Puppy Pops

My favorite little girl in the world just had her 2nd birthday party on Saturday! Last year, her mom, my sister, and I made an amazing and elaborate cake/cupcake display when she turned one.

Pretty good, right? Well, this year, baby number 2 arrived a week before her birthday, so I was left on my own to top last year's cake. For Christmas, my sister gave me a great cakepop recipe book and I found the cutest puppy pops to make. They were a little complicated, so I got my sister to help out.

We started out mostly making a disaster - just a few little things, like breaking bowls, dumping chocolate on the floor, failed dipping attempts, etc...

But after we got the hang of it, I think they turned out pretty great!

Here's the simple version of how to make them:

1. Make any flavor cakeballs. (Check here for cakeball directions)
2. Using lollipop sticks, dip the cakeballs in either white or milk chocolate.
3. Use some of the melted chocolate to add a lifesaver for the collar. It helps to slide it up the stick first, then put chocolate on the bottom of the cakeball.
4. Make the ears by piping some of the melted chocolate in a teardrop shape onto a plastic spoon. Put the spoons in the freezer to harden for a couple of minutes, then pop the ears off. Attach the ears using some of the melted chocolate.
5. Cut some brown mini M&M's in half, then add one for the nose.
6. Using an edible ink pen, draw the eyes and mouth.

When they were all finished, we stuck them into a Portillo's chocolate cake - Yum! We also made some cakeball candles, which I think were almost as cute as the puppies!

And I'm pretty sure the birthday girl loved her puppy pops, too!