Lollipop cookie pop redux

Remember way back when I posted my beautiful Lollipop Cookie pops made from sugar cookie and marshmallow fondant.

No off course you don't........it was my second post and no one but my mum was reading my blog. Well my mum and then amazingly Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella who posted a comment, and then kindly afterwards linked to my post. Thanks Mum and Lorraine - your the best.


Well I made those original cookies almost a year ago and boy have I come a long way since then.

These here are some pics of my latest lot of lollipop cookies for a photoshoot I was involved with for new business A Party Pack.

See what difference a great photographer, party props, pretty decorations and a stylist makes to my treats.

I'm sooo looking for a party stylist to team up with in a few months when I start getting serious with my business because look at this.....

and this.....

and this....

and finally this......
If you love the accessories go check out A Party Pack they send all the essentails for a party to you, as easy as opening up a gift box. The pack above is the Babushka Pack which was one of my favourites.

Photography by Deep Grey Photography

Sweet styling by Sharnel Dollar Designs

Pom Poms by Ah Tissue

Party Packs by....A Party Pack - they send all the party essentials to you in a box.

Oh and if enough people are interested I'll do a tutorial on those Babushka doll cookies.

POST UPDATE - I made the first cookies nearly a year ago but didn't start posting on my blog until April so y'all aren't hallucinating. 

Spring Inspired Bee and Flower cookies - Daring Bakers September 2010

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

 The cookies could be any shape or decoration, the only guide was September which is pretty broad considering that the Daring Bakers come from all around the world.

I chose Spring as my theme and made some busy bee cookies and daisies.

Marshmallow Ribbon Candy, make your own Faux Ribbon Candy

I adore the look of ribbon candy on a dessert table.

But sadly I have not been able to source it here in Australia, and although I love the look of it, I don't love my kids sticky hands all over everything after they have been eating hard candy. Ick. Or when they hoard spitty candy left overs to be stored for later. Double Ick.

So I have come up with an alternative,marshmallow ribbon candy. It's faux ribbon candy made out of marshmallow fondant, all the prettiness and way less of the Ick.


Now before I go any further I'm just going to confirm that yes marshmallow fondant is fondant that you make out of marshmallow and sugar so it pretty much tastes like sweet marshmallow. You can use it for all sorts of stuff from making faux ribbon candy to covering cookies and cakes. For recipe and instructions click here.

Marshmallow Ribbon Candy is not rock hard, it's easy to bite through but that also means little hands have a tendency to break it into smaller pieces, which may end up mashed all through your carpet. I suggest to save the mess on your floor you break into smaller pieces when handing it out for easy kiddy eating.

and because it's not rock hard you can pop it onto skewers for display. Skewering is best done before the ribbon sets hard.

Instructions after jump....

Macarons with chocolate ganache and raspberry

Ok just a quick post on the new We Should Cocoa monthly chocolate challenge.

When one of the blogs I read mentioned they were having a monthly chocolate challenge I knew I would be up for it straight away, as though I need another reason to make chocolate treats.

Bee cake pops (well ok they're Bee Oreo Pops)

I've been busy as a bee in the kitchen lately and one of the things I have whipped up is these bee Oreo cookie truffle pops.

Based on Bakerella's instructions and tweaked a little for those who are piping impaired like me.

Lemon Buttercream Macarons

This month’s Mac Attack challenge #11 was to bake a macaron inspired by a childhood summer memory.

I had a really happy childhood and stacks of fond memories, but I found they were either difficult to create (due to my inability to source mulberries at the moment), or already posted by other members and I was scratching my head when this came to mind.

My mother's jewelry box, filled with treasures I used to sneak in to look at and occasionally dare to try them on. Sometimes I would be allowed to legitimately try them on whilst sitting next to my mother on her bed, I used to feel so special.

Now I actually know that mum kept her real treasures elsewhere and the stuff in that box was costume jewelry, but I still remember that box and it's shiny baubles with a smile on my face.

My box here is filled with a different kind of treasure.

 

and while I was taking these photo's and piling the macarons in a tower I remembered that I also used to love playing with building blocks and lego so I made a couple of little towers

Oooops - after you get to three its a bit unstable.

My macarons were Lemon Buttercream and raspberry white chocolate.

One of the best parts of these Lemon Buttercream filled Macarons is that they used up 3 egg yolks - wahoo my house is always filled with egg yolk leftovers and any chance I get to use them makes me soooo happy.

Recipe follows.

Mwahhhh, kiss, kiss - stamping cute decorations

Quite a few people asked me about the little lips I used to decorate my tim tam cookie pops with so I'm going to quickly share my secret with you.

Stamps......

