Pirate Pie Pop Treats - Arrrrgh Me matey's I'm Back

   
It's funny how things work out.

I've been working on a pretty huge project for someone else for a couple of months which I just finished last weekend. So I planned on having a rejuvenating me week and easing myself back into the blog, maybe a catch up of some of the fabulous things I have been lucky enough to work on in my spare time, but no baking, no siree, I had moved my kitchen aid off the bench which is code in this house for baking hiatus.

I was feeling kinda creativity sapped....nothing left.
But then it happened, 2 days into my week of me I had a stray thought that I had never seen a decorated pie pop and wondered why.

It just wouldn't leave me alone, I couldn't wait.  Those decorated pies kept calling me, so at 2am that morning I found myself up and baking a batch of cherry pie pops so they would be ready for decorating the next day. Yup Really 2am in the morning! At the time it seemed like the only sensible thing to do.

and here is my sneaking out in the middle of the night results. Pirate pie pops. The kids are wrapped in this new creation so I'm calling it a success and have already started on more.


and they're easy as pie.....here's how I decorated them.

Shiver me Timbers Pirate Pie Pops

Ingredients

Baked and cooled pie pops (6 to 7 cm or 3 inches)
Red Marshmallow/Ready to Roll Fondant
Black Marshmallow/ Ready to Roll fondant (or black royal icing)
White Royal icing (I used premix royal icing powder mixed with a tiny amount of water so that it was stiff)
Round cutter
Sharp knife
small rolling pin
10 ready made eyes (or make your own from fondant)

Roll out the red fondant until a couple of millimeters (1/8th inch) thick and cut out a round with the cutter.

Cut a straight line across it 3.5cm (1 3/8 inch) from the top to make the bandana. Then cut 2 thin long triangle to look like the bandana's knot/tie. Press the half circle onto the top of the pie and the 2 triangles at one side with the larger ends touching the edge of the half circle 'bandana'.
Take a small piece of black fondant and roll it out like a long log to make a thin strap about 5cm (2inch) long. Press it onto the pie starting about halfway across the head and draping down to the side to look like the strap of an eye patch. Roll another small piece of black fondant into a small ball and then press flat to make an eye patch, stick onto the pirate head pie across the strap where the eye should be. Roll another small piece of black fondant into a thin log about 2.5cm (1inch) long and shape into a smile, press on where the pirate pie's mouth should be. (Alternately you can do all this black fondant work with some black royal icing.)


Pop the white royal icing into a small ziplock bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner to make an easy disposable piping bag. Using the royal icing stick the premade eye into place and then pipe lots of tiny dots onto the red fondant bandana to appear like polka dots.

Allow to dry and once set you can eat straight away of store in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Vanilla Frappuccino Cupcakes

Vanilla Frappuccino Cupcakes. I know YUM how super delicious do they look.

I'm going to share something which seeings as I love sweets so much you might think is weird, but I don't like real cream. 

Buttercream I am totally into, certain types of that super fake mock cream I really like (hello jam and cream donuts) but real cream from a cow just does not do it for me.

But I love the look of it, I always want to say yes to spiraling swirls of cream when I pick up my fancy coffees but I never do and end up with flat looking although still delicious decaf treats (Ummm decaf yes :( yet another weird thing).

So to make myself feel a bit special I made up these super dooper swirly Vanilla Frappuccino cupcakes.

and then I popped them into my favourite cup.


OK so I'm going to have to show off this cup because it is my favourite and I love it. It's a Spode lidded chocolate cup, so that your hot chocolate stays warm of course......ha like mine ever lasts long enough to go cold.

Truthfully I didn't come up with the cupcake in a cup idea, totally stole it after seeing some inspiring pictures from the lovely Penny's facebook page at P.S. I love you.

But the cupcake is totally mine.

To make the cupcakes pipe coffee vanilla buttercream (recipe below) onto vanilla cupcakes using a Wilton #1M tip swirling around like your making a soft serve icecream. Practice a couple of times on the workbench if you like before you start on the cupcakes.


Sprinkle a little cocoa powder or drinking chocolate onto the top of the cupcake. I use a tea strainer to do stuff like this as it is easy to control. Just pop the cocoa into the strainer hold over the top of the cupcake and gently tap against your other hand.

Finish off with a mini straw wafer cookie, the ones in the picture are mini corinthian ones you can pick up at Woolies, but any brand will do. Make sure you pop the cookie straws in just before serving as they get soggy if you leave them in.

Coffee Vanilla Buttercream

228g unsalted butter (8 oz or 2 sticks) at room temperature
60ml milk (1/4 cup)
6 cups sifted icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3tsp instant coffee mixed with a small amount of hot water, just enough to melt it.

Pop the unsalted butter, milk and 4 cups of icing sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix at high speed until light and fluffy about 5-6 minutes. Scrape down sides as required. Add the remaining sugar one cup at a time mixing for 2-3 minutes between additions. Add the vanilla and coffee and mix well.

If the buttercream is not the correct consistency add extra milk 10mls at a time (I didn't add any extra to this one).


Any cupcake will do the Vanilla cupcake I used is the Magnolia recipe, I don't post other people's recipes here on my blog but I am sure you could find it if you searched.

C & J's wedding

I have been a bit of a poor blogger at the moment. Life has been a bit crazy as life is.

One of the things I have been busy with is making the cake, figurines and cupcakes for my cousin's wedding.

It's not really something I do for people, or am particularly great at, but the bride is adorable and was the flower girl at my wedding years ago.

Plus she is the total opposite of a bridzilla, more of a sweeterella and wanted a really relaxed yet elegant looking cupcake tower.

The tower was 80 vanilla cupcakes and with a one tier chocolate mudcake topped with figurines I made myself out of ready roll fondant. In the darkish reception it looked pretty good.

C & J wishing you a lifetime of joy, happiness, health and sweetness ♥