So Sweet Birds of a Feather Layout and Cake Pops

I have another layout to share today using the super cute and fun March Birds of a Feather Kit Co kit. Everything is from the kit and add-ons except the Thickers and scraps I used for the scalloped circles.

I did a lot of doodling. I am pretty sure it was Julie Bonners blog that I saw the different stitches idea like I did on the bottom.

I have been seeing cake pops all over the bloggy world. Then recently while at a flea market type event I tasted one. OH.MY.WORD. was it ever good! I don't remember how I came across this blog, but I did. The blog had a tutorial posted! What perfect timing! :-) A while back Mara had posted a DELICIOUS Snickers Cupcakes recipe with a incredible caramel frosting on her blog. I decided to combine the two. You can see the recipe I used here, or follow these instructions. As you can tell, I need a lesson in dipping things in melted chocolate. These do not look pretty, but dang, their taste makes up for their looks! :-)

1. Bake a cake according to the instructions on the box. I used a Butter Chocolate Cake.

2. Let cake cool COMPLETELY. I refrigerated mine for a while. Then crumble it up in a big bowl. I then refrigerated it more while I made my frosting.

3. You can use store bought frosting or make your own. I opted to make my own. Recipe can be found below. Mix the frosting in with the cake. It will turn into a chunky pudding type texture.

4. Roll the cake/frosting mix into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Mine were smaller in size and made roughly 48-52.

5. Place cookie sheet in freezer. Let the balls freeze pretty hard.

6. All I could find was Almond Bark that was chocolate flavored. I used the WHOLE pack and was short just enough to cover three balls. Melt the chocolate and dip the frozen balls, completely covering them. Place the chocolate covered balls on wax paper.

Now, I am not a cake fan, but these babies are DANG good! The instruction I linked you too, showed the balls on a little stick. I didn't mess with doing the sticks.

Caramel Frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup shortening

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 lb confectioners sugar

1/3 cup caramel topping

1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter and shortening in electric mixer. Add vanilla, salt and caramel. Combine well.

2. Begin adding in sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Give it a taste to see if it need more caramel .

I used salted butter and substituted butter for shortening and left out the salt and it came out just as good as the first batch I made following the instructions to a 'T'.

Thanks for stopping by!