Around the House,  Marriage Confessions

Pumpkin Pops: Take Two

Sunday night after the disaster with the pumpkin cake pops, I sulked and rolled around in my PJs all night eating cake crumbles and licking the inside of the icing tub.

By Monday, I was ready to put on my fighting face again and battle the gooey balls (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) of chocolate goodness.

My fighting face.

My cake balls had been in the freezer since Sunday night (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle), so on Monday evening after I got home from work, they were good and frozen.   Really frozen.   So frozen your tongue might stick to them if you licked them.

Or so I’ve been told…

Since the balls ready to go (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle), I started melting a fresh batch of orange chocolate.

With my chocolate and my balls ready (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle), I set up my work station.   For the second time.

I started with an assembly line.   The chocolate on the stove, then the frozen balls (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle), and then the styrofoam block to stick the cake pops in to dry.

Now, I was really ready.   Like for real.

And you know what?

IT. STILL. SUCKED.

The problem – even with frozen balls (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) – is that the cake batter crumbled into the chocolate because of the heat.   As punishment, any balls that crumbled (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) were sacrificed to the Redheaded Goddess of the Kitchen.

Psst…That would be me.

By the time I was finished, I only had half of the pumpkin pops left.

Why, Katie.   Why are some of those pumpkin pops upside down?

Well, I’ll tell you.   Those little suckers slid down their lollipop sticks for some reason.   I think it was the heat again.   I always blame the heat.   Which is probably why I should stay out of the kitchen.   (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle – wait, did you say balls?)

Chris called dibs on the pumpkin pops that slid down their sticks.   He always eats my messy baked goods.

Well, not always.   Sometimes he says he’s eating them, but really he’s feeding them to the dogs.   The dogs always eat my messy baked goods.

Well, not always.

Anyway, I took the rest of the chocolate covered balls (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) and figured the situation wasn’t anything that some cute packaging couldn’t fix.   Remember when I told you that I like to box up baked goods and give them away even when I know they don’t taste good?   Yeah.   I’m still doing that.

So I boxed them up real pretty like in Halloween Chinese take out boxes.   Why Chinese take out boxes?

WHY NOT???

But just as I was moving the box to the other counter, I dropped it.   On the floor. And all the balls were smashed.   (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle)

At this point, it was getting late and I was getting cranky.   So I decided to take what was left of my chocolate balls (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) and wrap them individually and take them to work for my co-workers.   Cause everybody knows co-workers will eat anything.   They’re like a bunch of laborador retriever puppies.   With paper clips.   And staplers.

All things considered, it wasn’t such a bad experience.

Eh, who am I kidding?   It was pretty awful.   But I’ve learned my lesson:

Step One:   Make slice and bake cookies without burning them.

Step Twp:   Pumpkin Pops.

For now, I’ll keep working on Step One.

Balls.   (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle)


35 Comments

  • Mandy

    You are right that coworkers will eat anything. I once made strawberry cupcakes with lime frosting and toasted coconut (they did NOT taste good) and took them to school to share with the other teachers. Those cupcakes were so gross, but I sold them as some sort of mixed drink, and those teachers ate them all! Even the students were more discerning. . .

  • colleen

    The maturity level of this post is right up my alley. Frozen chocolate balls? HA! Fantastic! Love it! And the real question is, do they taste good? (that sounded naughty—er)… chuckle, chuckle, chuckle

  • Beth

    I, too, tried to make cake pops and failed miserably! I have made wedding cakes, but couldn’t make this work. I made my husband take them to work…and they ate them all!

  • Sandy

    So how many of those hairy dog balls…wait, that didn’t sound right, how many of those balls that hit the floor (that most likely picked up some dog hair) make it to work? Now that is deserving of a chuckle, chuckle, chuckle! 😉

  • TeamHaynes

    Haha! BALLS!

