Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Chocolate Covered Valentine's Pop

Mmmmmm and fun too.  

Chocolate Covered Pops.

I have the handy dandy Zoku Pop Maker, the Zoku Tool Kit and the Zoku Chocolate Dipping Station, (thanks mom) which speeds up the freezing factor and makes a nice dip pattern with the chocolate.  These toys are fun but are not necessary to make these tasty frozen treats.

The following recipe makes 6 cold treat pops.  I discovered the recipe on the Zoku web site.


Two Thumbs Up :)


Photo from Zoku Web Site
See the little apple hearts imbedded in the pop?


Zoku Pop Maker - Makes Cold Treats in 8 Minutes


Zoku Tool Kit


Zoku Chocolate Dipping Station


INGREDIENTS

For the Strawberry Base
6 ounces strawberries
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup low fat milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

For the heart accents
Use a heart cutter to cut out desired number of hearts from a thin slice of apple.
     (I cut out about a dozen tiny apple hearts)

For the Quick Shell
2/3 (4oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) refined coconut oil

Decorations 
Either heart shaped candies or red and white sprinkles

How Too's

MAKE THE CHOCOLATE QUICK SHELL
Melt Chocolate and coconut oil together
Let cool completely before applying to pops
Yields 3/4 cup of Quick Shell, enough for 12 pops.

I melted the chocolate and coconut oil together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds until smooth.  A double boiler could be used, but why clean the extra dishes when the microwave works just fine.  Also, you can skip this step if you buy Magic Shell at the grocery store.

MAKE THE STRAWBERRY BASE
Blend strawberries, heavy cream, milk, vanilla, and sugar until smooth.

ASSEMBLE THE POPS
Using the Zoku Fruit Wand apply the apple hearts to the walls of the pop maker 
Insert sticks and pour the strawberry base to the fill line.
Let freeze completely, (about 8 minutes) and remove the pops with the Super Tool.
Repeat with remaining pops.

The strawberry base can be poured into any cold treat mold, including going old school, with a dixie cup and a stick.  The beauty of the Zoku Pop Maker is that the pop freezes in about 8 minutes.  No planning ahead and the kids can help start to finish without waiting all day.


ADD THE QUICK SHELL
Hold a pop flat side facing up, use a small spoon to drizzle Quick Shell onto the pops.
If desired, add festive sprinkles to the Quick Shell while it is still wet.
Wait a few seconds for the shell to harden.
Enjoy.

I was delighted how well ours came out and that both girls gave this fun looking and great tasting treat a thumbs up.





Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Yes, This is so me!

It is amazing what can be done in 10 or 15 minutes at full speed.  
Just stay out of my way because I will probably knock you down.


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Spider Hair

This is R, my oldest and I gave her spider hair for school today.  Now R was a little worried because she attends a uniform public school and spider hair is out of uniform and she knows it.  R is a rule follower.  Now if the spiders were red, blue or white, than wa-la, back in uniform.  Her anxieties were relieved when the principal commented to her about her wonderful spooky hair.  All smiles.

A bag of spider rings cost me $1 and the bag has 30 rings so I told her not to worry if any fell off and got lost.  No big deal.  

M, my youngest did not want spider hair, until she saw big sister R.  Than, well, she had to have spider hair too.