Sweet & Savory Bites

Inside 175 Best Babycakes® Cake Pops Recipes, you’ll find everything from mini-doughnuts and muffins to Brewmaster’s Chocolate Pops, and Ebelskivers or “Danish pancakes.” Try flavors such as Milk and Cinnamon, or vegan Applesauce Spice Cake Pops.

But don’t let the name of this cookbook fool you. There are plenty of savory offerings too, including Cajun Cornbread Pops, Tortilla Scoopers, gluten-free Rosemary and Goat Cheese Morsels and Thai Crab Bites. You can even make Jalapeno Poppers without using a deep fryer.

Longtime friends, culinary partners and authors Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore are known nationwide for their expertise with small kitchen appliances. They also tested and wrote recipes for the Select Brands Babycakes® Cupcake Maker manual. When these ladies display their cooking and baking knowledge and creativity inside a cookbook, a spirit of fun emerges.

Baking these tasty morsels and whipping up companion toppings or dips are only the beginning. The authors sprinkle crafty ideas throughout their 230-page softbound book.

They melt butter or chocolate in the microwave and sometimes incorporate convenience foods such as boxed cake mix or whipped topping.

Gorgeous photographs of finished treats lie in several photo wells spread across this four-section book, with references listed for corresponding recipes. Offering a cross-reference within each recipe for corresponding photographs would have been a big help, too. But plenty of white space and individual information boxes make this a user-friendly cookbook.

Each recipe page clearly states the anticipated yield and describes the finished item. In Almond Cream Cake Pops, the head note states: “The creamy, almond flavor and the dense texture make these cake pops perfect for decorating for your next theme party.”

Practical tips repeat in each pertinent recipe. Learn how to make buttermilk when there’s none available (Classic Red Velvet Cake Pops). Substitute pumpkin puree for fat and eggs, in vegan Easy Yellow Cake Pops. And learn how to toast pecans to intensify their flavor in Banana Nut Muffins.

Individual pages describe Filling the (cake pop) Wells, Coating Cake Pops, Decorating with Sprinkles, Adding Decorative Swirls and other tips for embellishment. Occasional historical notes include, “Devil’s food cake is a dark, dense and rich chocolate cake that was especially popular during the 19th century,” and the history of maple syrup in North America.

Orange Cream Cake Pops recreate summery flavors, while Lemon Thyme Biscuit Bites are sophisticated salad partners. Make Moore’s favorite—Spice Cake Pops, or Wyss’s favorite—Southern Biscuit Bites, which remind her about her favorite area of the United States. Or learn to prepare goodies for a child’s birthday party or wedding shower, and even create dog treats using baby food.

With the right tool and recipes, you’ll quickly become a Babycakes® expert — and fan.

Q & A WITH KATHY MOORE AND ROXANNE WYSS

During nearly 30 years that Kathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss have worked together, their primary focus has been on home cooking, often while using small appliances. With BS degrees in Home Economics or Foods, their recipes appear regularly in “Eating for Life” in The Kansas City Star. They are members of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d’Escoffier, and work from their homes in Lee’s Summit and Lenexa.

435 South: Did you use existing recipes, with adjustments made for the Babycakes® Cake Pop Maker?
Roxanne Wyss: We made the recipes all from scratch. [The appliance] has its own method of cooking.

435: How do you typically create and test new recipes?
Kathy Moore: We think along the lines of “What can this appliance do?” We look for trendy as well as old-fashioned recipes and favorites. We try to have a variety of scratch recipes and recipes that include convenient mixes.
RW: We cross-test recipes between the two of us, and may bring in a homemaker who enjoys cooking but does not have a culinary background…because homemakers approach food a little differently.

435: What is your favorite section of the book?
RW: Cakes and Sweets. I love to use the cake pop maker to make sweet treats and you can decorate things so easily. It’s a fun way to say “thank you” or “I’m thinking of you” or “get well.”
KM: I agree that giving cake pops is fun. In addition, finding all of the different uses that cake pops can go with — like Ebelskivers and hot little biscuits.

435: You offer lots of decorating tips. Did you have special training?
KM: One of the things that makes cake pops so fun is you don’t have to be a decorating expert to do them. We both worked for many years in an actual test kitchen.
RW: We are forever honing our culinary skills and it’s a continually evolving process. People often tell us their ideas, too, and that’s been a fun, creative synergy.

435: Where can readers purchase this cookbook and appliance?
RW: On the [Lenexa] Web site—thebabycakesshop.com. You can also get them at Kohl’s, Michael’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond…
KM: …and many small shops that carry housewares.