Pie Pops!

I am always so inspired by the amazing blogs out there and how many goodies I want to try! There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day anymore!  I have yet to try these myself but could not resist re-posting them from famous blogger Bakerella.
What an awesome idea!  You want to eat pie without the guilt and try different flavours without having a big slice....perfect reasons to make pie pops!

I am reblogging the recipe from the following link - Bakerella - Easy as Pie and some of the amazing photographs from the recipe on this link - Luxirare.com - Pie Pops. Please go and check them out. You'll love them!

Bakerella's Pie Pops

The Pie Pops really are easy. And if you have a little one around, you don’t even have to lift a finger. They can do all the work and tell you how to make them, too.

The following commentary is from my sweet “little miss bakerella.” She talked and I typed. So here goes… instructions in italics from an eight year old.

I’m getting ready to show you how to make your very own pie pops. They’re not made from candy, but they’re made out of dough. It’s gonna be a baketastic time!

Sprinkle a pinch of flour onto the dough.

Now we flop it onto the other side and do the cookie cutters.

ME: Dusting with a little bit of flour on both sides will make the dough easier to work with and move around.

Now we do the first cookie cutter. It feels great to do the first one.
There’s a lot more to be done, but still, it’s worth it.

I’m trying to get close to the other hearts because it will give us more space for the cookie cutters.

ME: If you’re careful you can get enough for 8-9 pie pops from a 9-inch pie crust.

It’s time for the circles. Remember, I’m doing the same thing except it will be easier.

ME: The circle shapes are easier to assemble than the heart shapes because they give you more room in the center for the filling.

This is gonna be all circles here.

Time to get off the scraps. We don’t want those Nuh-uh! You can use the scraps for a different piece of dough.

ME: What she means is… you can save the dough scraps. Roll flat and re-use.

Now it’s time for pressing down the lollipop sticks.

Now, get only one cherry and a little bit of juice. Put it right in the center or it will squeeze out way too much.

ME: pie filling = juice :)

Ummm… as I said before, don’t put too much juice or it will squeeze out because you got to press down or it won’t bake very good in the oven.

ME: We used rolled pie crusts and canned cherry pie filling to play with these. Easy and fun for both of us.

It’s time for sealing it. What you do is, you break a lollipop stick into a small piece and you press it down all around it. (But not too hard.)

ME: Using a short piece of lollipop stick helps you not to mess up the neighboring pie pops when you seal the two pieces of dough together.

Now you take a baking brush and you crack an egg. Don’t put the egg yolk in. Put the egg whites in a little bowl. Get the brush and put some of the egg whites on it. Now brush it onto the front of the dough.

ME: Brush the tops of the pies with egg whites.

Now we got some pistachios and we put it onto the dough, instead of cherry. But I must say, it was mighty tasty.

ME: Ha! Guess you can tell she doesn’t eat too many pecans or … pistachios either for that matter. We did make a few pie pops using a pecan pie filling that I whipped together, but I still need to finesse the ingredients on that one before I post a recipe.

The pops baked in the oven on 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until the tops started to brown. Remove, cool and enjoy!

I thought I would love these more than I did. But… (and I can’t believe I’m saying these words) … They needed more fruit! A little too much pastry to pie filling for me. But still good, still fun to do and still super-cute!

Here are a few more of those stunning photographs from

 Luxirare's awesome Pie pops.

Blackberry

Apple

Pumpkin

Have fun!

Cake Pop Insanity!: Troubleshooting Cake Pops

I found this great article on the problems so many people have when making cake pops.  The article was written by Christine - Cake Pop Insanity at http://www.crickpop.com.

Cake Pop Insanity!: Troubleshooting Cake Pops:
Having a hard time making cake pops?  Cake pop fail completely?  Do you wonder how everyone else ends up with gorgeous, adorable, cute cake pops, and yours look like lumps on a stick (if they don't fall off the stick first!)?  Well, you've ended up in the right place. 

I have found that the most difficult thing about making cake pops is just getting started.  My first cake pop experience was a total disaster.  It took me a few weeks and a lot of research to finally figure out what I was doing wrong.  So, in hopes of saving you time, as well as helping to keep you excited about cake pops (they are really fun!), I have created a troubleshooting guide for cake pops.  

Problem	Solution
Cake balls won’t hold a ball shape.	You’re using too much frosting.  Either add more cake, or start a new batch.
Cake balls won’t stick together.	You don’t have enough frosting in your cake crumb mix.  Add a little more until your cake balls stick together.
Cake ball falls off the stick.	You’ve used too much frosting in your mix, creating a very soft cake ball.  Add more cake, or just start over.  Use less frosting next time. Keep your cake pops small.  They will have a better chance of staying on the stick if they're between 1.25 and 1.5 inches in diameter. You didn't refrigerate your cake balls long enough.  Make sure that they are well-chilled before putting on the stick and dipping. You didn’t dip your stick into melted candy coating before inserting it into the cake ball.  Make sure that this step isn’t overlooked.
My candy coating/ chocolate coating is thick and lumpy.	Your temperature that you’re melting your coating with is too hot.  Keep your candy temps less than 100 degrees- use a candy thermometer. You’ve gotten water or something that is water-based in your coatings.  It can’t be salvaged for dipping, but you can use it as glue for decorations on the cake pops. Add an oil-based thinning agent, such as Crisco shortening, or Paramount Crystals.
The coating on my cake pops has cracked.	The cake balls were too cold before dipping.  Don’t work with frozen cake balls.  Allow the cake balls to warm up before dipping. The cake balls were too tightly rolled.  Allow some time after removing from the refrigerator for expansion to occur before dipping. Uneven coating.  Really thin or uncoated areas in the candy coating after dipping will create weak areas on the surface.  As the cake ball expands, this weak spot will be where the crack forms.  Make sure your cake pop is completely well-dipped.
Oil is seeping through the coating on my cake pop.	Air bubble holes in the coating.  As the cake expands under the coating, oils in the cake mix will try to escape through any opening they can find!  Pop the air bubbles with a toothpick as the coating is wet (time consuming, and you’ve got to be eagle-eyed to catch every air bubble!).  Try to dam up the hole with a little extra candy coating.  This is a messy option that leaves unprofessional results. Dab-dry the oil as it seeps with a paper towel.  Eventually it will stop, and the hole won’t really be all that visible. My favorite solution is to completely omit the oil when baking the cake mix.  Yes, OMIT it.  It eliminates the oil seepage problem in my experience.  And you’re reducing calories in the process!

One more tip, but this is about decorating the cake pops. I love using edible ink pens to draw faces or designs on my cake pops. Some people have trouble making edible ink go on nicely on the cake pop. First, make sure you're using a good quality edible ink pen. I use Aetco or Americolor edible ink pens, and I found them on Amazon. They work best if your candy coating is dry and fairly oil-free. If you use a lot of Crisco shortening to thin your candy coating, then your pens won't draw on your cake pops well at all- they make the coating fairly oily. Using Paramount Crystals to thin your coating makes for nice, smooth coating and won't add greasiness, which makes drawing on the pops a breeze.