School starts back this week for my nieces which seems super early. I mean I’m just now getting used to it being summer, and haven’t even taken any time off yet.
And now it’s the season’s signal that summer is almost over. Bummer.
But I thought I would make some cheerful Back to School sweets for the occasion. And also because for some strange reason I can’t get the song Back to School Again from Grease 2 out of my head. Maybe I shouldn’t admit that. I’m probably one of the few that’s seen the movie more than once. On purpose. I especially like when Michelle Pfeiffer sings Cool Rider. Cooo-ooo-ooo-ool Rider. Raise your hand if you like it, too. How many of you hear crickets right now and have no idea what I’m talking about. That’s okay. I’ll stop and talk about cake.
I made some Push Up Pops. They’ve been on my list since my friend Courtney’s book, Push Up Pops came out.
I bought a bunch of these containers and they’ve just been sitting in a box waiting to be used… until this weekend when I thought they’d make a cute shape for pencils.
Short, stubby pencils.
To start, just tint cake batter pink and yellow.
I used this vanilla cake recipe and divided the batter to tint 1/3 of it with pink food coloring and 2/3 of the batter with yellow food coloring.
Then I poured it in two greased and floured baking pans. If you don’t have a 6 X 8, just use something close or even a round cake pan.
Bake them for about 18 minutes or until done.
When the cake is baked and cooled, you can use the push up pop containers to cut out your cake.
Cut the pink first for erasers. Then you can pipe some tinted gray frosting on the yellow cake layer and place your container right on top to cut it out. As you press them together the frosting will flatten out in between. Then press another yellow layer into the container or continue until the container is filled to the edge with cake.
This method worked fine, but some of the browned edges of the bottom of the cakes were showing through the containers making it look like I had horizontal lines in my pencils.
So I added an extra step to get rid of them.
I used a small round cutter the same size as the opening of the container and cut out individual circles first. Then, I used a knife to shave the thin layer of browned cake from the bottom of the layers. This worked great and made the yellow cake layers look a lot more seamless.
To assemble, press the pink layer in the bottom of the container and pipe some of the gray frosting in the center. Then press the two yellow layers on top one at a time.
Now for the pencil tips. You just need frosting and chocolate chips.
I used Ghiradelli chips because they are wide and flat and were a good proportion for my short little pencils.
Apply the frosting with a spoon and pull down against the edge of the container. Repeat until all sides are covered and you have the beginnings of a pointed shape. Then place a chocolate chip on top and with a sharp non-serrated knife, smooth out the frosting. Allow some of the frosting to overlap the bottom of the chip so it appears flush. Once you get a pretty good shape going, just place the container in the freezer a few minutes for the frosting to firm up a bit. Then it will be easier to shape. You can also run your knife under warm water, wipe it off and use it to aid in smoothing the surface. Once shaped, wipe any frosting off the tip of the chip with a dot of water.
Pencil Push Pops
You’ll need:
Vanilla Cake And Frosting (Recipe here)
Yellow food coloring
Pink food coloring
Black food coloring
Push Up Pop Containers
Circle cutters (optional)
Non-serrated knife
Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips
How To Recap:
- Make the vanilla cake batter. Divide batter so you have 1/3 in one bowl and 2/3 in another. Tint 1/3 of the batter with pink food coloring or a few drops of red. Tint the other bowl of batter yellow. Add drops of color until you get a shade you like.
- Pour the yellow batter into a 9X13 baking sheet or pan and the pink batter into a 6X8 or similar size pan. Bake for about 18 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool.
- Make frosting and tint 1/4 with a few drops black food coloring reserving the rest. Start with a drop at a time until you achieve gray. Place gray frosting in a ziploc bag and cut the tip off one end so you can use it to pipe the frosting.
- Use the Push Up Pop container to cut out a pink cake circle. Add frosting on top of the yellow layer and place container on top of the frosting. Press container into the cake so that the two layers sandwich the frosting. Add another layer of yellow cake.
- If your cake has brown edges, use a cookie cutter to cut the circles first and then gently saw off the brown edges with a knife. Place the pink circle in the push up pop container and then pipe the frosting on. Then place two yellow cake layers on top or enough until the cake meets the top edge of the container.
- Use the reserved untinted frosting to form a mounded triangle on top of the container. Add a chocolate chip and use a knife to smooth out the frosting like illustrated above.
