Happy Accidents

Sometimes the best things happen as a result of a mistake. 

I am a planner, I like to know what is going on at all times and I usually plan on the worst case scenario happening.  If you look in my cupboards, pantry or freezer you would never guess that there are only two of us living in this house.  I'm not planning on the end of the world happening tomorrow but I do have a tendency to always think I will never have enough which leads to always having much more than is needed.  Jason always jokes that we have been living here for almost three years and I still haven't figured out how to cook for only two people.  I'm always afraid I will run out of something so I usually have a stockpile (nothing like those crazy extreme couponing people) on hand so that never happens. 

A few months ago I had planned on making these super cute strawberry cake bite I had seen in my Cake Pop cookbook.  I had my cake cooked and crumbled and all ready to go when I realized that I only had a very small bag of red candy melts left and that was not going to be enough to cover all my cake bites.  Instead of freaking out, (which would have been the case a couple years ago) I used some quick thinking and used the many chocolate candy melts I had on hand and made chocolate covered covered strawberry cake bites instead.  Let's face it, everyone knows that a chocolate covered strawberry is better than just a plain strawberry any day.  I was very happy with the results and after posting the pictures of the initial batch on facebook they became my most popular item and the only baked good that I have ever repeatedly made.

I got a message last week from a friend that she wanted a treat to celebrate her mom's retirement and asked if I could make these cake bites for the occasion.  I baked my cakes yesterday so they had time to cool and set to work this morning making 70 chocolate covered strawberry cake bites.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Bites
1 box strawberry cake mix
1 package chocolate pudding
1 cup frosting
candy melts in chocolate, red, white and green
vegetable oil

I don't normally use cake mixes anymore but they tend to work best for cake bites because they aren't quite as dense as homemade cakes.  I followed the package directions but substituted applesauce for oil, added an extra egg and the package of pudding.  Bake the cake according to package directions in whatever pan type you choose.  Let the cake cool for a few hours or overnight.  Crumble the cake into small crumbs and mix in the frosting.  I had strawberry buttercream on hand fro a cake I made last week but you can use 3/4 of a can of store bought frosting instead.  This step works best if you play with your food and use your hands to mix.  I wear gloves when I do this because it's more sanitary and it also traps some of the heat from your hands so the mixture doesn't get too warm and sticky.  I scooped the batter out with a medium cookie scoop and then got to work making my strawberry shapes.  I rolled each scoop into a ball and then rolled one side of the ball between my hands to make a point for the tip of the berry and then flattened out the top a bit to give it a realistic strawberry shape.

Once I had them all shaped I layed them out on wax paper lined cookie sheets and put the in the fridge for a few hours.  After they cooled off I started with the red candy melts.  I melted them in the microwave for a minute or less at a time at no more than 70% power.  I added a little vegetable oil to the melted candy to make it smoother and a little easier to evenly coat the cake bites.  I dipped the top 1/4 to 1/3 of each cake bite in the melted red candy.

Once they all had their red tops I put them back in the fridge to cool off again.  While they were cooling I melted the chocolate candy melts and added some vegetable oil to that too.  Holding the cake bite by the red top, I dipped each one into the melted chocolate until it just met or slightly overlapped the red tops.

The biggest thing is to make sure the two colors meet.  If they don't meet the cake inside can squeeze out and it doesn't look pretty.  While the chocolate cooled I melted the green candy for the tops and put the melted candy in a squeeze bottle.  Onto wax paper I squeezed out little flower/star shapes for the tops of the strawberries.  I usually make a few more tops because they sometimes break when you go to attach them to the cake bites.

Once I had the green tops done and cooling in the fridge, I melted some white cany to drizzle over my strawberries.  For some reason they just don't look quite done without the white chocolate drizzle.  When my white chocolate is melted I use a fork to drizzle it over the cake bites.  The fork give the best drizzle because you don't end up with big clumps of chocolate like you would if you used a spoon.

After all the cake bites get their white chocolate drizzle it's time to add the tops.  I use a little of the left over green candy for this step.  Melt a little of the green candy and dip the flat side of each berry top in this melted candy.  This will act as a glue to attach the tops to the cake bites.

Once I had them all completed I packed them up in tissue so the tops wouldn't break off.  Here they are all packed up and ready to go to the retirement celebration. 

They almost look like the real thing and may even taste better.  I love happy little accidents like this!