PineCone Cake Pops-variation!

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     Chances are that if you spend much time on social media, you have seen these pinecone cake pops that are all the rage lately.  My almost daughter-in-law, Rachel, brought the ingredients for them to a holiday party at our house over Thanksgiving week and she made them with some of my grandchildren.  I was astonished at how beautiful they look!  Of course, they taste great as well.  I realized then that these pinecones aren't exclusively a Thanksgiving thing.  They are totally appropriate for Christmas as well. 

      One of my first thoughts about them is that one or two of them on a cookie plate that you deliver to friends or neighbors would look wonderful!  Or, how about an edible pinecone wreath? Or, just make a cookie wreath and use a couple of these to decorate with.  I definitely wanted Rachel to share them on the blog here...and she said that I could. LOL So, I am! 

     Rachel told me where on Amazon to find the right cereal that she used to make these adorable pinecones.  She said that when she bought it, she paid around $5.......Guess what, the price has jumped! These are the cheapest I could find.  This offer has 4 boxes in it.  The power of Social Media!
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     For me, that price was out of the question! We started searching for what else would work and give the same effect.  Here is what I settled on. 

     Two weeks ago, when I was looking, this cereal was about $6 or $7.  But, once again, since social media spread the word that this cereal is the next best thing after Chocapic, the price has jumped.  I actually bought it in my grocery store for about $7.  

     
 Making the Cake Pops:     

     You can use whatever method of cake pop making you would like. You can also make whatever flavor you would like.  When Rachel made them, she used a chocolate cake.  I used yellow.  I think a spice cake would be great for the holidays as well.  I did the crumble the cake version, where I baked a cake, put it in the food processor and crumbled it up.  Then I added enough frosting to make a dough-like consistency that I could form into elongated balls.  I set them on a parchment lined cookie sheet that I sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Next, it was time to decorate! 

Decorating the Cake Pops:

1. If you are using the Protein cereal, be forewarned that the cereal is not as uniform in shape as the Chocapic.  So, I feel like it takes longer to make the pinecones because you have to search for the flakes of the right size and shape that will work.  The Protein cereal also has slivered almonds in it, so I used some of those at the top of the pinecone just because. 
2. It will go much faster and be more enjoyable if you make these with someone!  Otherwise, on your own they are pretty time consuming.  They were easy enough for my grandchildren, ages 8-12 to do and they loved it! They are so beautiful, the time it takes to make them may be worth it to you. 
3. The cake pops are soft enough to push the cereal into them to make them stick.  But, I dipped them in a bit of frosting as well to help them stick.  If you use baked in a mold type cake pops, you will definitely need to dip the pinecone layers in frosting, or frost the entire cake pop base.
4. Start at the top of the pinecone and layer the cereal in overlapping rows down to the bottom of the cone.  I simply used a larger flake of cereal to cover the bottom.  
5. Put them on a holiday platter and sprinkle them with a bit of powdered sugar. 

     Now, here is a side by side of the two different cake pops made with different cereal:

      Can you tell which is which?  Maybe, but I think that they both look pretty good!  Tell me which you think is the Chocapic and which you think is the Protein cereal in the comments.  I'll answer in the comments later! 

 
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