Eat and Enjoy!
And check out my friend Courtney’s book for lots of fun Push Up Pop Recipes.
Such a cute idea!!
We’re do you get pus hip pops from
So cool!!! You really are amazing.
Hi! I love this idea, but how do you cover them without ruining the pencil point? Thx!
Awesome for back to school parties!!!
Those are so creative and so cute! I look foward to making them soon!
diiiiiiiiiiiildo
look like a dildo
yummy yum yum
Hola donde puedo conseguir los libros de reposteria que ustedes promueven
how can you eat that
Oh darn,
I think the right page will come up with my name now…
Bakerella, email us and we will send you some of our new Square push pop containers to play with.
Thanks again for creating such a cute back to school push up cake.
How adorable…
Have you seen our newest Square design?
We just launched them and hope you love them.
Love and Peace to all. : )
Rhonda
Giarraffa Co.
Excellent :))
Cute, but suggestions I have: You’re going to get a mouthful of frosting at the beginning (no complaint here!), but then have only cake until you get down to the grey frosting….how ’bout before adding the frosting tip to the yellow cake, you add some frosting “led” by coring your pencil with a straw and squeezing some dark grey or black frosting into the hollowed out cake? Voila! Now you get a little frosting in every bite! Or even BETTER? Put softened ICE CREAM into your hollow led hole and then freeze them until ready to eat! Ice cream cake roll pencil push pops!
How many push pops does this recipe make? They’re adorable.
SO cool i love your work :)
These are ¡muy bueno!
They are so cute. You make it look so easy to do.
Haha these are super cute! I love all your ideas!
I never knew how to make these but thank you for the photos. Im going to try these on the weekend.
They look gorgeous. We are doing a fundraiser for breast cancer so these would be great
*push up pop containers
it’s amazing!!!!….where can I find these phousers?
I’ve never seen a pencil look so delicious:)
I love the idea. They truly are amazing. A great idea for bakesales.
We gave these a try and they were delicious, albeit not as beautiful as yours:
http://www.pimlicomagazine.com/1/post/2012/08/pinterest-recipe-review-pencil-push-up-cakes.html
i heard about this 1st time. it looks amazing i will try.thanks for a yummy post.
I love them!!!!!
These are so adorable, I think it would almost make starting the new year worth it!
Cool Rider is my ALL TIME Favorite!!!!!! movie song!!!!!!! When I think of it I can’t help but think of Michelle Pfeiffer scaling an A frame ladder in leather and heels, but my favorite is the end of the song where she leaves the building shaking her hand and kinda hopping as she fades out singing cool, cool, cool, cool rider! I am so glad to hear I am not alone.
y en donde se pueden conseguir los push up pop
Adorable! Such a great back to school post.
I LOVE Grease 2!! I owned the cassette tape and played it ALL. THE. TIME. You are not alone, my friend, you are not alone. :o)
And these pencil pops are so stinkin’ cute! Love them!
Amazingly cute idea. I am so going to copy you. Now I have the soundtrack of Grease 2 running through my head. When I was 9, I watched that movie every single day until finally, my brother taped over it to save his sanity (oh so he said). I was devastated.
My dog loved these even more than my cat. That’s good
ACK!!!!!!! SO CLEVER!!
These are so cute..short and to the point! ;o)
Oh my gosh – these are absolutely adorable!
? Lexi
FASHION: Glitter & Pearls
WEDDINGS: Glitter Weddings
.
Love, love, love, love Grease 2. My favorite worse movie ever! My cousins and I would dance around like crazy to Cool Rider and I will never think about bowling without sing about Scoring! LOL
I love these, so cute.
And I love Grease 2. I have it on DVD.
That is my favorite song from Grease 2! I’ve loved that since I was a kid. These are very cute for back to school. I showed them to my cousin who’s a teacher and she thought they were adorable!
That is my favorite song from Grease 2. I’ve loved thst since I was a kid. These are super cute fir school! I showed these to my cousin who’s a teacher and she thought they were adorable.
How adorable! You are so creative!! Thanks for sharing your talent;-)
Adorable! This takes chewing on your pencil to another level. :D
How adorable!
I LOVE Grease 2 maybe almost as much as the first one! Now “Cool Rider” will be stuck in my head all day! :) Might just have to get that on DVD if I can find it.
