Cake Push-up Pops

 

Our daughter turned 6 this week (sniff sniff).  Like most moms, I like to send birthday treats to school to celebrate.  Maybe more than most moms, I angst over how to get the treats to school without making a sticky mess of my child, her bookbag or the bus, how to transport them without having my child take a roll on suitcase, and how to get the treats there in the same form they left my house.  I know, I know, I could just buy prepackaged Little Debbie Snack Cakes and call it good.  But have you ever looked at that ingredient list?  

Not that 6 year olds care.

Did you know there are cow hooves in gummy worms?

Six year olds like gummy worms.

I digress.  

I saw these push-up pop containers in a specialty catalog, and found them on Amazon.  LOVE!  Way easier than making cake pops....or maybe I just found them easier given my most recent cake-pop-fail.  (Note to self: do not use food color gel and candy melts).  I'm not saying cake push-up pops come together fast--they don't--but they were simple to make and the possibilities for decorating them are endless.  

We decided on a pink ombre look for our push-ups.  That is, Tehya decided on the pink and I decided on the ombre.  I made batter for one cake, and divided it into three.  I colored one batter with a little bit of pink gel color, one batter with a little bit more, and one batter with a little bit more.  If you've never used gel color, you must.  

When the cakes cooled, I cut off the top crust and bottom crust which were more of a golden brown color so the color of the cake would come through.  

Speaking of golden, these cake pictures all look yellow because I took them in the evening when the natural light was gone.  Note to anyone taking pictures of food in the evening--it doesn't turn out well without special equipment.  I spent all day at work.  Then I spent hours at Tehya's beach birthday party with 7 little girls (seriously, how do kindergarten teachers handle the squealing?!), in the rain and cold.  Then I rushed home to make treats for the next day.  It is what it is, so forgive these ugly cake pictures. 

Anyway, I used a cake pop cylinder to press out circles from each pan of cake.

Some people use a foam square to hold their push-up pops upright, but I used what I had and just rested them in a trifle bowl to assemble. 

Frosting anything is way easier with a frosting bag.  My technical method for filling a frosting bag is to fold it into a pitcher.  It works.  I was scrambling to get these done late at night (excuse, excuse) and forgot to put a frosting tip in the bag before putting the frosting in there.  If you use a tip you can make the frosting look extra pretty.  

 

Though not extra pretty, I was able to quickly squeeze frosting into the cylinders without getting it all over the sides.  Mission accomplished.

 

 

Cake.  Frosting.  Cake.  Frosting.  Cake.  Frosting.  Then wait until the morning when there is natural light so you can take really good pictures of your really great cake push-up pops.

So much prettier in good lighting, right?  The tops just pop on, so they don't get frosting all over everything.  If I had them, I could have added pink sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, candies, or fruit in there too.  We just went with what we had, because Tehya's mama had all she could handle this week.  Still, I don't think they turned out too bad!

Certainly good enough for children who like to eat cow hooves.

Note: Use whatever cake and frosting recipe makes you happy.  I'm sure you could even buy cake mix and frosting in a can.  I tried this recipe for both the batter and frosting, and wasn't in love with it.  The cake had a very definitive butter taste.