Cupcake Bites

I've been making these cute little cupcake bites for a few years now. Usually at Christmastime, but I've done them for birthdays, a baby shower, and even my wedding!

I can't take the credit for coming up with the idea on my own. I originally found them on the blog of an EXTREMELY talented woman, Bakerella. I altered her process a bit, and now make a few hundred each year.

Cupcake Bites

1 - cake mix (bake as directed on the box in a 9x13 pan)
1 - 16 oz. can of frosting (make sure it isn't the whipped variety)
2 - 14 oz. bags chocolate candy melts for the bottoms
1 - 14 oz. bag colored candy melts for the top
M&Ms or Sixlets
Sprinkles

I almost always use red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting when I make these, but you can do whichever cake/frosting combination you choose.



Bake the cake as directed on the box, and let it cool completely. If there are any edges that are a little more "done" than the rest of the cake, trim them off



Cut the cake into large chunks and fill your bowl, still leaving room for the frosting (you can add the rest of the cake cubes as frosting and cake start to mix together, making more room in the bowl).



After years of digging in with my hands and mixing that way, I decided one day to try using my stand mixer with the flat attachment and I loved it! It was faster and as an added bonus, I didn't have the mess on my hands!



This is what the frosting and cake mixture should look like.



Next, line a couple of cookie sheets with waxed paper and use a stainless scoop to make your cake balls. (I get approx. 75 per batch). Of course you can use a teaspoon from your silverware drawer to do the same thing, but I've found this is the best way to get a consistent size.



The next step was another deviation I made from Bakerella's instructions, and wish I had discovered this when I first started making these. To make the base of each cupcake bite, I put four candy discs in each section of the mold, leaving the middle spot open because it doesn't warm as quickly as the sections on the outside.



I then put the tray in the microwave for 40-60 seconds until the candy discs are able to be stirred with a toothpick and they are heated throughout. Mix each individual section with a toothpick and then tap the tray on the counter numerous times until all the air bubbles have risen to the top.

(You can also melt a large portion of the discs at once and then use a pastry bag or bottle to squeeze the melted chocolate into each section; however, I found the process I just described to be the easiest and most consistent method. Before discovering this process, I spent a lot of time and wasted a lot of chocolate trying to make sure I had the same amount in each section of the mold which gave me all sorts of different sized cupcake bites).



At this point, take a cake ball and roll it in your hands to get rid of the rough edges.



Gently press the cake ball into the melted chocolate, taking care not to push the cake ball all of the way to the bottom of the tray. (If you do, the cake ball will be exposed when you look at the bottom of the cupcake bite instead of being covered in chocolate).



To speed up the process, place the tray in the freezer for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set and then turn the tray upside down and pop each section out. Continue the process until all the cake balls have chocolate bottoms. I found early on that it goes much more quickly if you have more than one tray so you always have one in the freezer and one that you can be preparing for the freezer at the same time.



In a small bowl, melt the candy discs until they are an even consistency following the instructions on the bag. Stir well and let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes so it isn't steaming hot when you go to dip your bites.



The next step can take some practice to get the hang of, but you will be a pro before you know it! You can use your fingers to hold the chocolate base when dipping, but I use stainless tongs similar to these. (I bought mine at a local food service supply store). I found that when I used my fingers, the chocolate melted quickly and I would have fingerprints on the sides or even worse, they would become slippery and fall right in to the topping!

Dip the tops and then gently shake them to get rid of any excess topping.



The warm topping tends to set fairly quickly, so don't waste any time putting your M&M/Sixlet and sprinkles on top. This is when it can come in handy to have a second person helping so one can dip and one can sprinkle - my daugher always likes to join me for this step.



Easy, right? Now you only have 70+ more to go!



This and That:

Duncan Hines is the only national company I have found to make the red velvet cake mix

The stainless scoop I use is one I purchased from Pampered Chef quite a few years ago. From what I can tell on their website, it doesn't look like they sell that size anymore, but it was the "small" scoop.

If you live near a Party City, they sell single-color bags of both Sixlets and M&Ms.

I bought candy molds from both Michaels (the Wilton brand) and Hobby Lobby (can't remember their brand), and neither worked as well as the ones I use now that I purchased from Amazon. The others weren't the right depth or circumference to get the look I was trying to achieve.

I do not know if the candy molds are intended to be used in the microwave, but I have used the same ones for at least three years now and they are still going strong.

DO NOT put your candy molds in the dishwasher (my husband can tell you why;)

I have not tried to freeze these. I would be very interested to hear if anyone has, and how it worked.

A night at the drive-in...

