Ok people…why? Why did I think I needed a cake pop maker? I mean, those of you that know me know that I don’t really cook. Before the rest of you start whispering about that – yes, I CAN cook. I just do not enjoy it and therefore don’t do it…often. Before you imagine me making fancy cake pops all decorated with perfectly smooth, colored layers of fondant to look like a tiny Curious George head…let that go. In fact, I have no interest in the “pop” portion of the cake pop maker. What I have learned from my interweb exploration is that I can also make the fastest, easiest donut holes, little round brownie balls, breakfast muffin holes…you name it. Because I am all about the multi-purposeness of it all… THAT is exciting. Why? Because the Bailey household school mornings are hectic. Getting teenagers to eat well AND out of the door on time…well that is a struggle. More mornings than not…people weren’t eating breakfast.
I know, bad mother. Most important meal of the day…start school off right with brain food…yada, yada. But I’m just keeping it real here. Can I get an Amen if you struggle in the mornings people?!?
Anyway, I saw all these recipes and said to myself “Self, you can make super fast, easy, eat on the go little round balls of nutrition in that thing.” And so I bought it.
Because it was all about the quick of it, I got the simplest model there seemed to be – no dials, controls, etc. And when it arrived a few days later – thx Amazon – I immediately tried it out. I plugged it in, sprayed it with a little non-stick spray, closed the lid and left it pre-heat while I made some batter.
Wipe clean non-stick interior is very easy to deal with on the run in the mornings. This is after a full batch…not much more than a few crumbs to deal with.
There is a light on top that is supposed to be red/orange when pre-heating and green when it’s heated to the proper temp and ready to fill. I found that this light looks orange the entire time to me. Maybe it’s like #TheDress thing…Maybe. I moved on and winged the pre-heating bit.
Following directions from an internet recipe for Snickerdoodle Donut Holes I had been wishing would magically appear in my kitchen, I made some dough and began filling the cups. My trial run was underway.
Cut to the confessional cam: Here’s the thing – when recipes give you a tip and you don’t follow it…you’re just making more work for yourself. They said to spoon the dough into a ziplock bag and cut off the corner. This way you can quickly squeeze the dough into the pre-heated cups. I was all “I can spoon it in just as easily and skip that whole bagging step.” Nope. A) If you work quickly to keep the unit hot, you end up getting batter in between the cups and making a mess. B) When you try to fill the cups slowly and carefully with the spoon (and take time to wipe batter spills) either your machine is no longer hot enough or the bottoms end up browning faster than the tops.
Ok I learned from that. I’ve used it about 6 times now and in the end I find that I can successfully bake some cute and tasty little donut hole type things for the boys to eat on the run in the mornings before school. It’s easy to grab a handful and eat them in the car. I can even make them the night before and throw them in a ziplock bag.
These were made with pancake batter – Krusteaz, Bisquick…it all works. They have a blueberry baked into the center!
The review part. Here’s what I learned about this particular machine:
1) Doesn’t get hot enough really to cook in 4 minutes as some of the online recipes suggest. The booklet suggests 5 – 7 minutes. By trial and error, I’ve nailed it down to about 7 minutes tops. You just do the spring back test to see if the centers are cooked and it’s all good. Different batters will take a minute or so less. Cooks the way it’s supposed to Grade = B+
2) Super easy to use. Just plug, heat, fill and go. It cooks evenly with a tiny bit of effort on the user’s part. As long as you fill the cups enough, both the tops and bottoms will cook to a golden brown. If you underfill the cups, the dough doesn’t rise enough to touch the top and therefore won’t brown. Ease of Use Grade = B (I’ve got to get better at filling the cups!)
3) Can use just about any boxed muffin mix, pancake mix or brownie mix, etc. to save time. Those little packets that only make about 6 regular sized muffins make the perfect amount. Versatility Grade = A
4) Wipes clean – which is my hallelujah moment in life. Besides not cooking…I don’t do dishes. Because there’s really no mess, I can unplug and run out the door in the mornings. Which is the whole point for me. When we come home, I just wipe the cool interior clean. Ease of Clean Up Grade = A+
Overall Review Grade considering price and use = a solid B+. I will say, this particular brand does not seem super high end. But remember I deliberately chose a low-priced, simple unit. If I had to note one or two things, it’s that the latch doesn’t latch particularly well every time and that light thing I mentioned earlier. I considered returning it…only for a hot second. I don’t need the light to tell me it’s hot enough anyway and I just have to pay attention when I’m closing it. Had I spent more, I’d have expected more. In the end, it works just fine for my purposes.
So I had success with the cake pop maker coming to the rescue as breakfast maker. I like it. My next trial will be using a carrot cake mix. Hhhmmm… Maybe I take back what I said about the Curious George cake pops. Don’t hold your breath though.
edit. your. life. 