Cute Monster Party Brownie Pops

I made these cute monster brownie pops for a little boy's birthday party.  I love the way they turned out!  If you want to try these yourself, I have listed the supplies I used to make them below.

Note:  Have all the decorations ready because they need to be applied while the dipped brownie pop is still wet.  Use water and a small paint brush to attach the fondant teeth to the fondant mouth.

Red Monster - red candy melts for coating, upside down confetti hearts for horns, nonpareils, candy eyes (purchased from a baking supply store), fondant mouth and teeth
Green Monster - green candy melts for coating, green decorating sugar, candy eyes and fondant mouth/teeth
Yellow Monster - yellow candy melts for coating (use a toothpick to make him furry), red string licorice for horns, candy eyes, fondant mouth/teeth
Blue Monster - blue candy melts for coating (use a toothpick to make him furry), candy eye, fondant mouth/teeth

Happy Baking!

Pink and Orange Graduation Dessert Table

I just love this pink and orange dessert table.  The colors just pop against the white icing and the hot pink tablecloth.

There were lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon-vanilla buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, and brownie pops - a lot of them! 

It didn't hurt that the weather was simply gorgeous that day!

Here are some behind the scenes pics of the finished pops.

And my snapware cupcake carriers from Costco came in mighty handy once again.  Costco doesn't have them anymore, but I think Martha Stewart has caught on and she is selling them at Macy's.  I also think you can get them online.  I simply love them and use them for everything.

More pops.  Save the styrofoam from the purchases you make - they are indispensible for letting the coating dry on the brownie pops.

Brownie pops swirls - my favorite way to decorate pops!

Baby Brownie Pops

It's Baby Shower Week here at Marzipan!  I have recently made a few things for baby showers that I wanted to share with you, so I'm taking this week to do it all at once!   These adorable little babies  were so fun to make.  The gender of the baby was not known, so I made both boys and girls.

The basic brownie pop instructions are here.  I dipped the pops in a mixture of  80% white, 10% pink, and 10% yellow melted candy melts so that the coating would resemble skin color and not be stark white.

I piped the face and hair on with royal icing using a very small tip.

The cheeks were painted on using a mixture of pink luster dust mixed with a drop of vodka and applied using a food-only paintbrush.

While the hair is still wet, attach a small heart-shaped (or other shape) candy to the girl pops.

When dry, place a regular-sized cupcake paper around the girls' heads and tie at the base of the pop with a pink ribbon.  Boys get tied with blue.

So cute!

Lego Star Wars Brownie Pops

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

...a 5 year old had a birthday party. His grandma made all the guests brown Jedi hooded capes and the little Jedi warriors went home with one of these brownie pops.

To make these for your little Jedi, follow the instructions for basic brownie pops.

For the yellow Lego head, shape the brownie into a marshmallow shape and chill. Make a peg for the top by shaping a piece of Tootsie roll and inserting it into the brownie shape. Dip the end of the lollipop the stick in yellow melted candy pieces thinned with vegetable oil and insert the stick into the bottom of the brownie. Then dip the entire shape into yellow candy melts and let dry. Then pipe face with fairly stiff black royal icing using a very small round tip (I used a PME 1.5).

For Princess Leia and Hans Solo, make round brownie forms, insert the stick and dip into a mixture of mostly white, with a few yellow and pink candy melts to make a skin tone mixture and allow it to dry. {For Princess Leia, while the pops are drying, form the braids by making thin snakes out of Tootsie roll and coiling the snakes into a flat round shape. Set these aside.} Dip the top, back and sides of the heads in brown candy melts for the hair. {For Princess Leia, while the brown is still wet, attach a Tootsie roll braid to each side.} Pipe the face using fairly stiff black royal icing and a small round icing tip.

For the storm trooper, do your best to shape the head into a Rolo candy shape with a flaired bottom. You can use tootsie roll snakes for the bottom edge to create the flair if it's easier for you. Insert the lollipop stick and dip in white candy melts. Pipe the details using fairly stiff black royal icing and a small round piping tip.

A Flower Bouquet of Brownie Pops

The great thing about pops is that they can be made into an infinite number of things.  It's pretty amazing. I made these bouquets for the centerpieces for a Spring Garden Club Luncheon - decoration and dessert all in one!

