Because I Can't Be Amazing Everyday

Here is the story of my great idea for an End-of-the-Year-Teacher-Gift:

Once upon a time, I saw these adorable cake pops on Bakerella, shaped like little apples. (GO HERE to see how perfect they are, complete with amazing photos. Please, click on the link, you'll need to see her picture for comparison.)

I had the brilliant idea to make them, along with a nifty little "play on words" tag having something to do with apples, and we'd give them to my boys' teachers on the last day of school. I got my sister on board to help and we'd make them for her kids, too! We got all our supplies purchased, cakes baked, and then... My sister got violently ill the night before our big day. So did my 3 year old. We had 2 houses of stomach flu and no more time to get this done.

Since *I* was not sick, I volunteered to make the cake pops (just the bare minimum we would need for gifts) and deliver them to my sister later that day.

Note to self #1: Making cake pops is time consuming. Making cake pops by yourself is WAY more time consuming. Making a double batch by yourself with a feverish puking kid is insane.

And so I began. We wanted red apples which would have chocolate cake inside, and green apples with lemon cake inside. We also chose to put our little apples in a tin bucket instead of on a stick (easier presentation for gift giving.) Here's how mine started shaping up:

Note to self #2: No matter how hard you try, the green will be more "seafoam" than "apple."

Note to self #3: If you put the cake pops in the freezer to set, they get a little sweaty later.

Note to self #4: If you don't have cake pops on a stick, it's nearly impossible to shake off all the extra chocolate and you have a little puddle at the bottom.

Note to self #5: If you buy Mike & Ike candy to slice in half and use as the little leaf, inevitably there will only be 10 green ones in the entire box. OF COURSE. Cuz your day is already going SO WELL.

The tag says:

An apple a day just might get me an "A"

Overall, with a little forgiveness and lowered expectations, they turned out OK. It took a ridiculous 6 hours total (not including the time needed to bake and cool the cakes.) Even though they did not look Bakerella-perfect, they did taste fantastic and the idea was still cute. I got them done and to my sister on time. However, this is not something I will be attempting ever again!!!