Chocolate Caramel Apple Pops

I don't know if you've found Pinterest yet, but it is my new addiction, uh, love!  It is such an easy way to hang on to all of the amazing ideas that I find on everyone's blogs these days.  You know, that's the part of blogging I didn't think about when I started my blog.  I was already an avid blog reader but as I've expanded where I link my posts up to, I've found more and more great blogs to read which means more and more ideas to try!  Pinterest lets you create different boards to organize all of the ideas you find.  Take a look at my boards and follow me.  I'm always looking for new people to follow myself!  Just be careful, it will suck you in!

The more I started using it, the more I wanted my sister on there.  I always email her links but I kept thinking it would be easier with her on there with me.  So, I invited her and it's so much fun sharing all of our great finds with one another.  There were a couple ideas we both fell for, hard!  We love caramel apples and so many people have posted about making Apple Pops, Caramel Dipped Apple Slices, Apple Nachos -- so many apple recipes.  And we live in North Carolina where apple season is starting and the apples are so good.  So she tried to make caramel dipped apple slices.  For some reason, she has trouble with making dipped snacks, and her slices didn't work.  I decided to try to make some apple pops to see if I could find some pointers to help her out. Plus I had gotten these beauties delivered in My Produce Box on the same day that she called about her slice disaster...

Fresh, local produce always makes me happy!

My mom taught me to soak cut apples in salt water to prevent browning.  It doesn't leave them tart like lemon juice -- it even makes them taste a little sweeter, in my opinion.  So I filled a bowl with a few cups of water and about a teaspoon of salt and stirred until the salt dissolved.

I used my melon baller to cut balls of the apple and soaked each piece in the salt water.  Since this was my first try, I only did two apples and it yielded almost 20 balls.

I didn't have any caramel candies at home so I just made some from scratch.  It's cheaper and easier anyway...  I added my sugar and butter to a small skillet and started heating it up over medium-high heat.

Melty sugar and butter... yum!

Bubbly...

It's getting there.  Waiting on that gorgeous color to start showing up.

There it is!  Caramel!!!  I sat this off to the side while I melted some chocolate chips.

I added a spoonful of vegetable shortening to the chocolate chips just to smooth out the consistency a bit.

I melted the chocolate in the microwave this time.  I put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stirred it thoroughly each time.  It only took 3 spins through the microwave to look like it does in the left-most photo above.  I then stirred it until it looked smooth as in the right-most photo.  I always rely on stirring to melt it in the end so that I don't risk burning my chocolate.

By this time, the caramel has cooled so I added a little cream to thin it out.  I heated it over medium heat to combine.

It all came together and got all bubbly again.

I poured the caramel into a bowl and placed it close to the melted chocolate and some chocolate jimmies.  Time to dip now :)

I pulled out the apple balls and dried them very well!!!  I couldn't decide if I wanted to dip them peel side up or peel side down so I decided to try it both ways.

The caramel stuck just fine with the peel side up.

So it went into the chocolate.  No problems here either.

The sprinkles finish it off.

I placed it in a paper cup to cool while I made the rest.

The pops with the skin side down worked, too :)

I will tell you that these were pretty yummy but I don't know if I'll make them again...  I think the heat from the caramel made the apple balls release so much juice that these would not last very long.  I placed them the refrigerator to cool all of the way and some were leaking apple juice within an hour.  They were still yummy to eat that way but messy!

And I'll also share that while dipping, my caramel cooled too much and stopped sticking to the apple.  Boo! I reheated and started dipping again right away.

And the caramel was too hot to really work then.  So you will have to work with the caramel to get to just the right temperature for dipping.



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Chocolate Caramel Apple Pops

2 medium apples - 18-20 balls
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp vegetable shortening
Caramel - recipe below
chocolate jimmies

Use a melon baller to cut ball shaped sections of the apple, with skin still on the apple.  Soak the cut apples in a bowl of salt water to prevent browning for at least 10 minutes.  While apples are soaking, place chocolate chips in a bowl with the shortening and microwave for 30 seconds intervals, stirring thoroughly between each one.  This should take no more than 1 to 1.5 minutes -- be careful not to overheat your chocolate.  Once chocolate, caramel and jimmies have been placed into separate bowls and you are read to dip, remove apple pieces from water and dry completely with paper towels.  Insert lollipop sticks and dip each apple segment into caramel, then chocolate, then jimmies.  Place them in a mini candy liner to harden, in the refrigerator.  Serve as soon as the chocolate has hardened and enjoy!


