Chocolate fudge cake pops

My research teacher made the class cake pops over the summer, and OH MY GOSH I fell in love! Cake pops are so fun! I had no idea how popular they were prior to making them. No everywhere I go I see books for making and decorating cake pops. I even saw a device to cook cake pops...crazy how popular these little things are. But seriously understandable because they are freaking DELICIOUS!

I did not follow a recipe with these. I just used a basic store bought cake mix and frosting and went out on a limb....but...YUM!

This recipe is so delicious! I love the contrast between the moist cake on the inside and the hard chocolate coating on the outside. I used half of the recipe below to make cake pops and the other half I used to bake cupcakes! This is such a fun recipe!

Ingredients:Chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients needed to make the mix that you have)
1 container of chocolate fudge frosting
Milk Chocolate melts (I use Wiltons)
Vanilla candy melts
Candy sticks

Directions:

1. Follow directions to prepare and cook the cake mix that you choose

2. Allow the cake to cool completely

3. Mix the cake and a container of chocolate fudge icing until smooth

4. Roll into balls, place sticks in the balls, and place in the freezer until firm

5. Heat chocolate melts in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until smooth

6. Dip the balls in the chocolate until coated and allow to cool

Tip: You can stick the cake pop sticks into Styrofoam and allow them to cool. You can also place them on wax paper. I heated vanilla melts until smooth and drizzled over the hard chocolate!

Caramel Apples on a whole-nother-level!

I am so excited! I just made the most awesome caramel apples! I was trying to get creative with these...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I made a caramel apple, a rocky road apple (with chocolate, pecans, caramel, and marshmallows), a caramel apple with chocolate and vanilla, and a caramel apple with pecans!!! Yummooo!

I have been a fan of anything apple my entire life, candy apples, caramel apples, apple pie, apple turnovers, apple butter...I seriously could go on forever!

When I was a little girl, I remember sitting beside my Papa Hall on the living room floor as I handed him an apple. He always laid in the floor with his head propped up on a small stool. He would pull out his pocket knife and peeled my apple handing me slices as he went along. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from time spent with my Papa and Grandma Hall.

Every year we went to the Virginia State Fair, and I brought home a candy apple. I always picked the apple with the most candy or caramel at the bottom. We have recently continued the tradition of visiting the Virginia State Fair, and I still refuse to leave without a candy and a caramel apple!

I can remember watching my grandmother make candy apples in the kitchen when I was a child. She always poured the candy over a stick for my brother to make him a sucker because he didn't like the apples. To this day, whenever I see an old friend of mine she mentions my grandma's candy apples. In fact, I saw her at the grocery store last night and she mentioned it.

Lets get to the how to....

I used a Concord Foods Caramel Apple Kit to coat the apples. The kit says it makes 10caramel apples, but half the kit only coated 4 apples.

Ingredients:
Caramel Apple Kit
1 c. milk
2 1/2 cups of sugar
apples

1. Mix the contents of the caramel apple kit with the milk and bring to a boil for 2 minutes on medium heat.

2. Stir in sugar. Stir occasionally.

3. Cook caramel to a soft ball stage or 242 degree Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer.
(If you don't have a candy thermometer, cook caramel until the caramel forms a soft ball when dropped into a cup of cold water.)

4. Let caramel sit 10 minutes.

5. Insert sticks into apples.

6. Roll apples in caramel.

7. Place apples on wax paper (I spray butter on the wax paper too.)

Tip: Dip apples into boiling water for a quick second to remove wax from apples before coating them with caramel. It may also help to chill the apples after removing the wax. This helps prevent the caramel from running off of the apples.

Pecan Caramel Apple: I chopped pecans into very small pieces and rolled the apple in the pecans.

Caramel with Vanilla and Chocolate Apple: I melted candy wafers (vanilla and chocolate) in the microwave on defrost until smooth when stirred. I then drizzled the chocolate and vanilla over the apples and immediately refrigerated.

Rocky Road Apple: I rolled the caramel apple into the pecans and added marshmallows while the caramel is still warm. I then drizzled chocolate (see above) over the apple and immediately refrigerated.

These apples were a hit with my boyfriend and his 6 year old son! I am so excited about them! I can't wait to experiment more!!!

Momma's Pecan Pie

For the first time last night I made a pecan pie. I turned out so good! I wish I could share the recipe, but I was sworn to secrecy! But don't worry, I plan to tackle lots of recipes that I will be sharing in the future!

Coconut Pie

So, I made first made this delicious coconut pie when I met my boyfriend and learned that he loves coconut. I got this recipe from my mom, but I added a little more coconut than she does. My mom always says, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." I made this pie every week when my boyfriend and I started dating. He couldn't get enough!

Ingredients:

2/3 c. sugar
1 c. evaporated milk
1 jumbo egg
2/3 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/4 c. coconut
1/4 c. melted butter
1 pie crust (frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix dry ingredients (sugar and cornstarch) together in one bowl

3. In a separate bowl mix the vanilla, egg, and evaporated milk

4. Mix the two bowls together

5. Lastly, add the coconut and melted butter

6. Mix well

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. The coconut should be golden brown

8. ENJOY!

Tip: I combined all of the wet and dry ingredients in one bowl together before adding the coconut to avoid having to wash more dishes.  Lazy? No.  I just HATE washing dishes and I don't have a diswasher.  Maybe Santa will bring me one...  Anyway, the pie turned out wonderful!