Hello there, Kitty

I'm not at all a fan of cats.

They strike fear in me. I don't know why...

Hello Kitty is probably the only exception to my lifelong nemesis.
Perhaps it's the lack of a mouth and fangs (yes, they DO look like fangs to me).

Her cute little red ribbon perched askew might have something to do with making her less feline scary, too.

Check out more of our red desserts:
> Sweet, sweet strawberries
> Rich red velvet cake
> Red Santa hats
> Poppin' red cherries, even the jackpot ones

Whatever the case, she's the only kitty I'm gonna be friends with.

Ever.

I drew inspiration from cake pop goddess Bakerella, with just a few minor modifications. She's got the most amazing imagination, and has the superhero power of visualizing uses for any piece of candy.

Start off with regular cake balls, shape them into ovals and flatten them a little.

Then it's off to the details:

Minute oval balls for her  black eyes and pert lil' yellow
nose - these were barely 1mm each, soooo teeny tiny!

Uh-oh... she has SIX whiskers each... that's a whole of
ant-sized rods to make by hand. I lost count of how
 many I broke along the way, they were so fragile.

Just make sure you make tons of extras, they'll break
every step of the way. Oh. and don't freak out if they're not
perfectly shaped, animal parts are never symmetrical anyways :)

I had these sweet little confetti hearts that
were perfect for her signature bow

A cheeky lil' Hello Kitty towel to top the birthday basket off

Mission completed - my kitty litter is born!

More character cake pops:
> Never too much red with Elmo around
> A Rilakkuma birthday
> Curious George... almost!

Petite Pops goes to the zoo... dinosaur ROARRR!

Happy Birthday OLPT!

ROARRR!!! Is that the sound dinos make?

I hope so.

Cuz that's going onto the cake I'm making.

More on Petite Pops' animal adventures:

> Hop right in!

> Curious George (... his distant relative!)

> Galloping ponies 

> Canines go upscale

Just back from Japan - rejuvenated, missing the crazy fubuki and superb food terribly, but all ready to work on my OLPT's birthday cake *rub hands in glee*.

> OLPT = Official Little Pops Tester (it's a good job ;)

His Mommy's throwing a dino party this year, and we thought it'd be fun to work in a couple of cake pops into the chocolate cake (seriously... what's a birthday without cake pops?!).

Trees - that's what I'll use the red velvet cake pops for.
Set up a nice jungle backdrop for the dino story.

> How to make basic cake pops

This is from my baking inspiration, Bakerella - she is THE cake pop goddess! The recipe uses boxed cake mix, I use cakes baked from scratch which work just as well. 

It also features canned frosting, which is a fantastic binder. I'm not such a fan so I use jams, buttercreams, ganache - anything that binds will work. Oh, but no chunks. Those get in the way when rolling into cake shapes.

Ok, back to the dino cake.

What's next?

I mulled over the design for a couple of days and started putting the pieces together:

It looks like a jumble now, but it'll all come together, you'll see!

The cake is taking shape... 

Thin crumb coat of banana buttercream before
the fondant goes on ... or as the Cake Boss would say, "durrrty-ice it!"

Keeping the colors fairly cheery, OLPT is after all only 6.
And my fave detail: the bones!

This little fella found his way into the dino scene. Couldn't help it,
got hold of the cutest little porcupine cutter in Japan and had to use it.

ROAR!!! Finishing touch of dino eggs,
cake pop trees and we're all set.

Happy Birthday Aaron, to many years of Official Pops Testing ahead!

Tanjoubi Omedetou, a Rilakkuma birthday

I have my friend Z to thank, for introducing me to the world of Rilakkuma.


She’s mad about all things Jap + cute, and Rilakkuma ranks high up there in her top 10. Naturally, my first exposure to the little bear was through Z, she just about went nuts when we went to Japan – Rila heaven.

When the request came for Rilakkuma cake pops for a little 6-year-old's birthday, I knew exactly what she wanted, and I already had visions of how they would look.

Thank God for Z and her fanatical loves.

Rilakkuma (left) means' bear in relaxed mood',
perfect for this cheeky lil lazy bear!

> More on other well-loved characters: There's never too much red around with Elmo, Curious George (or rather his look-alike!)

As always, work started with the add-ons to the pops beforehand, what I call ‘fun & frills’ – the most fun parts about pops, but also the most painstaking.

Hmmm, colours...

Rilakkuma is a malty brown, so I started mixing up tawny fondant for his ears, and added tiny yellow insides, each ear barely half a cm small.

Make your 'fun & frill' parts beforehand so they
get to dry enough to stand on their own on the pops 

No bear should ever have to be alone, so I brought his pal Korilakkuma along.


This cheeky fellow - his name means 'small Rilakkuma' - is a creamy pale yellow, and I gave him tiny pink insides for ears.


I drew on teeny mouths with an edible black marker (I find these markers work well only with fondant, they're pretty much hopeless on any other material!). 

All set, let the dipping begin.

The 'fun & frill' parts are holding up well, yay!

Wait, something’s missing…. 
It’s a birthday, so we had to have some party hats! I shaped cone hats out of fondant, added confetti dots, and set the hats on a few lucky bears. 

Ready to party

Wait wait... something's still missing.
It aian't no party without Kiiroitori! For the uninitiated, this yellow duck-bird completes the Rila trio, and I just had to throw in a special Kiiroitori surprise for the birthday girl.

My fave - Kiiroirtori

Tanjoubi omedetou or 'happy birthday to you', my little Rilakkuma fan.