Cupcake Pops-icles!

At the store the other day I saw these cute mini craft sticks and I instantly thought...cupcake popsicles! Participating in Iron Cupcake:Earth has changed me...everything I look at in the store makes me wonder how I could make it into a cupcake! These are made from yummy lemon mini-cupcakes covered with a thin layer of fondant.

All I did was cut a mini-cupcake like it shows in the picture. You put the mini craft stick in the bottom (with it oriented like it is in the picture. It goes in the south end, not the back.) Roll your fondant (use whatever colors you choose). I used yellow fondant, but I plan to use all different colors like popsicles next time I make them. (Purple for grape, Red for cherry, etc.) Ooh...I just thought of something...this one looks more like a creamsicle...I need to add another craft stick and shape the fondant to look like two popsicles-that would be really cute! Turn the cupcake stick sideways and gently cover. It worked pretty well to just fold the fondant over to meet on the bottom and top and shape it a little with my fingers...I think they turned out looking like popsicles. It took a couple tries to get the right width of fondant to look right.

I got the idea for the name "pops-icles" from Bakerella's famous cupcake pops-check out her link on my link list if you haven't seen them yet!

Since we learn from our mistakes...here's my failed attempt! My first idea was to cover the cupcakes with colored white chocolate. I pictured perfect fondant-like popsicles, except that they tasted better...HA!

I first tried cutting up the mini and sticking it on like this:

You can see how well it worked... Everything just fell apart. Duh...the white chocolate was warm and the little pieces obviously weren't going to stay together!

I must admit though that the minis were very good, and I did like the white chocolate glazed on the top-it tasted good with the lemon.

Lemon mini-cupcakes - adapted from Stephanie Ashcraft's Luscious Lemon Cake
makes 2 batches of 24 mini cupcakes

1 yellow cake mix

1 small box lemon pudding

3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate (with nothing added)

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line your cupcake pan. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, pudding mix, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, water, oil, and applesauce. Beat until smooth. Add each egg separately, beating well after each. Beat on high 5 minutes. Fill each cup in your pan 2/3 of the way full. Bake 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.

I used melted white chocolate for the "frosting," but you can use anything. Vanilla buttercream with lemon rind would be yummy!