Christmas 2008, Project # 2

So my second Christmas project of the year has to do with baking. Michael had a work Christmas party this past weekend and he, well Me, was responsible for bringing dessert. As I went through a list of what I could make each one of them got shot down. He wanted something festive and different and apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake didn't make that list. So I started searching the Internet for fun recipes. I ended up finding the Bakerella site through Pioneeer Woman (both avid cookers and bloggers). I found the cutest cupcakes from a Bakerella, the post was called Making Your Cupcakes Pop! It looked easy enough and fun enough to do so I thought I'd try it out. But I couldn't stick to her original recipe and suggestions, oh no because that would be too easy. And those that know me I do nothing the easy way. I decided that I would find mini cookie cutters that were Christmas shapes and I would make a Christmas tree that would hold the cupcake pops and underneath would be a winter wonderland scene. Needless to say I got a little carried away and the imagine I had in my head was tougher to create than I thought.

First noted mistake was thinking I could do what she did and have it turn out as cute as she did. My second mistake was the cookie cutters were too small and the little balls that I had to roll the cake into were either too small or too mushy. I think putting in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes is way better than putting in the fridge overnight. The cake balls just didn't get hard enough... (you know that sounds way more perverted than it should). The cake balls I was trying to mold into Christmas designs were falling apart before my very eyes and I thought they were too mushy so I decided why not bake them a little longer to see if they harden up some... even though Bakerella said nothing about having to bake the things again... Needless to say 3 cake mixes later and 7 1/2 hours of standing in the kitchen I finally had something somewhat worth taking to his Christmas party. It's one thing when you take food to the families house or a friends house you have known forever - but when you are meeting most of your husband's co-workers for the first time there is a sense of panic at hand.

Would you like to know the sickest part of all of this..... I refuse to let a cupcake pop defeat me and ohhh yes I plan on attempting this thing again tonight to take to my mom's for one of our desserts for tomorrow night. Only this time I'm making it much easier - Bakerella showed reindeer, Santa hats, and trees that are all easier to make. And this time I only plan on using 1 box of cake mix. It's a good thing Duncan Hines is sold at Wal-Mart for $.88 - maybe I should have bought stock in Duncan....