(I'LL BE ADDING PICTURES TONIGHT)

Day 4 – Stanton, MO to Carthage, MO (approx. 210 miles)

Apparently the beds at the Meramec Caverns Motel are not made for people that are 6’ 4” tall. At first I thought Joe was joking, but even when he scooted his head all the way up to the headboard, his feet still hung off. He didn’t find it near as humorous as I did.

Joe sweet talked the woman at the front desk and traded her a bottle of wine that we just happened to have with us for one of their extra key chains that they use for the rooms. These are the old school diamond-shaped key chains that tell you to drop them in the nearest mailbox if found. Very cool! It took every ounce of willpower I had last year to not “accidentally” forget to turn mine in when I stayed there last year.

The thunderstorms cleared out by morning and it was just a little overcast when we woke up. We started the morning by taking a tour of Meramec Caverns. Our tour guide was either very new or very nervous or both. The poor kid kept forgetting what he was supposed to be talking about, but towards the end of the tour he seemed to get in the groove.

Our next stop was the Jesse James Wax Museum in Stanton. I had stopped here last year, but Joe wanted to check it out so we went through the exhibit. They claim that Jesse James didn’t die in the late 1800s but rather he lived to be over 100 years old and died in the early 1950s. The museum shows a video of their conspiracy theory and then you can walk through different exhibits. I must admit that I was a little disappointed to find out that they had repaired one of the wax figures because last year his thumb had fallen off and was just lying there in one of the scenes. (I guess you had to be there, but it struck me as funny.)

After our morning stops we were back on the road. With over 200 miles to travel today, we didn’t have much time for dilly-dallying.

We stopped at the Totem Pole Trading Post to fuel up and check out their souvenirs and antiques that they have for sale. This is the longest-running business on 66 in Missouri. We were excited to find a box full of $2 grab bags at the door. Joe and I both chose one, and I got some sort of beanie-baby-lemur-monkey-looking-thing. Whatever it was, its nose had been chewed on (I’m guessing by a child, not an animal) at some point in its existence. We named our new travel companion Jesse (after Jesse James, of course) and sat him on the dash. I’m quite fond of Jesse, but I must say though, I was a little jealous because Joe got a 2006 hillbilly calendar in his grab bag.

One place on my list of stops for today was John’s Modern Cabins. These cabins were used as lodging for travelers “back in the day” and something about them has always intrigued me from the first time I saw a picture of them in a book many years ago. I stopped here last year and was saddened by the condition of them. Most of them are just dilapidated remains with only a couple still remaining upright, but still, I had to stop again this year. As I had expected, their condition had worsened, and the owners of the property have now posted a “No Trespassing” sign to keep people like me away. I got as close as I could from the road to snap a few more pictures, but didn’t go tromping around in the woods like last year. Oh well…less of a chance of me bringing a wood tick along for the ride that way.

Our last stop before Carthage was in Paris Springs, MO. There are only a handful of buildings left in this former Route 66 town, but one of them is a replica of a gas station that Gary Turner has built in his front yard. I stopped here last year and chatted for quite awhile with Gary, and couldn’t resist stopping again. Gary purchased this property a few years ago and built a non-working gas station that resembles the one that used to stand in the same place many years ago. The original station burned down, but the stone service garage still stands. Gary is retired and simply sits in his “gas station” all day and waits for travelers to pass by so he can chat and show them his place. He keeps a refrigerator in his garage stocked with sodas and water for anyone who stops by. He says he has between 6 and 7,000 visitors each year pass through Paris Springs. Gary can chat for hours, but after an hour we had to hit the road to get to Carthage before dark.

We drove straight to Carthage and got parked at the Route 66 Drive-In with about 10 minutes to spare before the movies started. Years ago the drive-in was shut down and became a salvage yard until it was purchased and restored in 1998. This is one nice drive-in! The family that owns it obviously takes pride in this relic that they have restored. I would highly recommend stopping here if you are ever in the area. The grounds are well kept as is the structure itself. It was a double feature – X Men Wolverine and The Haunting in Connecticut. Joe was thrilled because this was the only way he would ever get me to see either one of these movies.

We finally got to our motel around 1 am. This was the only night that we didn’t have reservations already made for the night, and Gary Turner suggested we stop at the Best Budget Inn. The owners are strong Route 66 supporters, so we stopped there for the night. The room was only $46, and was immaculate, but very dated. Needless to say, there wasn’t any internet access there either.

kdl

Cozy Dogs and a ranch full of bunnies

Day 3 – Springfield, IL to Stanton, MO (approx. 160 miles)

I’m trying to get caught up on the blog. I wasn’t expecting to have such sporadic internet along the way!

