Army of Ghosts super easy cake pops

What is the scariest thing about Halloween. The evil spirits that supposedly come out....finding the perfect costume.....making sure the candy treats don't run out to minimise the risk of any 'tricks'.

EDIT UPDATE 26/10/2015
I now have a free youtube video tutorial showing how to make the ghosts here:

Yup I know, for most of you the thought of dipping cake pops overshadows it all.
 


But don't you worry, I've solved the problem.

Ghost cake pops with NO STICKS.

So technically that means they are no longer cake pops, but who cares, 'cause I know for a lot of you the dipping is totally the worst part of the whole cake pop experience.

This army of not very scary ghosts are perfect for the pop challenged of you as they consist of an easy little dip and then pouring.

And this technique would be just as perfect for a group of goulish monsters by changing up the candy coating color and adding lots of eyes.....or maybe some gloopy green alien invaders by using green melts and adding one big eye.

Anyhoo the possibilities are endless and the best news is the pooled candy coating at the bottom is part of the decoration.


You can use any type of cake pop recipe you like, the ones in the picture are made with Oreo Truffle, just 'cause we like that in our household :)

Or I have a stack of recipes that can be used in my book:  Sweets on a Stick is available from most online book stores including:

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Army of Ghost Oreo Truffles (makes around 20 depending on the size)

1 batch of Oreo Truffle mixture (click here for recipe)

white chocolate melts (Nestle White Melts or Wilton Candy Melts) - I used White Wilton Melts

Edible eyes - buy premade or Click Here for DIY instructions

Shape the Oreo truffle mixture into mounds like a mountain. I made mine around 1 1/2 tablespoons (2 US Tbsp). Place on a tray lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate/ candy melts in the microwave at medium low heat at short bursts of 60 to 90 seconds. Depending on the type of chocolate you have used you may like to thin it down a touch with some copha or paramount crystals melted at the same time. However the chocolate/ candy coating should not be as fluid as it needs to be for pop dipping.

Remove the tray of Oreo Truffle mounds from the fridge. Pick one up and holding the top between your finger tips dip just the bottom into the melted chocolate/ candy coating. Place on parchment paper lined tray and then use a spoon to carefully cover the top of the truffle mound completely with chocolate, only spooning just enough to cover all around. The excess will pool around the bottom which is ok and is part of the look.

Allow the chocolate/ candy coating to set a little and then add 2 eyes for each ghost. (Note that chocolate will take longer to set than candy coating)

Repeat for remaining rounds making sure to leave enough room between each ghost for the chocolate/ candy melts to pool.

Once set you can gently lift off the parchment paper and they are ready to serve.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Cute bird cake pops, flower cookies and a bit of a whinge

EDIT UPDATE
I now have a quick youtube video on how to make a similar version of bird cake pops CLICK BELOW PICTURE LINK:

Here is a quick peek of some of the treats from Sophie's birthday party.

Uh-huh super cute. They are actually a little display of yummy treats that I made using the recipes and instructions from Sweets on a Stick, just modified a little bit (tips at the bottom of the post).

I know what your saying - what's with the peek? Can you just show the whole party for goodness sake?

Well sadly, the day after Sophie's super fun party, she ended up in hospital for a few days, and then when she got out our 3 year old son....The Destroyer, ended up with a row of stitches on his head.

Added onto that, Mr Sweet and I have also been flu-ish, and I have not really had a chance to sort out the photos and type up a post. Sorry all.

And all the illness is probably why I am soooo cranky and about to have a huge whinge, which let's face it is generally not attractive and something I mostly avoid.

So apologies in advance, but here goes....a while back at the request of a publisher I wrote a book called Sweets on a Stick. Yes that's right the same book that I spruik non stop on this blog.

Edit 31 August - OK there still seems to be some confusion. So before you read on Sweets on a Stick is still a color book. There was a very small print on demand in black and white which was an error...this problem has been fixed and all future copies WILL be color. If you do have a black and white copy you should request for it to be replaced.....ok back to the original post.

Everything seemed ok and then a few months into this year I used an Amazon gift card I had for some stuff and I purchased 2 copies of my book. Still all good but then when they turned up they were black and white - yup, for Real. That is totally not how they were meant to be, it clearly states on the back cover of the book that the pictures should be color (plus I already had other copies from the publisher which I had seen and knew that it was wrong).

When I emailed Amazon they offered to refund the money or send me another 2 copies, so I chose the 2 color copies, which solved my black and white problem pretty easily.

Then I contacted the publisher to find out what was going on and they advised that Amazon has a process where they can print on demand themselves, so it seems what happened is Amazon (or maybe a company that works for them) printed the book in black and white and sent it out that way.

You know mistakes happen, heavens know I'm not perfect by a long shot, so I was happy to let it all go.

But I guess they didn't rush out to replace all the black and white copies that were printed and sent out in error.

Image from Sweets on a Stick - yes they are supposed to be color :)

Because now there is a comment from someone who received one of those black and white books from Amazon on the Amazon website stating the book is black and white. And as it turns out people do read that stuff as I get quite a few comments from people asking whether it is really black and white.

Sadly Amazon will not remove that comment, even though it is not a true reflection of the book, but rather their own faulty Print on Demand system. I sent them a polite email and when they said they would not remove the comment. I followed up as I thought as it was their (or a company that works for them) mistake, and as the book is not really black and white surely they would have to remove the comment? But no - they just told me the matter was no longer up for discussion and thanked me for my understanding.

Yup - I am totally not understanding that.

Image from Sweets on a Stick - yup still supposed to be color :)

Anyhoo as there is not really that much I can do I'll just recap for y'all.....Sweets on a Stick does have Color pictures. If you have received a copy that is not color I suggest you contact whomever you bought it from (I'm guessing Amazon) and ask for a replacement. It has 50 color pictures which is around 1 picture for every 3 recipes, and yes I wish every recipe had a picture but a decision was made by the publishing team to print in the US instead of overseas and it had some impact on the number of pictures that could be used.