Cute little lip stamps that I picked up as part of a 6 pack with other cute stamps from Typo (Australian stationery shop).

 Then I just rolled out fondant (or gumpaste) and cut out a circle.

Popped a tiny amount of gel food colour onto the stamp and started stamp'n. 

So little effort for such a lot of cuteness.

Try to only get it on the lips (or what ever it is your stamping) otherwise you might end up with a messy one like this........

I have a bunch of these here dabber things so you can just put just a smidgen of the food colouring onto the stamp.

and to get the glittery heart look, just sprinkled on some non toxic food glitter straight after stamping while the food colour is still wet,  after it dries brush off the excess with a soft paintbrush.



Oh and make sure your equipment is food safe if someone is going to be eating it and definitely only use it for foodstuff (ie no real ink or paint).

Mwahhhhh, bye for now.

Marshmallowy Chocolate Goodness - Chocolate Marshmallow Recipe

Never been a huge fan of packet marshmallows, I can take them or leave them.

They are completely worthwhile in regards to making marshmallow fondant to cover cakes with and now that I think about it quite a few other recipes, but I guess they are more an ingredient to me than a treat.

That changed a year or so ago thanks to the wonderful blogsphere. I was reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry and they had a post on a shop called Sweetness the Patisserie and pictures of the most gorgeous marshmallows

(these are not the gorgeous Sweetness marshmallows these are my delicious but not so gorgeous version)

Something came over me, I had to have those marshmallows so I phoned up and had a bunch shipped to me.......chocolate, rose, lavender, raspberry. The customer service was wonderful and soon clouds of deliciousness came to me via Australia post. For a while my artisan marshmallow craving was satisfied.

Until recently when I have been seeing lots of gorgeous pics of guimauve (which is pretty much French for marshmallow as far as I can work out) and I was reminded of these wonderful Sweetness Patisserie marshmallows and a recipe I had copied out at the time from Chocolate & Zucchini.


I have adapted the recipe a bit, it calls for half rose and half chocolate and instead I made all chocolate.

They didn't look as lovely as I had hoped but they sure did taste good. Perhaps with a bit of practice I can improve the look. Also I'm thinking that the lighter colour marshmallows might look a little prettier.


Oh and here are a couple I wrapped in edible rice paper, and popped a food colour heart onto, less sticky but not quite as yummy I think.

I heart sweet cookie pops - Tim Tam Cookie Pop recipe

Not so subliminal message -  I heart sweet cookie pops

I'm on a cookie pop binge at the moment.

I am giving myself a baking breather and cookie pops do not require any real cooking and satisfy my super sweet tooth, and they are fast. Yup ready to eat within an hour.

After those delicious Oreo pops the other day, I thought I would try out some Australian brand cookies and so obviously one of the next cookies of the rank was the Tim Tam.

If your not from Australia, Tim Tams are a grocery store biscuit (that's what we call cookies here) with 2 chocolate rectangle biscuits iced together with a chocolate cream and covered in........chocolate.

Ok not a lot of thought went into that flavour combination there, but it seems to have served Arnott's well as they are a bit of an Aussie icon.

And these pops don't just taste sweet and look sweet, they SAY sweet. Boy I'm as bad as Arnott's not much thought process going on here. My only thoughts are of sweeeet, sweeeeet cookie pops.

I tweaked this recipe by using my Oreo cookie recipe and checking out Not Quite Nigella's post on her Tim Tam pops.

Try these out, if you like Tim Tams I think you'll like them.

Tim Tam Cookie Pop recipe and instructions makes 10 cake pops

1 packet Tim Tams, 200grams (7  1/8 ounce)
80 grams cream cheese softened to room temp (2 7/8 ounce)
150 gram chocolate melts any flavour (5 3/8 ounce) I used white

1. Crush Tim Tams finely in food processor

2. Add cream cheese and pulse until mixture is smooth and comes together in a ball.

3. Shape mixture into balls and roll round in between your palms to shape. Mine are about 25g (7/8 ounce) each. Chill in fridge for a short time.

4. To secure sticks for dipping, melt some of the chocolate melts (I just do mine in the microwave for short bursts on med low) and dip the end of your sticks/pops in the chocolate and push into the firm truffles. Return to fridge.
5. Melt remainder of chocolate, make sure it is completely smooth. Holding the stick/pop dip truffles into the melted chocolate, allow excess to drip off and then place into a holder to set. I use blocks of styrofoam covered in plastic wrap.

Sweeeeeet!

These pops are decorated with some round fondant I cut out using the top of a large piping tip which I then decorated by hand prior to placing them on the pops.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Here is the link for instructions on how to stamp the decorations