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Caramel for dipping



3 tbsp butter
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c half & half, optional

Place butter and sugar in a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir together to combine while it heats.  Continue stirring as the sugar melts and the mixture develops a gorgeous golden brown color.  Once color develops, allow caramel to cool a little.  If caramel thickens too much, half & half can be added to thin it over medium heat.

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Mouthwatering Mondays, Makin' You Crave Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Whisking Wednesday, Show & Share, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Foodie Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

Red Velvet Cake

This past Sunday, I was searching for comfort.  It was a sad day.  As I usually do, I turned to food.

I am a southern girl so it had to be Red Velvet Cake.  I mean is there anything better to make you feel like all is right with the world?

I have tried tons and tons of Red Velvet recipes over the years and I've recently found one that I love!  It was over at Moments of Twenty.  My only modifications to this recipe are that I don't make a paste out of the cocoa and food coloring.  I add them in separately.  I don't like how the paste can be lumpy...  And I use CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.  I do love the icing recipe featured in the post but not for Red Velvet Cake.  For me, Red Velvet Cake must have Cream Cheese Frosting.  It's just a law in my world.

This cake makes everything better!

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Mouthwatering Mondays, Makin' You Crave Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Whisking Wednesday, Show & Share, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Foodie Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

Fresh Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling

This past January, my family took a trip to Washington, DC.  A few months prior to that, a girlfriend had been and had told me that she and her daughters went to see Georgetown Cupcakes -- you know, as in DC Cupcakes on TLC?  At the time that she told me this story, I didn't.  I'm embarrassed to admit that now...  I love cupcakes so I immediately looked the show up.  My friend was unable to get in and try any cupcakes due to the long lines.  I saw that you can order ahead and walk right in -- that's what they told Oprah or a morning show host or someone like that -- so I ordered one and a half dozen.  Did I mention that we went in January?  Why did I expect there to be a line around the building during snow and rain in January? More on that in a bit.
So we took the Metro to the closest stop at the end of a day of walking the Mall and then realized that it was one mile to the shop from the Metro stop.  Did I also mention that I had a 5 and 7 year old with me?  And that it was cold?  And that we hadn't had dinner?  We thought about grabbing a cab but we reasoned that it would be better to walk there and take a cab back so off we went.  I still have nightmares about that walk.  I had half of a left over cookie in my purse that I used to lure my children forward several times during that walk.  After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it and walked right in -- in front of maybe 3 people -- a bit anti-climatic if you ask me.  We picked up our cupcakes and grabbed a table.  This is where you queue up the Hallelujah chorus...  Once each of us bit into our cupcakes, the journey was worth it!  They were delicious.  We ended up buying more before we left and we had to wait in line to do that. I brought some home to my girlfriends.  I couldn't bear the thought of not sharing them with the friend who had introduced me to this heavenly place.

I tell you this story because it is where I fell head over heels in love with their chocolate banana cupcake.  I mean, I want to take a trip back just to eat one.  So I figured that meant that I needed to come up with a recipe that I could make myself and I did!  I have worked on this one all year and it is ready to be shared.  Only, it's not chocolate.  I really wanted to focus on the banana!  And in this version, I added peanut butter ganache into center of the cupcake and peanut butter chips as a garnish.  You can blame it on Elvis.

I started by mashing up bananas.

I added the vanilla and eggs to the bananas because it all gets added in together.

I creamed the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Then I added in the banana mixture and combined that well.  Next was the flour mixture.  And last was the sour cream.  I filled my cupcake liners and let them bake.

After cooling, the cupcakes were ready to be filled with a ganache I made mixing peanut butter chips with cream in double boiler and letting them melt together into a smooth sauce.

Yum!

I just used a spoon to pour the filling into the holes I made using my apple corer.