    Ahem… You have a fierce fighting face! Sorry they didn’t turn out. I agree, coworkers can eye baked goods like hawks! Then they demand more! I love the packaging! I’m sure they weren’t THAT bad! My grandmother-IL always says her food is, “Not fit to eat!” But it always seems to be some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. I say as long as hubby likes it, life is good 🙂

    PS- I want your kitchen

  • Theresa

    Ha! Not to revel in your suffering… but I’m glad someone else had the same experience as me! Bakerella makes those pops look so easy. Oh vey… the joke is on us!!

  • Zoe

    Aww, I think they look pretty darn good! Yummy.

    Have you tried mixing a bit of cream in with the melted chocolate? It won’t set hard (you’d have to put them back in the fridge for a while), but you’d be able to take the chocolate off the heat so it wouldn’t be as hot. Maybe that would help?

    Good luck! 🙂

  • EmilyC

    I laughed so much when I read this and then when I read the comments…OMG!!! You guys are all so funny and the cake pops still looked very edible so if you brought them to my work I would eat them!

  • Laura

    I am impressed that you attempted baking these. I don’t even bother trying to make homemade baked goods anymore. Betty Crocker box mixes are my BFF. 🙂

  • Roseanne

    I tried the cake ball thing too and the first time out was not very good at it. The second time, I put just a drop of vegetable oil in with the candy chips and it worked much better at coating the balls.

    You’ve got a great blog, I enjoy reading it.

  • Lisa

    What perfect timing! Today my office is having a bake sale and I guarantee your chocolate balls would have been better than half the stuff people brought. Yet somehow everything is already GONE and it wasn’t even free. Seriously, co-workers will eat ANYthing. They will love your balls! (hehe)

    Better luck next time! Love the autumn look 🙂

  • Christina

    Hmm…I’ve had great luck with cake balls. Your chocolate looks too thick – maybe try thinning it with some shortening next time -just a bit.

  • Lisa

    Nice try on them Katie, at least you can say you gave it another shot, even though they didn’t go as planned (again)…Love the new look of the website too! You did really well on that 🙂

  • Diana

    Katie, how do you even have time for such an elaborate baking project? I’m really impressed – I hope your co-workers appreciate all this effort!

  • Emily S

    “Cause everybody knows co-workers will eat anything. They €™re like a bunch of laborador retriever puppies. With paper clips. And staplers.”

    Hilarious and yet so true.

  • Amy

    Your attempt at pumpkin pops has confirmed that I shouldn’t try making them. They look nice in theory, but I know they wouldn’t turn out perfect for me either. I enjoyed reading about your experience though!!!

    I love the look of the “fall themed’ blog! 🙂

  • Nate's Mom

    Every Christmas, my husband attempts to make truffles as gifts for our co-workers and every year they come out looking like turds. But you know what? If you can get past the turd like appearance, you’ll find that they’re damn tasty. I bet your pumpkin pops were gone in no time!

  • Christina

    I don’t know why but those “upside-down” balls (chuckle, chuckle) made me laugh out loud, and then when you gave the explanation for the balls being down instead of up (tee hee hee) I laughed out loud, sitting here at the computer all by myself. The thought of those things sliding down just makes me want to howl. Laughing, not like a wolf. 🙂

  • Maureen

    Sitting here in bed with my laptop, trying not to wake up my husband I was laughing so hard every time you said, ahem, balls. Thank you for sharing your tale of woe with us.

  • Melissa

    After attempting to make all kinds of chocolate covered balls, I have 2 helpful tips for you:

    1) Give up on the double boiler. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 50% power, for about 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between until it’s all really good and melted.

    2) If the melted chocolate is still thick and gooey, add a little baking wax to it. It will thin out the mixture and when it “sets” it will be firm, smooth and shiny.

    After all – who doesn’t want firm, smooth, shiny balls?

  • Alexis Byrd Knox

    Katie,
    Not that you need yet ANOTHER idea… but check out this blog post: http://blog.urbangrace.com/?p=331 I love this blog – great design ideas, links, etc. Anyway, in flipping back through her archives I saw this christmas pop idea. Covering them in real chocolate might be easier. (And if not… maybe tastier mistakes?) Anyway, thought these decorations with pretzels were just TOO cute! Enjoy
    -Alexis

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