foods and festivities of the christian year: Solemnity of the Assumption, Cake Pops for Mary!

Did you know that between 1870 and 1940, it is estimated that over four hundred bishops, eighty thousand priests and religious, and over eight million lay people petitioned the Vatican to define the Blessed Mother's Assumption as a dogma of the faith? The overwhelming desire by the faithful to see this reality of the Blessed Mother's life defined, led Pope Pius XII in 1946 to send out a letter to all the bishops. In this letter he asked if they judged that the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin could be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith. The response from the bishops was almost unanimous, and the Holy Father concluded that "those whom 'the Holy Spirit has placed as bishops to rule the Church of God'" had spoken. Pius XII on November 1, 1950 in a solemn definition stated "by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by Our Own authority, We pronounce, declare, and define as divinely revealed dogma: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, after her life on earth, was assumed, body and soul to the glory of heaven." Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus

Smiling faces as the girls take a break from decorating cake pops

Would you like to learn how to make and decorate cake pops? They are easy and great fun. You can offer them for all occasions - feast days and holidays. The ones we made are simple and very tasty. You can make very sophisticated ones, as you will see, if you look at some of the popular cake pop books on the market. Below I will show you how to make, freeze, and decorate simple but gorgeous cake pops in honor of the Feast of the Assumption

RECIPE FOR CAKE POPS

makes about 36

INGREDIENTS

1 cake mix any variety except Angel food or sponge cake, and the oil, water and eggs that are required.

lollipop sticks, 3 inch, 36

chocolate melts, any color you like (Michael's Craft Store and A.C. Moore Stores have an extensive variety of colors and flavors) probably about 2 bags of melting chocolate

sprinkles, all colors, shapes, to decorate with (Michael's and A.C. Moore)

additional items you might want

pastry bag with decorating tips for designs (Michael's and A.C. Moore, Wal-Mart, Wilton on-line)

ribbons

DIRECTIONS

Follow the directions on the box for preparing and baking the cake. Using an oblong pan is easiest but not essential. When the cake is out of the oven, let it cool completely.

Crumble baked cake into large mixing bowl. Crumble completely so there are no lumps.

Add 1/2 to 2/3 cup of prepared frosting gradually. You want the crumbled cake to become moist enough to roll between your hands and form into a small round ball. If you use too much frosting the mixture will be too wet and will not hold its shape.

When you are ready to roll the mixture into round balls have a couple of oblong cake pans or cookie sheets lined with aluminium foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap. I prefer aluminium foil.

Take a small amount of the mixture and roll between your palms into a 1-inch ball. Place on lined cookie sheet. Repeat until you have finished the bowl of mixture. Should be about 36 balls. Then place in the center of each ball one lollipop stick. Repeat until finished. Place rolled balls in freezer for 2 - 3 hours.

(If your freezer can not accommodate such a large pan, then use smaller pans or plates. Be sure to line them with aluminium foil for ease of removing the cake pop.)

Heat up the chocolate melts in a microwave safe bowl. Use about 1 1/2 cup of melts. Microwave at 35 seconds and then stir the mixture. Heat in increments of 35 seconds or less, until the melts are melted. You do not want to over heat the melts or they will be ruined.

Take the cake pops out of the freezer and one by one dip them in the heated chocolate melts. My technique is to dip the cake pop in so that it is completely covered. If necessary, I use a plastic spoon to shovel the melted chocolate up around the collar of the cake pop where the stick enters. When the entire pop is covered, I remove it carefully and place on a clean sheet of aluminium foil. You must put the sprinkles on immediately before the chocolate hardens. I usually do about twelve cake pops or so and then put the decorated batch in the freezer or the refrigerator depending on where I have room. Then I continue on with twelve more and so on, until I have completed all thirty six cake pops. If you want to add a design by melting the chocolate in a disposable, plastic pastry bag with a decorator tip, you can wait and do that later after you have finished all the cake pops, or even on another day, if you are not planning to eat them right off! The cake pops stay very fresh for up to two weeks because of the chocolate coating.