These are topped with the Vanilla Bean-Cream Cheese Buttercream icing I've used before.

And then topped with a few peanut butter chips on top just because.  These take me back to that wonderful trip.  I still can't wait to visit again but until then, these always hit the spot!

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Fresh Banana Cupcakes          Printable recipe card here! 

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 ½ cup sugar

2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake liners in muffin pan.

Cream butter, slowly add sugar and beat until light.  Add banana, eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  Add to first mixture and blend.  Slowly add sour cream and beat until well blended.  Fill cupcake liners with ¼ cup batter each.  Bake 15-18 minutes.  Cool in pan on cooling rack.

I'm linking up!!!  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Mouthwatering Mondays, Makin' You Crave Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Works for Me Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, Whisking Wednesday, Show & Share, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Turning the Table Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Chic & Crafty Party, I'm Lovin It, Tasty Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Friday Favorites, Friday Flair, Foodie Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, My Inner Baker, Simply Delish

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Tina, over at Mom's Crazy Cooking, has invited me to be a part of her first Crazy Cooking Challenge.  This is a new challenge that will allow us all to find a recipe that a fellow blogger has shared with us in Blogland and give it a whirl.  All of you, our readers, will be able to read the posts and vote for your favorite!  How cool is that?  (My post #20...  just sayin')  I'm really excited to see what everyone comes up with -- our theme for this month is one of my most favorite foods ever!  Macaroni And Cheese!  YUM!

I have scoured the blogs to find the ultimate macaroni and cheese recipe and I think I found the perfect one at Ezra Pound Cake!  Macaroni and cheese is a staple at my house and it is almost always made from scratch.  The recipe I found is similar to the way I usually make it -- it starts with a roux -- but it takes it a step further and instead of serving from the stove top as I do, it includes a trip through the oven to take it over the top!  It also uses ground dry mustard which is something I typically avoid.  My husband isn't a mustard fan so I usually just skip it even though every mac&cheese recipe calls for it.  This time, I used it, and he is so glad that I did.  It's wonderful!  So is the blog that I found this recipe on, by the way.  Its author, Rebecca, is so much fun to read and has great recipes to share!

The only modification that I made to Rebecca's recipe is that I doubled the amount of pasta it called for.  And I didn't include the optional hot sauce.  I may do that next time but this time it was for my kiddos so I was nice...

I don't know about you, but anything that starts with this makes me weak in the knees.  Am I the only one?  Sorry, but a plate of extra sharp cheddar shredded to pieces thrills me!

This is a bowl of the seasoning used in the dish.  Yum!  Fresh garlic also makes me happy!

Like I said, this recipe starts with a basic roux -- butter + flour + milk + heat = thick, bubbly white sauce.

I added all of those awesome spices to the thickened white sauce and stirred them in.

And then the cheese!  Not just the cheddar above but also Monterrey Jack and Parmesan.  Sooooo good!

Once it's all mixed together and heated well, it turns into this amazing cheese sauce!  And you can see all of the gorgeous flavor in it from here. 

I mixed that awesome sauce with the cooked pasta and poured it into a buttered casserole dish.

I topped it with some extra cheese and placed it in the oven for 25 minutes.

This is it!  Don't you want to dive right in???

We did!

And did it again!

Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in this cool challenge and don't forget to vote!

Marshmallow Fondant at Frosting for the Cause

I am so excited to have a guest post over at Frosting for the Cause today!  

If you haven't yet discovered this amazing site, you should check it out.  It is the beautiful idea of Paula, the Vanilla Bean Baker, to have 365 days of guest posts this year from sugar cookie & cupcake bakers/decorators and bloggers from across Canada and the United States.  It such a treat and you can discover amazing people, tips and treats there.  


What makes if even more special, is that each guest blogger donates money to the American or Canadian Cancer Society and donates their baked goods to a women's hospice or to their local hospital or cancer care facility.  As a participant with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life for the last 7 years, I am so excited to be a part of another avenue that raises money for this vitally important cause!  Please jump over and take a look at my post about how to make homemade marshmallow fondant.  And then read from the other contributors, too.  You'll be glad you did!