Chocolate Draped Mini Strawberry Weecakie Cake Pops

     Are you looking for a real treat for your Father for Father's Day?  What Father wouldn't love a triple-chocolate treat?  These Chocolate Draped Mini Strawberry Weecakies are a chocolate lover's dream come true.  They are a luscious dark chocolate cake truffle dipped in milk chocolate, draped with semi-sweet chocolate and topped with a tiny chocolate  strawberry dipped in chocolate.  Yes, I said that the strawberry is chocolate.  It is wonderful.  All the different chocolates combine into a sweet creamy mouthful of decadent delight.  They are just the thing for your Dad on his special day.  Happy Father's Day to all!


Love,
Weecakies

Rose Petal Jelly

      The roses in my garden are in full bloom, and I was reminded that I would like to share this simple, special recipe for Rose Petal Jelly.   Have you ever considered using roses, grown in your very own garden (or the garden of a trusted friend), to make a sweet, light, and delicate jelly?  Many years ago I was perusing an old recipe book that belonged to my Mother, and I found this recipe.  It was titled "Rose Petal or Violet Jelly."  At the time I had millions of wild violets in my yard, so I picked them all and carefully followed the recipe.  The result was fantastic:  an understated, delicate, light purple jelly that tasted and smelled of fresh violet.  Yummmmmmm.  When summer came, I picked my roses and followed the same recipe, using rose petals instead.  The recipe yielded a sweet rosy light jelly.  Ah... the sweet smell and taste of success!  Remembering this, I thought you would like to try it for yourself.  The recipe is fool-proof.  It works every time if you follow it exactly.


Rose Petal or Violet Jelly
You will need:
     1 quart of packed, fresh rose petals
     2 cups of boiling water
     1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
     2 TBSP of powdered pectin
     2 cups sugar
     6 (4 ounce) clean and sterilized jars (or your choice of size)

     Start with fresh picked roses.  Make sure that they are insecticide-free, and insect-free.  You need at least 1 quart of packed petals.

     Remove petals from their blossom base.  Use only the petals of the roses:  no stems, no leaves, no centers.  Place cleaned petals  in a large heat-proof bowl and pour 2 cups of boiling water over them.   Press the flowers down into the water.  Let the rose petals steep in the boiling water for at least 30 minutes. 
     Strain and squeeze the water from the petals.  (Your hands will smell heavenly) Place the rose water in a 2 quart saucepan, along with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and  2 TBSP pectin powder.  Stir until dissolved.  Place the pan over medium-high heat, and stir well, bring it to a roiling boil.  Add the 2 cups sugar, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil again.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes, all the time keeping a roiling boil.  Pour into clean sterilized jars, (I got mine locally, here: industrialcontainer.com, but you could get yours from the internet:  http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/G2.html) seal and let stand, undisturbed, for at least 6 hours so that jelly will set.

Isn't it beautiful?  And it tastes heavenly-a sweet, fresh bouquet of roses in every jar.  What a great way to preserve summer.  


Have fun!  I sure did :)
Love, 
Weecakies

Birthday Cake Weecakie Cake Pops

     Happy Birthday to You!  A dear friend called me a few weeks ago from Katy, Texas.  She told me Weecakies were the only thing her hubby craved for his birthday.
Ah, shucks.  How could I deny her true love of his only request?  The only problem is that I live 1181 miles from there.  Hmmmmmmm.  Well, making the Weecakies was no problem.  These are double deep chocolate (But they could be any flavor of your choice), dipped in milk chocolate, topped with a birthday candle, sprinkles and a white chocolate border.  That was actually the easy part.  The hard part was packing them up in a mailing box along with cold gel packs and then finding an overnight delivery rate that didn't cost a zillion dollars.  (Well, I exaggerated the zillion dollars part).  Thanks to USPS I was able to ship to Katy for less than $40.00.  I just sent them off today, and hopefully they will get there tomorrow afternoon.  I am on pins and needles waiting for the good news.....Are they OK?  :)    Did they melt? :(   Were they cracked and gross? :(     or are they perfect? :)  Only time will tell....I will keep you posted.  In the meantime, Happy Weecakie Birthday!

 P.S.  I enclosed these mini strawberry chocolate-draped Weecakies for the Birthday Boy.  Hope he has a double Happy B-Day!

P.P.S.  Have you ever not done something because you feared dismal failure?  I confess....I put off trying to ship Weecakies because I worried that they would melt and be a disaster, and then I would be embarrassed.  But here's my advice to me (and to anyone else who might need advice):  JUST DO IT.  Whatever it is that is scaring you, just grit your teeth and do it.  The Weecakies arrived in Katy, Texas with nary a problem.  They were whole and perfect and yummy and...well, I could go on for a long time.  What I have learned is that we can be our own worst enemy, or our own best friend and cheerleader.  I choose the latter.  The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.  So be fearless.  :)