Ninjago!

This past weekend I got to test my cake pop making skills once again, as I had the opportunity to make them for one of Matthew's best bud's birthday parties - AJ!! His mom *one of my best buds, Melissa* put together an awesome Ninjago themed birthday party, complete with personalized sash for their foreheads and ninja throwing stars! Mel asked if I'd make Ninjago cake pops and so I went for it! 

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Here's what I did:

Step 1 - I created the masks/eyes out of gum paste - fondant would have worked great, too, I just happened to have gum paste on hand. I drew in the eyes with edible ink (Americolor is my favorite), using a toothpick for the marks under the eyes - and dabbed just a bit of white on the eyes with the end of a toothpick. 

Step 2 - I rolled the balls and then made a fairly short cylinder, which I then added half of a Dot (gumdrop) to with some melted chocolate. 

Step 3 - DIP! Then I dipped that entire thing and stuck the mask on right away, then set aside to dry.

Step 4 - Once it was dry, I took a paintbrush and handbrushed chocolate on top of the dipped chocolate, to cover the edges of the mask, fill in any imperfections, and give it more of a fabric feel. 

They were A LOT of fun to make, I was pretty pleased with the outcome - but they did take forever, haha.

Here's a little bit of the party awesomeness that Mel made herself for the party - loved the decor!