My Birthday Cakes and No-Bake Cake Pops

I had a birthday a couple weeks ago. What is it about birthdays after 30, that just aren't so exciting? Maybe when I turn 40, I'll get a party, though I might be mourning my 30's by then. Who knows?! Anyway, my 31st birthday was spent mostly hanging out with Hayden and working on my cookbook. See that strawberry topped cake? That was the birthday cake I made myself. It was also the cake that will adorn the cover of my cookbook. I'm pretty thrilled about that! Then family came over and brought me more cake...and I went into a sugar coma! 

My sister made me pink lemonade cupcakes in adorable penguin cupcake liners. I have a deep love for penguins, so I absolutely loved the look of these, they were delicious too. And my mom made me a Funfetti cake with rainbow chip icing. You can't eat Funfetti cake and not feel like a kid. I loved that they baked for me- it made me feel special. What's funny is that Hayden thinks that when you sing 'happy birthday' that it's for him. He gets a big grin on his face and starts clapping. I'm more than willing to give that to him :-)

I made these no-bake cake truffles a couple months ago when I had leftover Funfetti cake mix from making these rice crispy treats. Mix, roll, and dip. No baking necessary. Since they were so simple to make Hayden and I decided to decorate popsicle sticks to jazz them up. 

Can you guess which stick Hayden decorated?

I had a minor issue with these though. After I dipped them in the coating and they set up overnight, the truffle expanded and the candy coating cracked on some of them. I made a couple batches to test them out, some I refrigerated, some I did not and the results were the same. I think that maybe I rolled the balls too tight, but I'm not sure. I read through the comments on the blog I got the recipe from and others had the same issue. I googled my problem and found that this is a common issue when making cake pops. Anyway, they were fun and simple and tasty. Don't let a little cracked coating deter you from making them. Kids will have fun with these too and will eat them up so fast you'll forget about all the imperfections. 

No-Bake Funfetti Cake Truffles

loosely adapted from Chef In Training

Printer Friendly Version

• 1 cup dry Funfetti cake mix (any flavor will work)
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• candy coating or chocolate for dipping

Mix dry cake mix, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla together until combined. 

Roll into 1-inch balls. Coat with candy coating or melted chocolate. Top with sprinkles while the coating is still wet. Allow to set.

Hayden playing with the sprinklers and trying to spray his momma!