A little late to the cake pop party perhaps? Some might say they are a bit passé, but if you are newly eight, and think they are the best thing ever (having recently had a go at making them at a friends birthday party), you are not going to care about that… Being brand new to “year eight” also means that you can also get your Mother to do the bits you don’t really want to do, and avoid getting your hands dirty…
I had wondered how I had gotten off so lightly in the birthday cake department this year… There were no Studio Ghibli nightmares recreations to have to deal with, just a straight forward chocolate cake request. Simple enough you might think, until I suggested straight forward chocolate cupcakes to take into class after half term (as is the done thing). “No thank you” came the reply. “I actually would really quite like cake pops shaped like owls”. OK then. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, given the slight Harry Potter and Hedwig fixation the (now) Eight Year old has always had, but I did have to wonder how on earth these “owl shaped cake pops” were going to take shape. But do you know what? I needn’t have worried, they kind of made themselves…
This next bit is up to you. You could be really virtuous and make your own cake, but to be honest I found the whole idea of baking cakes only to smash them into smithereens slightly depressing, so we bought a couple of brick shaped marble cakes to decimate, and made our own chocolate butter-cream to bind. You don’t need much mind, just enough to meld together in one great big lump. And when that’s ready, get your scales out and divide into little round bird-bodied balls, put them on a baking sheet, and stick them in the fridge for half an hour. When they’ve firmed up a little, you could stick in some lollipop sticks to make them look really professional, or (having not had the time to search the whole of Germany for them), you could consult your inner Blue Peter presenter (who at this point was yelling “improvise, improvise, improvise”) and just use cut up straws instead. I would also recommend using a little of the left over butter-cream to help cement the straw/sticks in place by the way, and to secure your owl’s chocolate drop ears accordingly, then stick them back in the fridge for at least an hour. After this you only need melt some chocolate, coat them lovingly, and then and spend the next half hour pulling everything out of the kitchen drawers in a panic as to what you can use for beaks and eyes when it’s Sunday and all the shops are closed. Thankfully, we managed to find a few decorations that sufficed, ignoring any suggestions from the Five Year old that the owls now looked like angry bird pigs. At this stage, they did.
And here they are. Finally looking a little more bird like (OK not that much), and about to fly into school. Yes, I know a lot of them look like they need to go to Specsavers, but that’s what happens when you have enthusiastic helpers armed with cocktail sticks drenched in food colouring. Some of these owls are quite frankly lucky that they have the gift of sight at all…
Anyway, Happy birthday my beautiful girl. Like every year, I can’t believe quite how old you are, and quite how much you’ve grown. Although I was reminded of your advancing years, by this – your very first letter of complaint filed earlier in the day. I am only sorry that you didn’t sign off “Disgruntled of Munich”. I do worry about my future sometimes (this might be one of those times!):..
And like almost every single year, including that on which you were born, it snowed on your special day. And although I have had a belly full of it now, I was glad. It really wouldn’t have felt right otherwise.
A report on a birthday outing involving olympic sized sledging hills will follow shortly…
Emma @mummymummymum says
oh my gosh, they are AMAZING!!!! You are so clever! My cake pops are usually a big mess.
bavaria says
Thank you… this was more luck than anything else! :D x
Cass@frugalfamily says
Brilliant – I tried to make some like this the other day and had a DISASTER ;-D
Thanks for sharing x
bavaria says
Thank you Cass! :)
Lilinha Espindula says
Yummy!! It looks very tasty – great idea, I should try for my little boy’s birthday party in April! :) x
bavaria says
Thanks Lilinha, let me know how you get on! :) x
Elaine Livingstone says
these are very imprresive, I tend to make cake pops when my cake breaks coming out the tin. Mine dont look as posh as these right enough
bavaria says
Thanks Elaine, bet they still taste good though! :)
Catherine says
These cake pops look awesome – what a great idea :) Thank you!
bavaria says
Thank you! Glad to be of use! :)
Ruth (Mixed Bag of All Sorts) says
Wow these look amazing! I’ve pinned them as always looking for cake pop inspiration. Thank you :)
bavaria says
Thanks very much Ruth :)
Emily (@amummytoo) says
Ah ha! So cute! Pinned and Stumbled. Thanks for linking up to #recipeoftheweek x
bavaria says
Thanks very much for hosting Emily! :)
jenny paulin says
these look great and ideal for any 8 year olds birthday party x
bavaria says
Thanks Jenny… A LOT easier than last year! :) x
Cat (Yellow Days) says
So cute and the note is fantastic. One to keep, definitely!
bavaria says
She thinks I have posted it, but I haven’t! It’s in my “memory” book! :) Thank you!
