Little Buddies and Summer Treats

Well, the summer holiday is off to a busy start! Last night and the night before we were at our daughter's graduation ceremonies. Wow, kids grow up fast. We have another grad next year and again the following year. (Then a little bit of a break before the next three...)

This morning started early with a great play date for the youngest girls. They made little cake pop critters & treats.

Here is the recipe that we used. These pops were nice and round. You can see by the picture below what products we used.

One  chocolate cake mix
One small box of chocolate pudding mix (just dump the whole box in, no prep)
no water, just milk as per box (this time we used 1 1/4 cup milk)
no oil
and 3 eggs

We got the idea from this book, but they are definitely different. 

This was our starting point. I really had no idea what we'd use. 

The batter should not be runny. Put less in than you think because it will spill all over and make a yucky clean up mess.

The perfect cake pop... ;)

The girls and I melted the chocolate in the microwave then put it in the squeeze bottles (in the above picture.) In this mold we squirted chocolate & placed the cake pop inside. (Give them a gentle push) We didn't put enough in, however, so just put enough in to have the chocolate come up all the sides. (These creations were made by girls who were 5, 8 and 10.)

In a microwave bowl, the girls melted the red candy wafers. We only used 2 bags of red, one of chocolate, and one sprinkle variety. 

This is a different step. The ones with the chocolate bases are just the cupcake ones, this is how they made their ladybugs...dip them in and then freeze for a few minutes. Once set, dip the under sides and set aside.

Okay, back to the cupcake pops...

With the chocolate bottom.

A little dip in the sprinkle candy.

They added a few toppings.

For the lady bugs, they used Junior Mints for the face and feet. Candy eyes that my 5 year old just happened to find at Michael's and a little heart candy topping mouth. The line and dots were the chocolate from the squeeze out container.

Finish it off with some fruit, pink lemonade, little pepperoni's, some flower shaped grilled cheese and voila...!

You have a great outdoor tea party! Way to go girls! I'm proud of my daughters and her friends.