Gender Reveal Cake Pops

It is a Boy, A Girl, or are we going to be progressive parents and let our baby decide what gender they want to be.  Or Baby was not cooperating and the Ultrasound technician could not determine the gender at this appointment and we will have to re-schedule.  I am not a spontaneous person and I do not like surprises, so I decided that I really wanted to know our baby's gender before they were born.  I do not have a gender preference.  I just want a healthy baby.  But I do want to know what color I should decorate the room, what list of names I should choose from, and what gender themed outfits and accessories I should get before baby is born.  In anticipation of our big Gender Reveal Day, at 10am on Tuesday October 6th, 2015,  I decided to make Cake Pops. 

I had the left over vanilla frosting from a previous cake and have a ready supply of every color of candy melt available.  All I need is the cake.  I decided to go with a simple vanilla tea cake.

Tea Cake

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 egg
1 cup self rising flour
1/3 cup milk

Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and the egg.

Add flour and milk.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.  Allow the cake to cool for 5 - 20 min before turning it out of the pan.

Crumble the cake with about 1 cup of vanilla frosting and mush it all together until it has the consistency of playdough.

Take about a Tbs full of dough and roll it into balls.

Dip the end of a lollipop stick into melted Candy melt chocolate and stick it into the center of the ball.  Freeze or refrigerate the balls until the chocolate sets and the stick is stable.  Cover the cake pop in more candy melt chocolate and refrigerate again to set.

Our big day had finally arrived.  My husband and I went to the Women's Health Center and after an hour of searching, because baby was being in breech position facing my back and did not feel like moving, our Ultrasound Tech informed us that we are having a girl.

That means I need to go with pink cake pops.

Our baby's Ultrasound profile picture.

Pink Cake Pops for a Girl.

We are so excited to be having a little girl.
Now we need to pick a name for her.

Week 20: Banana

Week 20.  Baby is the size of a banana.  I decided to make Banana cream pie.  The recipe I found surprised me.  Instead of making banana pudding, which I anticipated, my recipe called for vanilla pudding and just added sliced bananas to the bottom and top of the pie.  It was pretty tasty though.  My husband said he liked the vanilla pudding better than banana pudding anyways so I might be making this one again sometime soon.

 Banana Cream Pie

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs vanilla
Pie Crust
Whipped Cream

Bake pie shell at 475 degrees for 8-10 min.  Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.  Stir in milk gradually and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.  Boil for 1 min.  Gradually stir in some of the hot mixture in with 4 egg yolks in another saucepan.  Slowly add to the egg yolks so the yolks do not bake, but are incorporated.  Blend in the rest of the hot mixture and bring to boil over medium heat.  Boil for 1 min and remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla last.  Add sliced bananas to the bottom of the pie crust.  Pour hot vanilla pudding over the banana slices.   Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but no longer than 48 hours.  Add another layer of bananas on top.  Top with whipped cream.

 Baked the pie crust.  Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a pan.

 Add 3 cups of milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  I always use whole milk when baking.  It just tastes better.  Remember:  Fat is Flavor.

 4 egg yolks in a separate pan.

 Slowly add hot pudding to the egg yolks and whisk together.

 Add the rest of the hot pudding to the egg yolks and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 min.

 Remove pudding from heat and add butter and vanilla last.

 Slice bananas at the bottom of the pie crust.

 Pour hot pudding over the bananas and refrigerate for 2 hours.

 Add another layer of bananas on top of the pudding and top with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 heaping Tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whip it, whip it good for about 6 min until it thickens.

 My beautiful banana cream pie.

 It was so delicious.

Enjoy

Here I am at 20 weeks pregnant.  I made it to the half-way point.  I am feeling very scared and very big.  I find myself eating all the time.  My pregnancy craving is chips.  I normally do not like chips that much and hardly ever eat them, but I find myself craving salty chips with sour cream.  I still have bouts of morning sickness and have started a "Days without Incident" board for my own amusement to keep track of how long I can go without an... incident.  Since I found out I was pregnant my record has been 11 days.  This week I had to re-set to 0 days again because I twisted my ankle.  The added weight is throwing me off balance and the ligaments in my joints are loosening which makes me more clumsy that usual.  Oh the joys of making a person.