Watermelon Cake Pops

Last night was bible study and potluck for my church young group. The first Friday of every month we meet at someone's house for some good food; some for our physical bodies and some for our spiritual bodies. I love baking/cooking so I decided to try a couple new recipes. I got the idea for these ADORABLE cake pops from one of those little booklets you can find in the Wal-Mart check out line, and I tweaked a few things to make it a little more interesting.

 

I just started with a box mix (which is what the recipe calls for) to make life simpler. Of course you could home-make the cake if you wanted to!

 

 

Just mix up the cake according to package directions and then add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips. The ones I used were milk chocolate chips, but the recipe called for semi-sweet. I prefer milk chocolate any day!

 

 

 

For the flavor and the color I used a Watermelon flavored packet of Kool-Aid. I threw away the package before I remembered to take a picture, so yes, I do realize that this packet is strawberry flavored.

 

 

Then just preheat the cake pop maker (don't forget to spray it with oil spray first!) and start filling the wells. To fill the wells I use a small muffin batter scoop that I got from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It works MUCH better than a spoon, or even a tube of batter. The cake pops only take 3 or 4 minutes in the maker. If you overdo them they turn out flat...like mine. Oops!

 

 

When the time was up, I just transferred them to the little cooling rack until the next batch was almost done, then stacked them in a larger container and put them in the fridge. This helps if you want to coat them soon after you make them.

 

 

 

For the coating, I used green coating wafers (candy coating) that I bought at the Homestead. It was the perfect color for watermelon cake pops!

 

 

There are 2 things you have to do to keep your sanity while coating cake pops: one, listen to the Piano Guys!! and two, find a comfortable chair because you will be there for a while. Of course, turning on the Piano Guys may just cause you to lose your cute helper, but if he/she is anything like mine, they have been long past the "helpful" stage in the kitchen and are moving toward the "destruction" stage. I think this step took me at least 1 1/2 hours, if not 2 hours. Like I said, get the comfy chair!

 

 

My cute helper distracted by the Piano Guys :)

 

I started out by melting the wafers in the microwave, then I transferred that to a mini crock pot. From there, it all goes downhill. I am here to tell you that I am probably THE WORST cake pop candy coater in the history of candy coaters...if there is a history of them, that is. I have no idea how to make them look good, so I just do the best I can. If you have suggestions, or happen to know the best way, PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME!!! I just use a spoon, throw the cake pop in there, then use the spoon to scoop it out. I tap the spoon on the edge of the crock pot to get the excess coating off, and then plop it onto wax paper. They end up super messy and unprofessional looking, but they still taste good! That's all that counts, right?!

See what I mean? They are a MESS!

 But I have to admit, they did turn out pretty cute, despite my lack of coating skills! I love the chocolate chips as the watermelon seeds. At this point you are probably wondering how they tasted. Well...have you ever tried watermelon flavored cake? It's odd, to say the least. In a good way though! I ate WAY to many of them, and a lot of them got eaten at potluck, so they must not have been too terrible! If you aren't a fan of watermelon, you can always use cherry, strawberry, or any other red Kool-Aid mix. But really, you should try the watermelon. I was glad I tried this recipe out, as it was something new, cute, and summery! If you make them, let me know how it goes for you!!

 

This will be my last blog post for a week or so. Tomorrow I am headed off into the wild (literally) with 7 other girls for a rugged canoeing adventure. We are going to Boundary Waters in Minnesota for 4 days and 3 nights out on the trail. Prayers for a safe trip would be greatly appreciated!! Check out the link below to see a video of what we will be experiencing...

 

Boundary Waters

 

Have a Blessed Week! :)