Pineapple Upside Down Cake Pops!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Pops.

How they came to be in Amanda Cupcake-land.

I work with some really sweet ladies as a cook in the assisted living home.  When I received a call from Cupcake Wars Casting, all the lady cooks that work with me in the kitchen insisted that if I were to fly out to Los Angeles, then they'd have to come with me too, as my kitchen assistants!  If that didn't melt my heart, I don't know what will.  ♥  And come on, that would be amazing TV, don't you think?

Sometimes I bring my cupcakes and cake pops into the nursing home just for people to try.  And I swear, it creates this wonderful bond with people. It's like my sweetness comes alive in a cake pop!

This is how I met Linda, the smiling face in the office of the Iola Assisted Living Home.  We were on break in the lunch room.  I was wearing a hair net, camouflaging the true Amanda Cupcake I am-pushing orange cake pops on people (it truly isn't that hard to do).  Linda wasn't sure about these mystery cake pops. I insisted her life would be enlightened greatly if she took a bite of the magical-ness.

♥

So you know what happened next.

It's a true story of sweet indulgence.

Linda fell in love with an orange dreamsicle cake pop.

We then created a beautiful magic cake pop story together for her favorite sister Marcia. 

13 Pineapple Upside Down Cake Pops that Spell out "Happy Birthday."

And the Cake Pops Truly are Upside Down.

Dipped In Yellow Candy Melts.

Sparkled with Green Disco Dust for the "Pineapple "Leaves".

This is all the deliciousness inside of the cake pop.

Maraschino Cherry Bits, Pineapple Chunks, Pineapple Juice, Cake, and Buttercream Frosting.  Yes. You can do this at home.

I took a risk and shipped my cake pop babies out to Linda's sister Marcia across the United States, praying for their safe arrival.

This is the lovely email I received from the Birthday Girl, Marcia the other day:

The pineapple upside down cake pops came in the mail today – what a pleasant SURPRISE!  I’ve never seen – or eaten – anything like it.  They are rich, flavorful and yummy.  I’ve been looking at your website – and although it’s 10:40 at  night – my mouth is watering at all the beautiful and creative pictures. 

♥

Proof that once you cake pop, you really can't stop.

Recipe here for a pineapple upside down cake you can make yourself.

(then crumble it up, add maraschino cherry bits, frosting and turn into cake pop balls)!

Do-This-At-Home Ingredient List:

1 Box Of Yellow Cake Mix

1 20 oz Can of Pineapple Chunks

4 Eggs

1 10 oz jar of Maraschino Cherries

Vegetable Oil

Stand Mixer

Cookie Sheet

Parchment Paper

Cake Pop Sticks

1.  Pour your Yellow Cake Mix into your Kitchen Aid Mixer.

2.  Substitute the water in the Yellow Cake Mix with Pineapple Juice from your can of pineapples.

3.  Add the amount of Vegetable Oil called for on the Cake Mix Box and add 4 eggs to the mixture.

4.  Blend well in your stand mixer.

5.  Then add about 1 cup of Pineapple Chunks to your Cake mix (this is optional but I like the chunks of pineapple in my cake pops)!

**Make sure the Pineapple is drained, no extra juice in the cake mix.

6.  Using the whisk attachment on your standing mixer, blend all ingredients for about 30 seconds.

7.  Pour batter into a greased & floured 9x13" pan..and bake for appx 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees (shorter or longer depending on your oven)!

8.  Crumble up your cake into a large bowl, cake will need to cool for about an hour and a half before you can start cake popping.

9.  Once cooled, add a tablespoon at a time of buttercream frosting, until the consistency is sticky like play - doh.

10.  It's time to get your hands sticky.  Add your chopped up maraschino cherries to the cake pop blend.

11.  Take out a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roll your sticky cake pop mixture into little cake balls.

♥You'll see little streaks of delicious cherry and strings of pineapple texture in the cake pops. This is how you know you've created a pineapple upside down cake..inside of a cake pop.

♥Set the cake pops inside of the refrigerator for about an hour.

♥Meanwhile, take out your yellow candy melts and melt them in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time until they look like melted chocolate!

♥Once the cake pops are cool enough, dip one side of your cake pop sticks in the candy melts..and insert it into the cake pop ball.

☻You now have a cake pop ball on a stick.

All that's left to do is *dip* in the yellow candy melts.

And of course..add sparkles, immediately! ♥

Gnome Cupcake Wonderland

I have big dreams, and a ginormous imagination.

Can't you tell by this birthday gnome cupcake wonderland I baked, dipped and swirled?

  

Last week Saturday, I was a vendor at Indie Wed Chicago. 

I answered some majorly serious questions from cupcake observers:

"Can you make me unicorn cupcakes?" 

"Can you eat the glitter on that cupcake?"

"Is that a S'more in cupcake form?"

..I even heard..

"You remind me of a girl Willy Wonka."

"I love your pink tutu."

♥

Years ago, a friend asked me what my superhero power would be. I waited a few days to respond to his email.  I wanted to come up with the perfect response. I never got to tell him. He passed away unexpectedly.

I hope that he is able to see now that I've discovered it.

♥

The "S" on my chest..should be a cupcake!

This picture explains why. My friend Cassie took this photo after receiving the gnome cupcake wonderland I made for her.  She played with the cupcakes before eating them! ♥

I think it's true that the "child" in you that likes to *play*.. is the real YOU.

♥

I'm happy that my cupcakes are a way to revive that!

Can you imagine walking through a forest, picking a pink sparkly mushroom with green dots on it?

 And you are suddenly really hungry because the mushroom smells like the cupcake of your dreams?♥

 Bearded Frosting Gnome Hi-Hats.

You can eat the frosting beards right off the cupcake.

And the hat is a crunchy candy melt delight.

 Hats made out of sugar cones and dipped in pink candy melts.  Sparkly soft grassy frosting swirls. ♥

Happy gnomes. Grumpy gnomes. Hiding Gnomes. Lost gnomes.

..If you only knew their heads used to be basic faceless cake pops, dyed with a combination of pink, yellow, and white candy color gel.

One of my biggest rules:  Play with your food before eating it.

I do all the time..

And look at the outcome!