Here's how it went down . . . First I took a Styrofoam ring and wrapped a pretty green ribbon around it to use as a base for my cake pops. Next I poked 26 holes into the ring, through the ribbon so I could easily insert my cake pops once completed
So far so good. Next I arranged my cake-pop decorating space. I had sprinkles out and a bowl to sprinkle them over. A large baggy filled with tinted green food colored frosting so that I could add leaves to my pumpkin cake pops. I had my 26 lollipop stick all counted out and ready to go (exactly enough for each cake ball I prepared yesterday). With the tray of cake balls before me - all I had left to do was melt the orange wafers and start dipping away . . . right?
(I stopped taking pictures at this point . . . things just weren't pretty!) This is the point where my cake pop fun took a turn for the worst. First I burnt my first batch of wafers. I tried melting them in the microwave at 30 second intervals (one of the websites I read said they did this - Lies!) It did not work. (NOTE for next time - melt 1/3 of the wafers at 20 second intervals in the microwave and then add the remaining wafers and let them melt by the heat of the other melted waffers).
Next I tried other ways to melt anew batch of wafers, very carefully, as this was the last of my orange colored ones. I tried setting them in a bowl of hot water - using a double boiler - pretty much nothing worked. I ended up adding some vegetable oil to thin it out a bit and leaving the bowl of melted wafers in another bowl of very warm water.
When the wafer candy coating was as good as it was going to get I finally sat down to start dipping. First I dipped the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted candy coating and then slid one cake ball onto the stick, going just a bit more than half way down BUT either my cake balls were too big or too moist (probably both) PLUS the candy coating consistency never did get thin enough and as I went to dip the cake ball into the candy coating the ball fell off. After a couple of very frustrating attempts to engineer a way to make it work I finally decided cake pops were not going to happen today and with all the time I wasted my block party was now going to start any minute. I didn't want to show up empty handy so I somehow managed to coat a few of the balls in the candy coating and sprinkle them with orange sugar. I then used the green frosting to add leaves and used part of a tootsie roll to make a stem.
Today was not my proudest decorating moment, but that's just the way it goes . . . Everyone did say they tasted really good, so that counts for something!
As for you little cake pops, beware - I am not giving up this easily and will try again another day . . . stay tuned
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