To make this brownie pop bouquet you will need the following:

Basic brownie pops covered with any color sprinkles you desire
Tissue paper for the flower petals, cut into squares approximately 5" by 5"
Green floral tape for the stems
Terra cotta pots
styrofoam balls to fit inside the pots
green paper shred

All of these items are generally available in your craft store such as Michael's or JoAnn's

1. Fold the tissue paper squares as you would fold paper to make paper snowflakes.
2. Cut a scalloped edge or any pattern you desire on the edge opposite the point of your folded tissue paper
3. Unfold the tissue paper and insert your brownie pop through the center of two or more of the tissue paper flowers
4. Pinch together a little of the tissue paper around the base of the brownie pop, and start wrapping the floral tape around the pinched tissue paper, then start to wrap the floral tape diagonally down the remainder of the pop stick and tear it off when you reach the bottom
5. Place the styrofoam ball into the pot and cover with paper shred. Insert the pops into the styroam, arranging like a flower arrangement.

Hot Air Balloon Pops

I made these little gems for a three-year-old's birthday party - a three-year-old who loves balloons. I wrapped them individually, tied them with curling ribbon, and they were handed out as favors for the young guests.

Here's how to make them...

First, make the brownie balls as instructed here, chill them thoroughly and gather your supplies:

lollipop sticks, I use 6" sticks

small-sized tootsie rolls

yellow, blue and red candy melts

styrofoam block for holding the pops while drying

2-cup glass liquid measuring cup for melting candy melts

I molded a small piece of tootsie roll to build up the bottom of the brownie balls. I wanted a shape that was tapered at the bottom. I could have shaped the brownies in the balloon shape, but I chose to make the round balls (it's quicker) and then add the tootsie roll bottom. I used a pointed-end skewer to make a hole in the tootsie roll after I shaped it, and also to make a hole in one end of the brownie ball. Then line up the holes you make in the tootsie roll and brownie ball, dip the lollipop stick in some melted yellow candy melts, and insert the lollipop stick. Set this aside to dry as shown below.

After the stick has had time to set, dip the entire shape into the yellow candy melts, gently tap and twirl the balloon on the side of the bowl of candy melts to remove the excess coating and then set the stick in the styrofoam to dry while you work on the others.

After the yellow has dried, dip the balloon into the blue melted candy in the same manner only partway, so that the blue covers the top two-thirds of the balloon. When the blue is dry, dip the tip of the balloon in the red so that it covers only the top one-third of the balloon and allow that to dry.

Now you can make the basket and strings, all from a tootsie roll. You'll need one tootsie roll for every two balloons.

To make the basket and strings:

1. Unwrap the tootsie roll and cut it in half lengthwise with a small sharp knife. The knife will get sticky, so you may have to wash it or wipe it off between cuts.

2. Cut a small portion, lengthwise from one end of the half tootsie roll.

3. Take the larger piece and carefully wrap it around the stick a little bit below the balloon, and without changing it's shape too much, pinch the ends together. In the picture this is shown without the stick, but you'll want to do this right on your sticks with the finished balloons on them.

4. Cut the remaining small piece of tootsie roll in half and roll each of those pieces into a tiny snake. Each of the snakes can then be cut in half to make 4 strings.

5. Dip the very end of each string into the melted yellow candy and attach that end to the bottom of the balloon. The other end of the string can be molded right to the basket. With some gentle pushing, the bottom of the tootsie roll string should stick to the tootsie roll basket.

6. Using the small knife, make cross-hatch marks in the basket.

Brownie Dice Pops

I have been having fun getting creative with brownie pops!

These dice are pretty simple to make. Follow the instructions for basic cake pops, but shape the brownie balls into squares.

Insert the sticks and cover the pops with white candy melts. Once dry, pipe the dots on using black royal icing and a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, and let dry on a styrofoam block.

Wouldn't these be great for game night?

Hope your May is going well and the sun is shining on you!

Making Brownie Pops

Cake pops are everywhere these days - you know, balls of cake mixed with frosting which are covered in candy coating. These are a little different - they are balls of pure fudgy brownie - no icing mixed in - then coated with candy coating. I think they are a step up from cake pops in their texture and taste - which is to say that they are amazing.

In a rare, multiple-photo Marzipan tutorial, here's how to make them...