Sweets on a Stick is aimed at kids and getting kids in the kitchen and some of the recipes are pretty simple as a result. The recipes, although easy to make, taste good and I use lots of them on a regular basis myself. Sweets on a Stick is published in the US and uses ounces etc, but there is a conversion chart at the back to metric.

Anyway Sweets on a Stick available at the Book Depository and Fishpond, you know I guess as well as some other big book stores that we no longer support here at Bubble and Sweet :) Doh I so don't have the time it's going take to go through the blog to swap all the links, but I'm doing it anyway.



Book Depository: Sweets on a Stick

Fishpond: Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Handmade paper pom pom from Ah-Tissue

Bird Cake Pop modifications - To get a cute open beak follow the instructions in Sweets on a Stick and replace the beak with 2 extra heart sprinkles by attaching the curved top of the sprinkle to the bird before the candy coating has set. See picture for example of placement. I colored my own candy coating light blue using Flocoat and Wedgewood blue gel color (ratio 5 drops flocoat to 1 drop gel food color).

Flower Cookie Pop modification - the cookies in the above picture are made using a smaller blossom/ flower cookie cutter.

All photo's by Terri Vandermeer 

Party Labels by I Will Invitations - Lovebird Tweet

Pom Poms - Ah-Tissue

Pink and Gold decorated Shabby Chic princess macarons

I always feel a bit weird when I decorate a macaron.

Generally it seems like it's frowned upon, but seeings as I'm just a home cook and not a fancy patisserier I  can do what I want and be inspired by what my family likes rather than being constrained by tradition :)

Plus these ones are decorated with just an incy bit of royal icing that melts in your mouth along with the macaron.

I think that's totally ok, don't you?

Photo by Alyce Holzberger Photography

Oh well, who really cares anyway. They are sooo pretty and yummy as well and I didn't hear any complaints when they were served.

These pink and gold macarons were made for Bubble's 8th birthday party to tie in with the shabby chic with a glitzy twist princess theme.

Lilli's Shabby Chic Princess 8th Birthday Party CLICK HERE for more party photo's

Photo by Alyce Holzberger Photography

To make the gold macarons I simply colored half the macs with a touch of yellow and ivory to make a 'golden' base colour, filled them with pink ganache and then I airbrushed them with americolor gold sheen.

Photo by Alyce Holzberger Photography

Yup pretty simple. I borrowed an air brush from my friend Sam over at Caketopia, but you could just as easily use a tin of edible gold spray like the ones from PME or Wilton. That's what I normally do.

For the pink hand piped macarons, I coloured the macarons medium pink and filled them with pink ganache.

Then I hand piped a design in the middle using some royal icing that I had coloured with yellow and ivory.

I often do a little bit of practice piping on some parchment paper before I start on the actual macarons. Umm it doesn't help me that much I am still pretty messy :) But I guess, imagine what it would be like if I didn't practice first.

Some of the macarons I piped an initial and some a few lines reminiscent of a rough fleur de lis.



Then I piped a row of dots around the edge of the macaron.

I allowed the royal icing to dry and then using a clean fine paint brush (one that I only use on food items) I hand painted the piped details with some edible gold paint mixed in with gold lustre dust and rose spirits.

Viola pretty hand piped macarons, just perfect for a princess party.

Macaron Shells makes around 40 shells or 20 filled macarons

190 gram (6 5/8 oz)almond meal (almond flour)
190 gram pure icing sugar (6 5/8 oz powdered sugar)
190 gram granulated sugar (6 5/8 oz)
48 grams water (1 5/8 oz)
140 gram egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 70grams each (5 oz split into 2 lots of 2 1/2oz each)*
food color of choice (I use gel type food color like Wilton)

*ageing egg whites refers to separating the yolks from whites and then leaving the whites to age for a few days. This can be done on the counter if your countries climate permits or in the fridge, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and then pop a few holes in the top. Alternately you can pop fresh egg whites in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or so - I used the microwave method in this batch pictured.

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

Yup - I really use this super old fashioned thermometer I have had for about 20 years to make my macarons

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C (245 F). Brush down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid the sugar crystallizing. Once the mixture reaches 115C (240 F) start mixing the egg whites on high. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, when the sugar syrup reaches 118C (245 F)remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F).


5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that disappears back into the mixture after about 20 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or just cut the end of a disposable piping bag, that's what I do) and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one.

Waiting to form skins after piping

If your mixture has peaks after you have piped a couple of rows that do now sink back down you macaron mixture needs more mixing. Pop it back in the bowl and mix it a bit more

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin so that the macaron mixture does not stick to your finger when gently touched. If the weather is humid this step may take longer up to 2 hours. I pop on the aircon if it's humid at my house.

Baking in the oven. The macarons will rise after a few minutes in the oven and develop a frilly foot

Eeek- can you see some of those less than perfect under mixed mac's in the back  that I pointed out 

in the previous picture - they do not have a flat shiny top. That's so not mac-cool

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 140C (285 F). Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, it may take longer, all ovens are different. If they are baked and you gently push on the side the tops will not move, if the tops do move do bake for another minute or 2. Also they should not be browned if they are reduce the heat for the next batch or bake for less time.

9. Once baked remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

10. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the ganache.

To make ganache melt white chocolate with cream in the microwave and mix gently until combined, use a ration of 3:1, so for example 300 grams white chocolate to 100 grams cream, sorry guys I measure as I already have the scales out and I can't be bothered messing up a liquid measuring jug :) Add some gel color and raspberry flavor to taste.
Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

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Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.