Academy Awards Oscar Cake Pops
I loooooove the Oscars. The ceremony. The movies. The dresses. The celebrities. And the Awards! Who doesn't want to hold an Oscar and thank the Academy? In celebration of one of my favorite times of the year, and For Your Consideration- Oscar Pops!
You start with your basic cake/frosting mix. Instead of making balls, you'll need to sculpt Oscar forms.
I used a photo I downloaded and printed as a guide for the shape I needed. Let me first say that I am NOT a sculptor, so I wasn't able to get the cake pop exactly perfect. My Oscars are a little plump and short. They ARE cake pops, so I figure after Oscar met Cake Pop, he'd get shorter and more plump anyways. I couldn't go too slim or long with the design or else it wouldn't stay intact on the stick.
So you can better see the size of what I was working with, check out this pic. A normal-sized cake ball is on the upper left. It is about 1.25" in diameter.
The cake ball I needed size-wise is below that. I would NEVER make a cake ball that size to just dip in chocolate in a round shape. It's much, much too big, and I don't think it would stay put on the stick.
But you need that size in order to form the shape of the Oscar pop. This needs to have just enough length and bulk to stay on the stick. Too small, and it'll fall off the stick. Too big, and it'll fall apart when dipping due to the weight.
Okay, so after forming your ball, you'll need to shape your Oscar. Roll it out into a cigar shape, then gently pinch and press to form the head and body shape.
Pinch a bit more to form ridges where the arms cross over the chest, and use a toothpick to press to define the neck area.
Press to smooth out bumpy areas, and use a toothpick to form ridges where the legs separate.
Here is my tray of formed chocolate Oscars. It took me about an hour to make them all. I ended up with 12 of them- it was all I could get out of one box of cake mix. They look a little creepy to me- I kept thinking that they all looked more like a bunch of dead guys, and that I was creating a makeshift graveyard.
I was glad to get them covered up with plastic wrap and into the fridge. My 'morgue', muhahahahaha....
Okay, now to address something about candy melts. First, people often ask what I use to melt my coating. Here it is. A 2 cup glass measuring cup. I empty half of the 14 oz bag into the cup, along with some paramount crystals.
Next, I'm often asked "How much of the paramount crystals do you put in your melts?" I don't exactly measure, to be honest. So here's a photo of how much I add. This will be enough for the entire 14oz bag. I'm guessing that it's about a tablespoon or two.
Now, why have I put my melted chocolate into a coffee travel mug?! Simple: I needed a container that was deep enough to dip my Oscars in. The 2 cup glass measuring cup was just too shallow to get a good dip and coat everything nicely. Looking through my cabinets, I realized that a travel mug would do nicely, and keep my melted chocolate nice and warm.
Before I added the melted coating, I warmed up the mug by filling it with very hot water. I made sure to dry out the inside of it very well- ANY trace of water can cause the chocolate to go all grumpy and lumpy (otherwise known as 'seizing'), and you won't be able to use it for dipping!
I dipped the stick in chocolate much deeper than I normally would for cake pops, because I needed to put the stick in much deeper to support the length of the Oscar pop.
Oscar pop stuck with the stick and ready to dunk!
Dip, dip, da dip dip dip!
Ah! A freshly dipped Oscar pop!
Once it's dry, it doesn't matter if you end up with swirling on the coating. All of the pops will be dusted with gold, and you won't be able to see this.
Now for the fun part: making them gold! Here I'm using a dry brush to dust the gold on them.
A finished dry dusted Oscar pop, gilded and ready to be adored!
Here is a comparison of what the luster dust looks like when applied two different ways. On the left, the luster dust was applied with a dry brush. On the right, I used a 'wet' application by combining vodka and luster dust to create a 'paint'.
I think the 'paint' works well in small applications, but for all-over coverage, I don't recommend it. It ends up all splotchy. Still, a unique look, though!
Here you can compare all three- undusted, dusted, and painted.
So pretty, and almost too nice to eat!
Think of how great you'll make your Academy Awards party guests feel when you present them with their very own Oscar! Make these Oscar pops the hit of your next Academy Awards party!
These would make great mummies too!
ReplyDeleteHey, you're right! They could be made with red velvet cake (or even green velvet cake), dipped in white, and bandages could be drawn on with edible ink.
DeleteOr if your really crafty, you could make bandages out of fondant and wrap those around the 'mummy'.
Very cool! I'll have to remember this for Halloween!