Cake Pops

Valentine's day is just around the corner.
So, I searched for Valentine's day ideas. Actually, I was excited to try a new recipe.
Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and cake pops....
I wanted to share sweet treats with my friends, so I chose cake pops. It looks good and easy to wrap it individually.
I started to search for cake pop video clips and watched those with easy and simple recipes. 
Making cake pops is easy and simple. But I didn't make a smooth coating on the cake pops. The melted chocolate was stiff and it made an uneven surface and sometimes the stick came out of the cake ball. OMG!
I tried to make a natural wave pattern on the cake pop surface. It was the best result.

Refer to here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XEBTdJ67i4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ3XfC-5v3Y

According to the video clips, a block of styrofoam makes a really good holder to stick the cake pops in while they are drying. But I didn't have it. So I used a steamer because there are a lot of holes. It's a good tip! - I think a colander is good, too.

***

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes - Valentine's Day Cupcake

These are my first strawberry cupcakes.
The original recipe has a Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting.
I made several mistakes when I made this frosting.
I don't know why I failed making buttercream frosting.
But redeemed myself with the wrapping.
How does it look?  Not bad?

Ingredients

1 + 1/2 c   all purpose flour

1/4 c       cake flour

1 + 1/2 t   baking powder

1/2 t       salt

1/2 c       unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 c         sugar

2           eggs

3/4 t       vanilla extract

1/2 c       milk

1 c         chopped strawberries

            strawberries for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350, line a 12 cupcake pan with paper liners, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking powder and salt, set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed cream together the sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat.

Add milk.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the flour mixture in two batches.

Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the chopped strawberries.

Fill each cup 3/4 full.

Bake for 25-30 minutes and cool for 15 minutes.

Do you want to decorate the cupcake?

Spread or pipe the buttercream frosting on each cupcake.

I recommend Martha Stewart's Strawberry Meringue Buttercream.

Enjoy~

***