Cake Balls and Cake Pops Galore!!

The name alone was enough to make me smile...and even laugh out loud a little, but the taste was what really brought a smile to my face.  During jury duty one day we had some down time and since I had recently finished one of my middle school level books I was in need of something to entertain me.  Since I was on jury duty for a month I decided that I would cook and bake a lot more during this time frame.  I started out with a chicken and fish paella.  (I had to omit the shellfish and mussels in order to keep myself alive and replaced those with Atlantic sole...which in case you didn't know, is a really big freaking fish!)  I then moved on to Macadamia Nut Crusted Tilapia with Coconut Rice (Which was great...until I found out Brad hates coconut...I mean, really?  Who hates coconut?)  I made a few other meals and was out of ideas by the time I was half way through my jury duty.  So, during this down time I decided to look up a new cookbook on my Kindle and think of something "amazing" to cook for dinner that night.

I was about at page 9 of cook books when I saw a book called Cake Pops.  There were two things that initially drew me to this book, the adorable picture on the front cover (yes, I am an English teacher that DOES judge a book by its cover) and secondly the price, which I thought was .99 cents.  I was right about one thing.  The contents of this book were so adorable I wanted to run out that night, purchase the book and start baking the next day.  One thing I was wrong about though...the price.  I must have been holding my Blackberry Kindle App too far from my eyes and clearly I wasn't wearing my glasses, because, really...when am I?  The price was $9.99 which, in my opinion, was still a steal for this book, but not what I thought it was.

I opted to by the actual book instead of downloading it.  I have a Kindle which is the world's number 1 rated eReader...but since it is not in color, it really isn't conducive to cookbooks or magazine subscriptions.  Now, contrary to my earlier sentence, which might lead you to believe that I am not a true lover of books (the judging books by the cover comment) I am actually sort of a book freak and I do like to make sure that I still buy as many books as I can.  There is something about the feel of turning crisp new pages of a book, or hearing the crack of the books spine when you open it the first few times that will simply never be replaced by the lightweight, convenient eReader.  (Take that iPad! I still want one though...apparently I want every new electronic)  So I walked over to Borders, which will sadly be closing its doors forever very soon, and bought Cake Pops by Bakerella site author Angie Dudley.  It took me a few days to actually make the cake pops, even though I was chomping at the bit the night I came home with the book.  Finally, I had an occasion to make them...I was determined to make Jen fat!  Just kidding!  I wanted to experiment, and if there is one friend that I know will always eat my new ventures, and be extremely complimentary about them, it was Jen.

I followed Bakerella's instructions, but soon I am thinking of putting my own twist on them.  By no means am I saying that this is something of my own invention, but it is something that made me happy to make and made my friends happy to eat...therefore I am thinking...maybe baking is really where it is at professionally for me...

The best part of bringing my cake balls to my friends, besides them loving them, was when the waitress at dinner asked me where I bought them.  When we told her I had made them she then asked me where my shop was...I had to say, "My apartment", but it got me thinking, I would be the happiest person ever if I had a dessert shop because there is nothing more satisfying than making a sweet and seeing someones face light up before, during and after they eat it!

Here are my finished Red Velvet Cake Balls.  I think next I might try some of my signature cupcake recipes and turn them into cake balls, or cake pops...how does Key Lime Cake Pops sound?  Or Pink Champagne Pops?!  What do you think I should make next?