Jazzygal says
Cake pops look yummy. Happy birthday to your little girl, sounds like she may turn into a writer just like her mum!
xx Jazzy
bavaria says
Thank you Jazzy… She definitely gets her disgruntledness from me! :D xx
Coombemill - Fiona says
So beautiful and clever, I might try these for all my upcoming kids birthday parties.
bavaria says
You must Fiona, let me know how you get on… I wish I had some left over, I would definitely swap you a few for one piece of your baclava!! :)
Maria @ Feisty Tapas says
They look fantastic, I love the idea of doing them with bought cake. Love love love the letter of complaint!
bavaria says
Saved a lot of hassle, and if they don’t taste brilliant you can just tell people you didn’t make it! :D Thank you Maria! :)
sharon says
wow they look so great, that was a really lovely post and the complaint letter caused a few giggles from me
bavaria says
Thank you very much Sharon :D
helloitsgemma says
You are an amazing owl genius!
(I love owls)
I am desperate to know your reply to the disgruntled of Munich letter!
Happy Birthday dear 8 year old! If I was the mother of one of your class mates my heart would be sinking when my child returned (it indeed it wasn’t eaten immediately, but frankly they are too cute to eat) with such creative owl/cake-ness.
bavaria says
Thank you lovely Gemma, I was just grateful for not having to make a Catbus cake this year, or the Totoro cake… I still have dreams/nightmares about that!! :D
bavaria says
PS. No reply as of yet. She is still looking for the address for ITV!
Trish - Mum's Gone to says
I must be late to the party too as I had no idea what you were on about, talking of cake pops. Now I know and I think you are a genius. Honestly, these little owly creatures look fabulous.
I do wonder whether notes of complaint are a girl thing? Boys seem to just shout about it there and then and it’s forgotten!
bavaria says
Thank you so much… I think they might be a girl thing. I wrote my first to a teacher at a similar age I seem to remember… :D
Funky Wellies says
They look both fantastic AND delicious!
And I totally understand why she was so cross! xx
bavaria says
Aw, thank you FW. Do not mess with The Eight year old when it comes to Harry Potter reading OR viewing! :D
Kelloggsville says
How can you just happen to have beaks in the cupboard on a Sunday? HOW?! Look, supermum….stop making me look bad!
bavaria says
Pure luck! Thanks to finding a jar of heart cake decorations I used for a friend’s birthday cake! Did have to pick lots of white ones out to paint them yellow, but I didn’t care! :D Thank you (and you’re much more of a supermum than me! :))
Emma Day (crazywithtwins) says
You did a wonderful job! They look amazing! I could just eat a few of them right now. And I felt really touched by your little happy birthday message to your daughter at the end. just lovely.
Thankyou for linking up to #CookitBlogit xx
bavaria says
Thank you Emma… You are kind! :) xx
A Patchwork Life says
They’re totally brilliant! The little heart beak idea is so clever, and that letter….just priceless! x
bavaria says
Thank you very much… Did have to paint the little hearts with terrible quality food colouring (the UK stuff obviously has far too many e-numbers!), but they just about worked! :) x
Brinabird and Son says
Oh no too much effort! You make it sound easy but I know better :) They looked very impressive! I’m just off to bake a cake for my wee man but thankfully he is only 2 so anything vaguely sweet will suffice. Happy birthday to your little girl and I look forward to hearing about the sledging celebrations.
bavaria says
Thank you Brina, you are too kind! :) I hope your little one has a fantastic 2nd birthday! 2 is great! :)
Helen says
ⓞMG that letter is so funny poor you. Cake pops are still great well they are to my 3 year old and i love your owls very owly indeed
bavaria says
She was furious… good job Daddy wasn’t bothered about watching that particular match! Thanks Helen! :)
Midlife Singlemum says
LOL at the note – everything here is my fault too. Those chocolate birds look fab! Happy Birthday to 8!
bavaria says
Thank you R… I dread to think what lies in store during her teenage years! :D
Indiapink says
Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you R. Emma, You are far too creative for your own good, I wish I had your talents and they do look yummy (if not a bit cross eyed!!!)
bavaria says
Incredibly cross eyed… Creative? More like lucky on this occasion! :D xxxx
valerie rees says
very cute
bavaria says
Thank you! Thanks for the chocolate drops! :) x
The View From the Table says
They are beautiful beyond belief. Perfect owl cake pops. I love them. Happy birthday too! What a fab letter :)
bavaria says
Thank you very much, you are too kind! :)
Sarah Hill says
The cake pops are brilliant if a little bog eyed, adds to their charm. I also have an eight year old obsessed with Harry Potter and who is also often disgruntled, I think they’d get on like a house on fire. And is that Little My from Moomins I spy? x
bavaria says
Thank you! Yes, it is Little My, she reminds me of my daughter no end! They sound like a perfect match. Maybe we will be inlaws one day! :) x
Grace says
And I can vouch that they not only looked amazing but that they tasted really delicious as well! xx
bavaria says
Thanks Mum xxx