These pencils are adorable just like everything you make! I love reading your blog! :)
Surely you did not think you were alone in loving Grease 2. My teenage daughters love it too. Classic coming of age movie! Really cute push up pencils. I must have some of those push up containers, so cute and so many possibilities!
So adorable. As a kid they were my favorite ice-cream from the truck! I remember the orange taste.. I am off to check out your friends book. You have such an eye to see things in and shapes in everything you do.
These are absolutely incredible :) so creative!!
How incredibly creative!! You continue to amaze me….love your site, and I think my girls would luv these push ups!
Adorable!!!
Wow this is so cute and adorable. What a great idea!
Rock-a-hula luau anyone???? And funny how I’m reading this right how because I was just talking abt Grease and how often I saw that movie and said I needed to get it out of my mind. I was gonna look for a cool rider….. LOL
and btw those pencils are adorable!
These are adorable. I too love Grease 2 and know all the moves to Cool Rider!!!
Although I was excited to see another adorable post, I was more excited to learn I am not the only one who even knows there was a Grease 2. LOVE IT! And I’ll admit I can practically quote the whole thing…
These are just adorable!
You are seriously like the coolest person I know. You are always coming up with brilliantly cute ideas! LOVE IT!
The loved Michelle in Grease 2-I loved that song too!
Sooo cute! Love this idea – what a fun and creative treat!
so cute… smart cookie :)
love that i’m the 100th comment too!
I made these for my cat and she loves them.
Those are ADORABLE!
I’m a Kindergarten teacher and teachers started training last week… gah! So early, right?
If I had these, my life would be so much sweeter =P
This is genius! My nieces are going to love this
How darling :D
Now that’s some cute $h!t right there… Super cute. I may have to buy that book. Where do you get the pushups?
Ridiculously adorable. You are amazing!
These are SO cute!! Love it!
I love this idea! You always give great ideas and you are so inspirational!!! THANK YOU BAKERELLA!!!!
How amazing is that ?
Amazing !
I’m following you . :)
xo ,
Ana Catalarrana
http://Sinbowtie.blogspot.com
Super creative! And I can’t believe they are going back to school already. It does seem way too early!
I LOVE Grease2. Seriously I must have watched it dozens of times. I even wanted to do a whole talent show in school to do the Girl for All Seasons!
Oh, and the pushup pops are cute too ;-) Would be adorable for a kindergarten teacher to make up for kids true first day of school.ever.
As a teacher these are absolutely brilliant! Thank you for sharing!!
SO cute! We must be the same age. Your comments on Grease 2 sound just like they came from my own mouth! Love the Grease 2 soundtrack. :)
You really have a gift. This is so creative.
Those are way too cute! I love them!!!
These are adorable, Angie! Wouldn’t these be adorable for the first day of school? Too cute!
I have a question, and maybe I just missed the answer in this post, but how many pops will this recipe make? I have a set of 6 push pops, but my daughter’s preschool class has 12 kids…I may buy another set :)
My kids think I am crazy because I will actually get up and sing all the words to every song in Grease 2. LOVE IT!
so cute, I have been dying to try those push pops, but the containers are costly here.
Lovely! :D Thanks for all the inspiration.
Greetings from sweden
http://www.apeaceofcake.se
http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-peace-of-cake/172392886213389
Hi,never met you,another fan from South Africa! Your work is pure eye candy,thank you so much for the inspiration! Made my first cake pops last week and last night did cupcake pops for my baby’s first bday. Enjoy your amazing baking! Love
I may have been the only other person to have seen grease 2 (and love the cool rider song!)
I love your blog and all you creations.
Thank you!
Fabulous! So cute and creative! Will have to try these some time! :D
Of course your recipes are great but i’m in love with your photos! Adorable!! :)
http://craftanddecorate.blogspot.com/
amazing!
Manon
Brilliant!!
Awesome as usual!
These are all kinds of adorable. You amaze me!
First, ADORABLE!!!!
Second, I know every word to that song and am now singing it LOUD! Love that you’re singing it too!
As always, so fabulous! Thanks for sharing!
Jenn @ Inspiring Giggles
Fun!
I will say..I have NEVER seen Grease 2, but am a huuuuge fan of the original.