Supplies needed:

8x8 cake pan

small cookie scoop

lollipop sticks

2 bags of candy melts (you may not use them all)

cello bags - optional

curling ribbon - optional

styrofoam for drying the pops - any scrap piece which is big enough to hold 30 pops will do

First, you make a batch of fudgy brownies such as this recipe. I got about 30 brownie balls from one batch of brownies. I haven't tried it, but you could probably use a boxed brownie mix if you like, as long as the brownies are moist and will hold together when shaped into a ball. If the mix has chocolate chips mixed into the batter, you may have a harder time rolling them into nice round balls. A cakey brownie would probably not work here unless you mix in some kind of binder like icing. The goal is to have your brownies just slightly undercooked so they hold together when shaped.

After the brownies have cooled completely, pull them out of the pan using the overhang of parchment or foil which you used to line the pan, and transfer the block of brownie to a cutting board.

Cut the outside edges off the brownie as this part would be too crispy and get in the way of your ball-rolling.

Crumble the remaining brownie into pieces into a bowl and mush the pieces together a little.

Using a small cookie scoop, portion out the brownie balls and then roll the balls in your hands to make them round and smooth. Set the brownie balls on a cookie sheet and then place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator (or freezer if you will not be coating them within a few hours), covered with plastic wrap, until ready to coat and decorate. I made some square just to experiment with an idea I had.

Pull the brownies out of the freezer, if frozen, a let them warm up slightly while you prepare the candy melts. They should still be cold and firm when you begin to work with them, but if they are too cold, you may have a hard time inserting the lollipop stick. If using refrigerated pops, use them directly from the refrigerator.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat about 1/2 a bag of candy melts 30 seconds, then stir. Heat in additional 15 second intervals, stirring between, until completely melted. Over-heating the candy melts will cause the mixture to seize up and render it unusable. Throughout this process, you may need to reheat the candy melts if they start to cool and thicken. In this case, add a few more candy melts to the bowl and reheat at 15 second intervals as before.

Insert your lollipop stick into the flattened side (flattened due to sitting on the cookie sheet) about halfway (no more) into the brownie.

Dip the end of the lollipop stick into your melted candy melts.

And insert the stick into the pre-made hole. The candy will be the glue, making sure the stick won't move as you are coating and decorating the brownie.

Set the brownies aside to hardened the "glue". I placed them on their sides with the stick resting on the side of the sheet pan. You could place these in the fridge or freezer to speed up the hardening process, especially if your kitchen is warm. 

There are different ways to coat a cake ball. If your melted candy is deep enough, you can dip the entire pop into the candy, give it a gently swirl and pull it out, or you can hold the brownie over the bowl of melted candy at an angle as shown in the blurry picture below. Spoon the candy melts over the brownie, turning the brownie as you go, until all sides and top are covered. Holding it at an angle causes the excess coating to cover the top of the brownie.

Gently shake off the excess, while constantly turning the brownie pop, until there is no more candy dripping from the brownie. If you want the pop to be completely covered with decoration at this point (see first photo), spoon your sanding sugar, sprinkles, jimmies, finely shredded unsweetened coconut (my favorite) , or whatever, over the pop now. Otherwise, set them aside to dry plain.

To make striped brownie balls, once the first coating is dry, and making sure the candy melts are liquid enough, splatter candy melts over the coated brownie, turning the brownie pop as you splatter. Let the excess drip off, then spoon over the sprinkles. The sprinkles will stick anywhere that the candy is still wet. My candy melts for the second batch were a little "gloppy" and didn't stream off the spoon as easily as the first time I made these.  If this happens to you, you can try to add a half teaspoon or so of vegetable oil to make the mixture more fluid.

Once completely dry, slip the brownie into a plastic candy bag and tie a ribbon around the bottom. A 3" x 5" flat cello bag is the perfect size for these.

Yum!

Classic Unsweetened-Chocolate Brownies

adapted from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich

Makes about 30 brownie pops

Note: You may double this recipe and use a 9x13 pan.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (1 stick or 1/4 pound) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cold large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8x8 pan with spray oil.

Place the chocolate and butter in a medium to large heat-proof bowl (big enough that you are able to add all of the ingredients to this bowl) over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler). Stir frequently until the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is hot to the touch.

Remove the bowl from the double boiler and stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until the first one is incorporated before adding the next. Fold in the flour only until you can longer see traces of flour.   Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even it.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the brownies just begin to pull away from the side of the pan. A toothpick inserted should come out with a few moist crumbs.  Allow the brownies to cool completely, then follow the instructions above for shaping and dipping.