Recipe: Cake Pops

I know I’m a little late on this one as Valentine’s Day has already passed, but personally I think that this is a great treat to make any time. If you couldn’t tell by now, I don’t really have a sweet tooth and I’m not much of a baker. However, this recipe is so easy that even I can do it — and if I can, anyone can. The only truly difficult part of making these is that it can be time consuming because you have to wait for certain parts to cool. I’ve always used triple chocolate for this, but I’m sure any combination of of cake, coating, and frosting would be good.

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– one box of cake mix (and all the necessities)

– one can of frosting

– candy coating

1. Make the cake following all the instructions on the box.

2. Let the cake cool and then tear it up. Seriously, do not try to do this when it’s hot.

3. Mix in the entire container of frosting. The best way to make sure they’re fully mixed is to use your hands.

 

4. Form small amounts of the cake into balls and set on a tray. Freeze or refrigerate until they are solid.

5. Heat up the coating chocolate.

6. Use two spoons to dip each cake ball into the chocolate and when you pull it out, set it on wax paper.

7. Allow each cake pop to dry on the wax paper. If you want, decorate with sprinkles.

8. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe: Hot Chocolate Mug Cake

I got my recipe from here. I know that mug cakes are one of the recipe darlings of the Internet, but I have to admit I’ve been pretty disappointed with all of my attempts. This one was passable, but be warned that what you’re getting is solid hot chocolate. Now, in theory that seems like something that would taste the same as regular chocolate, but that is not the case at all. That may have been my biggest issue with this particular mug cake; it did not live up to my imagined/desired chocolatey flavor. Honestly, I think that I may just have an inherent problem with mug cakes which is mostly due to my own kitchen inadequacies. When I personally read about something like a mug cake, it is often advertised as something easy or that you can make with stuff already in your pantry, the implication being of course that the purpose of this snack is that it is to be eaten at 3 in the morning when you are alone. However, these recipes often call for things that are not part of my kitchen inventory, so I cannot make many of the most delicious types. This is because I am not a dessert person. At all. I can eat cheese or bread forever, but half a slice of cake and I’m sick (I have no sweet tooth — yet I still get cavities, so unfair). So when a mug cake recipe calls for baking soda or cocoa powder, I’m simply out of luck. That is why I went with the hot chocolate recipe, and why I was disappointed. However, if you are looking for a forkful of solid hot chocolate goop, this is for you.

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Ingredients:

– 6 tablespoons hot chocolate mix (3 swiss miss packets)

– 4 tablespoons flour

– 2 tablespoons canola oil/butter

– 3 tablespoons water

– 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

– optional: chocolate chips

1. Add hot chocolate to a mug (tip: choose a microwave safe mug, apparently I didn’t…oops).

 

2. Add flour

3. Add oil

 

 

 

4. Add water and vanilla

 

5. Mix them all together

6. Microwave for a minute to a minute and a half, depending on your microwave and how solid you want it.

7. Serve (optional: with ice cream) and enjoy!