I’m such a mean mama.  Ok – of course I’m not – but ask my 8 year old daughter, Athena, of her current complaint list and I’m sure she’ll mention the “kids sewing machine” from Christmas that we still haven’t tried.  Just recently we “X’d” off the Cake Pop Maker.  So I guess I’m a little mean.  I’m sure if Santa had to sit down and figure out how to make all these crazy gadgets work well enough to please kiddos with super high expectations of all these “magical gifts” he might just reconsider gifting some of them.  Whew.

So I had avoided the Cake Pop Maker for about eight months.  Sounds awful – but I read reviews on the thing and had predetermined that it was going to be a royal pain in the butt to deal with.  I had good intentions but every time I thought we’d have an extra few hours to give it a try (and all parties would be enthusiastic about the cake pop festivities) something would come up.  Finally, I knew we could wait no longer.  It was getting done, despite who felt how, despite what else needed to get done and no matter how much Baby G fussed.

So the most important lesson learned from this experience – my 8 year old daughter has far more patience than I do.  I had to contain my annoyance with this Cake Pop Wrist Burning device.  She was delighted – her Cake Pop Maker was on it’s way to kitchen greatness.

We learned a few other lessons along the way.  The amount of cake batter you fill in each reservoir is very important.  The instructions call  for a tablespoon, so that’s a good amount to try and start with.   Too much batter and you have Saturn Cake Pops – not enough and you have flat pebble cake pops.  We tried various amounts on our first round to see what amount worked best.  After establishing that amount – we continued to over and under fill – cause that’s just how we do things – lol.  A thick cake batter worked wonders for this – not too drippy.  I would suggest trying one of the simple cake recipes from the website on your first go with it.  The easiest method of filling the reservoirs for us was a kitchen teaspoon and scraping it in with our finger.  A piping bag is suggested in the instructions, but I think that would really be over complicating the whole thing…but whatever works.  Don’t fuss too much while filling – you want your cake pops evenly cooked.  Last, that innocent looking Cake Pop Maker gets HOT!  Be super careful if the kiddies are involved in this operation.

After all was said and done – I enjoyed spending the time with my daughter, but would still rather make cake pops the old fashioned way.  She, on the other hand, is already making decorating plans for her next batch.  Speaking of decorating – that was her favorite part.  I gave her sprinkles and icing and she went to town.  They certainly did look cute and I was impressed with how tasty they were.

Until next time….XOXO

Recipe adapted from BabyCakes.

Check out Babycakes website for more recipes, tips, pictures and blog…..

http://thebabycakesshop.com/tips-and-recipes/category/recipes/cake-pop-maker/

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vanilla Cake Pops

Course: Desserts

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

• Preheat cake pop machine. Lightly spray with cooking spray if necessary.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a (separate) large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture to large mixing bowl - 1/4 of mix at a time. Mix, add in 1/4 of milk. Repeat until completely blended.
• Fill each cake pop reservoir with batter - approx 1 tablespoon each.
• Close lid - "bake" 4-5 minutes.
• Allow to cool before decorating.
• Makes about 4 dozen.