Once again, we didn’t make it as far as I had hoped on Route 66 because of all our stops along the way. It seems a bit ridiculous to think that you can’t make it 160 miles in 9 hours, but trust me, it’s a challenge.

This morning we started with breakfast at the Cozy Dog in Springfield. These are the people that claim to have invented the corn dog. What a cool place! It’s been around for many years and has a lot of memorabilia on the walls. I had traditional breakfast fare, but Joe couldn’t resist and had a cozy dog to go along with his egg sandwich. We bought a few souvenirs (they were out of floaty pens!) and were on our way.

We stopped to see the bunnies at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch outside of Staunton, Illinois. A couple there that have turned their property into a bit of a tourist attraction and have a number of pet bunnies there as well as some old neon signs acquired from defunct businesses on the Route. Of course I had to climb up the big fiberglass rabbit for a picture. (I wonder where someone would get something like that? I wouldn’t mind having some sort of large fiberglass creature in our yard…) Rich, the owner, gave us some pointers on other places we should stop and told us all about his beloved bunny, Montana, that died last year. There was quite the "bunny graveyard" along side of one of his buildings. Oh my.

Lunch was at the Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Illinois which has been on 66 since the 30s. We had a nice chat with the owner, Nick and he showed me the original logs from when the building was constructed costing just over $4,000! He and Joe talked wine for awhile and then we were once again on our way.

After lots more driving through the backroads and stopping here and there, we bypassed St. Louis on the interstate, but stopped at the edge of town to take a look at the Chain of Rocks bridge which is one of the original bridges on the Route. It was transformed into a biking/walking trail 10 years or so ago, so it is just for pedestrians now. Our quick look turned into us walking the entire 1 mile length and then back again to our car. Who knew we would get more exercise on vacation than we do at home!

It was shortly after St. Louis when we called it a day. It was starting to get dark and the weather was getting nasty so we jumped on the interstate to get to our motel. We were lucky for most of the day because it was overcast but we didn’t run into any rain until we were on the way to our motel and then the skies let loose and there were thunderstorms all night long.

kdl

The tale of two giants...

Day 2: Chicago to Springfield, IL (approx. 200 miles)

Thankfully we woke up to sunshine but I woke up with a scratchy throat and man voice. Ug. We started the morning having breakfast at Lou Mitchell's in downtown Chicago. It's been open since 1923...three years since Route 66 was even commissioned. Our waitress was super friendly and tried to convince me I needed to drink some garlic tea to get rid of my sore throat. I wasn't convinced, and luckily she didn't brew any for me. (I should have asked her if it would work for Joe's poison ivy.) My favorite thing about Lou's besides it is very retro on the inside (not because it's cool, but because the restaurant is really that old) is that they give all the ladies a little box of milk duds.

The weather was georgous all day but we made so many stops we fell way behind schedule. At one point we had only gone 87 miles in 5 hours. Despite the plethora of maps I have and the GPS on my phone, we still managed to get lost a few times, but got back on track fairly quickly.

We saw the usual...some restored businesses, remains of old businesses, and two very cool "giants". Despite Joe's recent run-in with poison ivy, he even humored me and followed me through a ditch to get to a section of the old pavement of 66 so I could pick up some of the broken pieces to toss into a ziplock to take home.

We finally jumped on the four-lane near Chenoa, IL so we could get to Springfield before dark. We had originally planned to take a walking tour tonight of places that President Lincoln's ghost supposedly haunts. However, our pokieness during the day changed those plans.

Tonight we are staying at the Route 66 Motel and Conference Center in Springfield. Our room has a very fancy satin comforter and the wallpaper is coming off in place or two, but it's got "Route 66" in the name, so I guess that makes it all ok?

There is rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow so I don't know what that will do to our plans. We are staying in Stanton, Missouri tomorrow night at the Meramac Caverns motel, and last year I couldn't get cell phone reception in my motel room so I doubt I will have internet access, but you never know what may have changed.

kdl

Rain, rain go away...

Day 1: Urbandale to Chicago (approx. 330 miles)

We got a bit of a late start leaving today. Surprise, surprise. I guess that's what happens when Ella and I woke up two hours later that I had planned. That meant she got a late start to preschool, too. I'll blame it on the new cell phone and the fact that I haven't quite gotten the snooze feature figured out yet.

Our drive to Chicago was WET. Not just a sprinkle or two, but a downpour for nearly the entire 300+ miles. I'm hoping that Mother Nature got it out of her system today and the rest of our trip will be clear.

Despite the late start, we still made it to IKEA to do a little shopping and to Trader Vic's for dinner. Now we're checked into our hotel in downtown Chicago and ready to head out and get our kicks tomorrow! I'm should have internet access every night except for maybe one so I hope to get on and post each night.

kdl