn’t have seemed so important. I'm going to blame 2am on the fact that these look a little busted. Thank goodness for sprinkles in the shape of cows, dinosaurs and stars.

Red Velvet Cake Balls
Recipe from Bakerella

1 box red velvet cake mix, baked according to directions on box for 13x9 cake
1 16 oz can cream cheese frosting
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper or aluminum foil
sprinkles, optional

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for several hours, or pop them in the freezer for 20 or so minutes. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package. Use a spoon to dip and roll balls in chocolate. Tap off any extra and lay on wax paper until firm.

Makes approximately 40 to 50.

In which I die of an Acute Adorable-Snackage-on-a-Stick Attack

In this edition of cute, squee-inducing food I want to munch on, I present you with Bakerella’s Easter Cake Pops.

There won’t be much commentary (just the gorgeous photos from Bakerella’s site), because I’m dead from cuteness, remember? Really, I just came back to make sure you see this. Yes, these cake pops are so important that I have risen from the dead to blog about them.

The sheep pops are my absolute favorite.

With the Easter Eggs coming in at a close second. The colorful sugar is killing me!

Candy corn ears! The Easter Bunnies are genius.

These bunny foo foo's have tic-tac ears and marshmallow tails.

And finally, the Spring Chickens!

I have convinced myself that, despite my lack of talent in decorating, my shaky, shaky hands and all-around bad coordination, I might try to make some of these. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the mess should I actually have a go at it.

If you want to try them as well, you can find the recipes and all of the candies and materials Bakerella used at the coordinating links. Happy Easter!

Peace Offering

I’ve been a neglectful blogger, I know!

(In my defense, it has been a crazy week.)

Anywho, I have a peace offering for my neglect—yummy, yummy Oreo-filled truffles. Last week, my baking buddy, Lindsey, invited me to come over and help her make these little Oreo chocolates as a Valentine’s surprise for her boyfriend. I couldn’t refuse.

Be warned though, these truffles are absolutely addictive. And the following recipe makes a lot of them…and after you’ve downed all 30 while watching an America’s Next Top Model marathon on VH1 (Hey, it happens!), don't say I didn't give you fair warning.

Oreo Truffles

Recipe adapted from RecipeZaar, although credit goes to my Aunt Carolyn, who introduced me to the Oreo Truffle at our family Christmas party this year.

1 package regular size Oreo cookies, very crushed
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark (we used regular white chocolate chips, since we only used the white chocolate for drizzling)
1 or 2 packages chocolate almond bark (we used both semi-sweet and German chocolate baking chocolate bars instead)
Sprinkles!

Using a blender or hand-held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together. This might take a while if you’re using a hand-held mixer. Keep blending until there are no Oreo chunks and you have a smooth consistency. Roll into Walnut size balls and place on a cookie sheet. Chill in the fridge for an hour, or sit in the freezer for about 10 minutes if you’re in a hurry. Melt chocolate according to chocolate instructions. Stick a toothpick into an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted chocolate. Place on sheet of wax paper. You can dip all balls into the regular chocolate or you can dip half in chocolate and half in white chocolate. (We chose to dip all in regular chocolate and drizzle with white chocolate.) After all are dipped, drizzle with remaining chocolate and white chocolate. If you want to decorate with sprinkles, be sure to do it before the chocolate dries and hardens. Devour.

Makes approximately 30-35 candies.

And just because these things turned out so cute and Lindsey took such good pictures, here are some more images to enjoy! P.S. Those giant heart sprinkles were L's idea and they really just made the truffles that much more awesome!