Crazy for CAKE POPS Review and Giveaway

Crazy for CAKE POPS by Molly Bakes (as she is known in the kitchen)
ISBN 978-1-61243-0447
Published by Ulysses Press

Just out October 2011, this craft cookbook is packed with 50 cake-on-a-stick designs and 70 stunning color photos.

  A few of the fun examples are:
Birthday party clowns
Halloween Jack-O'-Lanterns (see these below)
Holiday bauble balls
Valentine's Day sweetheart pops
Game night poker chips and dice
Monkey pops
Rattle pops and
Snowmen pops



Included in the front of the Crazy for CAKE POPS is the Introduction, equipment needed, 6 cake recipes along with frosting recipes. (such as the Toffee cake recipe below) Basic instructions are included.  Next up is step-by-step instructions with photos to make the 50 designs. 

Toffee Cake
Give your cake pops a traditional English twist with this mouthwatering toffee cake and creamy
toffee frosting.
Makes enough for approx. 20 medium cake balls
200 grams (1⅔ cups) self-rising flour, plus more for the tin
1 teaspoon baking powder
150 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
150 grams (½ cup) light muscovado sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160 milliliters (⅔ cup) milk
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch (25-centimeter) round
cake tin or an 8-inch (20-centimeter) square cake tin.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing
well between each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add half the dry ingredients and then
half the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients, followed by the rest of the milk, and mix until
combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35–40 minutes or until a toothpick
inserted into the center comes out clean. Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes and
then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Toffee Frosting
60 grams (¼ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
60 grams (3½ tablespoons) dulce de leche
200 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar
Cream the butter and dulce de leche together until well combined. Gradually add the powdered
sugar and mix until smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

My review:
Before receiving Crazy for CAKE POPS, I hadn't even heard of cake pops.  I was excited when I got the book and started looking through it.  Right away I knew with Halloween coming up that we wanted to try making the pumpkins.
Here is a photo taken from the book along with the instructions for making them:

Halloween Pumpkin pops
I love Halloween because it means I get to carve a pumpkin. Make these pumpkin pops in
seasonal toffee flavor (see the Toffee Cake recipe on page 29).
Makes 20 pops
Ingredients
20 medium cake balls, chilled
1 (14-ounce) bag orange candy melts
2 tablespoons green candy melts
1 bottle white cocoa butter
1 tube black edible dusting powder
Equipment
Thin paintbrush
Artist’s palette
Disposable piping bag
Melt the orange candy. Dip the end of each lollipop stick ¾ inch deep into the candy and insert a
stick into each cake ball. Leave to set. Dip each cake ball fully into the candy and shake off the
excess. Place on a sheet of parchment paper with the sticks facing up. Leave to set.
Melt the green candy, then pour into the piping bag and cut a small piece off the tip of the bag.
Pipe a green stalk on each cake pop around the stick. Leave to set.
Melt the cocoa butter and tint 1 teaspoonful black with the dusting powder. With the paintbrush,
paint black triangles for the eyes and nose, then paint a thick zig-zag line for the mouth.
Place the pops back on the parchment paper and leave in the fridge for 10
minutes until the cocoa butter has set.

My daughter and I had a great time making the pumpkins.  We learned---#1 read the instructions first.  We had trouble with the candy melts as neither of us had used them before.  My other mistake was getting carried away with the frosting.  I just had to put that last large spoonful of frosting in with the cake, which made it too moist. (Don't worry, we plan on making more of these in the future and can only get better at it!)

Here are the pictures of ours.  Let's start with the cake and frosting mixed and ready to be refrigerated.  Then we move on to the balls ready to be chilled.  Finally to the pumpkins.  I didn't have what was needed to make the faces.  I tried using the candy melts with a paint brush and didn't like how it looked.  We decided to leave them plain.  We've share the pops with family and friends.  We even passed one out to everyone at Bible study.  They are yummy!

There are several designs in the book we want to give a try like the Sweetheart Pops and the Marble Pops.   My middle daughter would love the Zombie Pops!
 

Now on to the fun!  Ulysses Press and Beth Cook Publicity is allowing one of my lucky blog readers to receive their own copy of Crazy for CAKE POPS.

Disclaimer:  I was sent a copy of the cookbook for the purpose of this review by Ulysses Press and press contact Beth Cook.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.