Something different!

The weekend is usually when I do my baking, and this weekend I wanted to try something other than cupcakes. After reading all of my usual blogs, I came across my new favorite baking blog, Bakerella

I went through pages and pages of her entries and reading them made me really happy, especially when I saw this blog entry (go towards the end of the post, most of you should understand why this particular entry caught my eye more than others)
. DonateLife is an organization that I worked briefly with after my dad passed away. My dad needed a heart transplant, but was unable to get one and passed away on May 13th, 2008.

My dad and I March of 2008

Knowing that the creator of that blog knows about DonateLife and has also had a kidney transplant made reading her blogs a lot more meaningful.

Another thing - she isn't a professional baker and has had no formal training. She took a baking class, started her blog, and now she has her own book out and has been on numerous TV shows promoting her work. (So this CAN lead to something!)
Ok, ok...I'll stop rambling!

So the big thing she does is cake pops. That is what I decided to try this weekend...

Boxed cake mix?! Starts off easy enough...

Still not new territory...

Here is where the fun comes in..after the cake cooled, I got to get my hands dirty! First the cake needs to be crumbled up...

You can use a food processor if you don't feel like doing this step by hand (but why would you want to!?)

Next I poured in about 3/4 of a container of cream cheese frosting (store bought) and mixed that in with the cake until is was firm enough to form.

Here are the formed balls. They need to chill in the fridge for a few hours before dipping so they keep their shape.

After about 3 hours, I melted my chocolate and got ready to dip...

I only dipped a couple, I wanted to make sure I didn't screw them up and make them inedible. After devouring sampling one, I realized how amazing these little things are!

I cannot wait to try out more of these things and do some more experimenting!

Head on over to Bakerella to see all of her wonderful creations and to get all of her tips and recipes!

P.S. Any thoughts on the new layout?