On St. Patty's Day, Everyone is Irish!

Every year on March 17th, my Irish roots come out. I mean, my dad was born on March 17th so I must be Irish, right? This year I am celebrating the day with a Rock and roll Half Marathon in DC, followed by a day of celebrating with some Guinness, festive cake balls, and maybe even a shamrock shake or two (not necessarily in that order!). The 17th isn't for a few days, but why not begin celebrating early! For my cake pops, I made two different kinds of cake. The first I found from a Pinterest recipe at one of my new favorite blogs, Love from the Oven. This recipe is for Green Velvet Cake Balls. The second was a recipe from the Cake Doctor (but using from scratch cake) for Bailey's Chocolate Cream Cake Pops. Both delicious! For both of these, I used my cake pop maker, which is much more efficient than doing them all by hand. 
First up - Green Velvet Cake Balls!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 oz green food coloring

1. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add all of the liquid ingredients, adding the food coloring last. Whisk until blended, and set aside. 
2. Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together. 
3. Pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix on medium-high until well combined.

My batter wasn't as green as I wanted, but good enough!

4. Pour batter into heated cake pop maker an wait 5-6 minutes until done.

I need to be a little better about pouring!

5. Allow to cool and freeze until you are ready to decorate. You can freeze for a couple of weeks if you want to make a lot in advance.

A little brown on the outside, but all green in the middle!

Next up - Bailey's Chocolate Cream Cake Pops
I didn't have a chance to take any pictures while I made these, but here is the recipe. 
*And it is completely acceptable to drink some of the Bailey's while making these ;) Maybe why I didn't take any pictures. Hmmmm....


            Cake Ingredients:

• Your favorite chocolate cake batter, or mix.
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream (yum!)
• 3 eggs

         Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

• 4 ounces whipping cream
• 8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

1. Mix all ingredients on high in mixer until completely incorporated.
2. Pour into heated cake pop maker. Wait 6-7 minutes until done. *These ones took a little longer then the green velvet.
3. Cool and freeze until you are ready to decorate.
And now for the decorations!! 
For the Green Velvet Cake pops, I used white chocolate and green chocolate pieces. After dipping cake pops, I used a fun St. Patrick's Day sprinkles mix to decorate. 


For the Bailey's Cake Pops, I used the Chocolate Ganache. Finely chop the chocolate. Heat whipping cream in a small saucepan on the stove. When it just starts to boil, take off heat and pour in chopped chocolate. Stir with a whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Dip cake pops in ganache, and decorate!

March is one of my favorite months because St. Patrick's Day means Shamrock Shakes!!! I LOVE Shamrock Shakes. I feel they should have them all year round. But instead of going to buy one, I decided to make a healthier one on my own. So easy, delicious, and doesn't make me feel as bad. 


Shamrock Shake Ingredients:

cup Fat Free Milk

Fat Free frozen yogurt

1/4-1/2 tsp. Peppermint extract (depending on how minty you like and how big your shake is)

Green food coloring


*I didn't put measurements, because it depends on how much shake you want!


1. Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend.
2. Pour into a glass, and accent with some St. Patty's day sprinkles if you have them.

Minty Deliciousness! 

Now it is time to celebrate! Whether you are enjoying a Guinness, corn beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, green velvet cake balls, or a shamrock shake, there is something for everyone on St. Patrick's Day (even if you aren't Irish)!