Not Turkey Cake Pops

Turkey cake pops are all over the blogs, facebook and Instagram. I bought a bag of candy corn last year with the intention of making turkey cake pops for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving came and went and I didn’t have any turkey cake pops to present for dinner. This year I really wanted to use that bag of candy corn and make turkey pops. I scoured the web for cute images for inspiration.

Last night I got my supplies ready to make turkey pops.  I had the Oreo balls, and peanut butter candy melts ready.

I had the eyes.

I had the hearts.

I had the noses.

I had the feathers.

I had no patience.

I made one cake pop, and gave up. I thought of the other stuff I could be doing, like sitting on my couch watching Gossip Girl. So I decided to just dip the Oreos in the peanut butter candy melts and make Peanut Butter Oreo balls.

But ugh, they kind of looked like poo. I did rush through these but I wanted to make them pretty.  I put the melted candy melts in a piping bag, and using a #2 tip piped the peanut butter over the cake ball to disguise the messiness of it.


I topped it with a heart, and put it in a mini cupcake wrapper.  They are not turkey pops, but I loved how this came out.

I think this turkey feels the love.  You can turn something oogly, to something lovely.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Macarons II

Thanksgiving is 5 days away! This year is really flying by! I’m especially excited for Thanksgiving this year because I’ll be celebrating the holiday with my boyfriend and his family in Las Vegas. I’m known to my friends, family and coworkers as the cake pop and macaron girl, so of course I will be contributing one of the two for Thanksgiving this year. I may do both, but pumpkin macarons are a must bring.

From Trader Joe's website

Have you seen this at Trader Joe’s?

Pumpkin butter. Get in the car. Drive to Trader Joe’s. Buy it now!

This was a main ingredient for the filling in my pumpkin macarons this year. It did not disappoint.

I used my favorite macaron recipe from Mad about Macarons by Jill Colonna (the one with 150 grams of egg whites) I added 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice and a few squirts orange gel coloring to get the dark orange fall color.

The filling for the pumpkin macarons is super easy!  So easy, I didn't take any pictures of it.  It only requires two ingredients, three if you really want it to be super pumpkin-y.

Pumpkin Filling
8 oz of cream cheese
Jar of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter
Teaspoon of pumpkin spice*
Cream the cream cheese with a paddle attachment until smooth, add the whole jar of pumpkin butter, whip.  Taste. Add additional pumpkin spice as desired.  Continue whipping until smooth.

Fill your pumpkin macarons, eat and let the pumpkin flavors explode in your mouth. 



The pumpkin butter has a slight tartness to it that I prefer over the filling I made last year. You can find the recipe here. I’m all for macarons with lots of flavor. I like to bite into a cookie and know the flavor right away. I’m not one for subtle flavors. You can adjust the amounts of pumpkin spice based on your own preference.

Don't have time to make your own?  Trader Joe's has pumpkin macarons this year!  A dozen for $4.99 What a deal!

They can be found in the freezer section.

Enjoy!

Wax Paper vs. Parchment Paper

Wax paper vs. Parchment paper.  Is there a difference?  YES!  I thought they were the same thing!  How come no one told me?  Maybe I should have asked...

Last night I made a batch of pumpkin macarons and used parchment paper for the first time.  It was in the holiday aisle at Target. 

When I took the cookies off the paper, I had ah-ha moment!  WTH?  Why have I not used this earlier?  Doh!  They work as well as a silpat!

Rule:  Don't use wax paper for macarons!  Use parchment!  Works as well as a silpat! 

Lesson learned. 

Pink Parisian Wedding Dessert Table

On June 1st my sorority sister Jackie married her best friend Samuel. They had a beautiful wedding in Newport Beach. Jackie is an event planner extraordinaire, so I knew her wedding was going to be nothing short of exceptional and impressive.

I was happy to contribute macarons and cake pops to her gorgeously styled dessert table.



The wedding theme was romantic, soft, ethereal  elegant and Parisian.  I think the table captured the theme beautifully.  The colors were pink, blush pink with touches of gold.  I love the petal table cloth, flowers, and of course the sweets!

I made three different types of cake pops to go with her theme. I made simple round cake pops with three different flavors using the mini bow candy mold, mini rose candy mold and and a soft pink cake pop with white non-pareil sprinkles to differentiate the flavors. Jackie purchased the cake pop stand to showcase the cake pops. 

I made three macaron flavors, pink with chocolate ganache, light pink with a Swiss Meringue Strawberry Buttercream, and Salted Caramel Macarons.  All the macarons were brushed with luster dust to make it look elegant.

Other mini desserts included fruit tarts, mini cupcakes, and candy purchased by Jackie.

All photos by Bret Cole Photography.