Donut Holes and Cake Pops

As promised, I have updated the blog to include cake pop and donut hole recipes. I am still working on perfecting the apple cider donut holes, but I have a breakfast puff recipe and vanilla cake pop that worked well. I have also updated my blog with an easier way to subscribe.  If you look to the right of the post, below the blog archive, I have a subscription link as well as a follow by email link.  Feel free to subscribe to my blog to get updates about new posts. I have quite a few ideas for new desserts I can't wait to share, especially some for fall.  One of my favorites I am looking forward to trying is an apple butter cupcake with a cinnamon icing.

I have been getting a lot of visitors on the blog lately, and would love to hear your comments and ideas!  Let me know any suggestions you may have for new cupcake or dessert ideas.

A couple weeks ago I purchased a BabyCakes cake pop maker, shown below. I had been looking at them for months and finally decided to purchase one when it was on sale at Meijer. The product's purpose is to create cake pops and donut holes.

First, I started with the French Breakfast Puffs. They are very quick and easy to make and taste great! The product comes with some recipes included.  You can use regular cake mixes, but it works better with the recipes included.

French Breakfast Puffs

Cake Ingredients;

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tbs butter, melted

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat together the sugar and shortening in a bowl until light and fluffy.  
2. Beat egg into batter.
3. In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
4. Alternately blend in the flour mixture and milk into the shortening mixture.  Begin and end with the flour mixture.
5. Fill each cooking reservoir with about 1 tbs of batter.  I found it was easiest of measure one out and get an idea of how full that is, and then just quickly fill the rest without measuring.  If you take too long to fill, the donuts will start rising before closing the lid!
6. Bake 4-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when testing the puffs.
7. Create cinnamon-sugar topping by combining the two in a small bowl.
8. Roll hot puffs into melted butter and then toss in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

I also tried a apple cider donut, but wasn't real happy with the result.  I am not getting enough of the apple flavor.  I am working on the recipe and will hopefully have a nice apple flavor in time for this fall!

Another feature of the maker is of course the cake pop.  To get the best result on your cake pops, it is best to dip them in melted chocolate or some sort of glaze.  It is difficult to ice these, so a melted coating is the best choice to get that polished cake pop look.  Since I was just experimenting with a cake pop recipe, and had a frosting recipe I wanted to experiment with as well, I decided to frost them instead of a glaze.  These cake pops do not look great, but had a great taste!  I definitely would use a glaze from now on, but I discovered a wonderful cinnamon buttercream in the process.

Vanilla Cake Pop ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk

 Cake pop directions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and creamy. 
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla into the sugar/butter mixture.
4. Alternately blend in the flour mixture and milk into the shortening mixture.  Begin and end with the flour mixture.
5. Fill each cooking reservoir with about 1 tbs of butter.  I found it was easiest of measure one out and get an idea of how full that is, and then just quickly fill the rest without measuring.  If you take too long to fill, the donuts will start rising before closing the lid!
6. Bake 4-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when testing the cake pops.
7. Allow to cool before adding a glaze or coat.

Here is the cinnamon buttercream recipe I found. The recipe was from a website, Fake Ginger. It is a perfectly sweet and light frosting that would be great for an extra special touch to the vanilla cupcake.

Cinnamon buttercream ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3/4 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Buttercream directions:

1. Beat softened butter until it is fluffy.
2. Beat in sugar, adding 1/2 cup at a time until all 4 cups are added.
3. Mix in up to 4 tbs of milk, until the icing gets thick.
4. Beat in vanilla and cinnamon until completely combined.