“Let’s do it for our country! Our country wants us to!” There’s a Grease sing -a-long movie event, why not Grease 2?
haahaa, I have never met anyone who has seen that. . .made my hubby watch it with me, he thinks I”m nuts! The song started playing in my head as soon as you said that.
Oh, and my kids would flip for these!!
Absolutely adorable as always! I am so excited that my local cake supply store is now carrying the push pop holders!
The colors are so exact to a pencil. 0_0
I actually used a recipe from your blog for red velvet cake pops, and made them orange! Everyone loved them , like one comment, “Which bakery did you buy these from?” Also, I am only 13 year old boy, which makes this a fun recipe for all ages!
oh, stop! These are FANTASTIC!!
Adorable and Hysterical post! I LOVE Grease 2!! I just watched Grease 2 on Saturday. My daughter’s 11 year old friend was over and said, “I love Grease..it’s my favorite old person’s movie!” I kicked her out of the house shortly after.
I’ll be yours in Springtime, when the flowers are in bloo-hoom.
It looks great
Andreja
These are adorable! My nephew is about the start Kindergarten and would love these!
Oh an I am a huge Grease 2 fan! Love the movie and love to sing along ;)
These are too cute!
CLEVER! :)
Those are darling and you, my dear, are a complete perfectionist.
Hey Bakerella! I’m a huge fan, you are so unbelievably creative. I was wondering, have you considered baking with oats and Stevia for those who cannot have sugar?
Reproduction….reproduction! I looooove Grease 2! I have fond memories of singing the songs with my husband’s roommate (from before we were married). We were big fans.
Reproduction…where does the pollen go?!
These are the cutest things that I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to make some of these this year.
Love that movie. Own the Soundtrack on CD, and than you SO MUCH for showing me how to get hte cake into the push up tube!!
AWESOME!! Love it!
LOVE Grease 2!!!! Now the songs are stuck in my head. Of course, my favorite was “Let’s Bowl”. Thanks for the memories!
Terrific idea! These can make great gifts for Teachers/Staff Appreciation week with a ribbon and personalized card!
That is so clever…love them!
Own the DVD and can sing along with every song. Love Grease 2, and so not ashamed of it, haha. These pencils are adorable and I’ll have to try them out when school rolls around in September =)
SO cute and just in time for back to school!
Those are awesome! I love them.
Ha. I must be on that short list, too. I must have watched that movie 10 or 12 times! :)
Cute pops, too!
Kelly
You always come up with some of the best ideas when I’m thursting for them. Good thing you give me inspiration!
Keep doing what you do best! ;)
By now I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Yet you continue to amaze. GREAT job! Love them!
Really? What can’t you do!
Cu-at-E Pa-too-A-TEE
Those are so creative! I know how your nieces feel. My first day of school is this Wednesday! Two days left. I will be in eighth grade this year! :)
I love these! So unique and a great treat for the kids. ;) My son will love these!
These look really cute, but I wonder if it is as yummy to eat because they will eat all the icing at the top then not have any to eat with the cake parts. I love icing so I’d want more icing yum yum. Pretty colors though.
:)
mikky
http://www.todaloos.com
These are so cute! I feel like if I tried to make them, they’d look and taste horrible though, so I will just admire. And yeah, that does seem early for back to school! Weird.
-Lindsey
Et tu, tutu?
I love Grease 2, too! My sisters and I spent a summer watching it at least once a day (on VHS) and we learned the dance steps in all of the production numbers! Ah, sweet memories – I really need to get G2 on DVD!
Adorable and amazing at the same time! I’m constantly amazed by your creativity, Angie!
Adorable and so perfect for back to school! Love it!
Those really are so ridiculously adorable!! xoxo
So completely adorabe! Another hit, Angie!
Adorable! What a perfect gift idea for welcome back to school!
… Cool Rider is one of my favorite songs from that movie too!
These are really cute! They look so soft and moist and delicious! :)
As a teacher, those are so cute!!!!
I love the addition of the how-to recap. Great idea! (and the push-up pops are fab too!)
Those are too precious! Where can you get them? I’m a school librarian and would love to make those for my co-workers!!
Wow! These are ridiculously cute and just perfect for back-to-school. Ive been wanting to try pushup pops for a while too so I will have to check out Courtney’s book. One thing I have been wondering is how easy are they to eat? Do they get messy?
I love Grease 2! And these pencil pops….
These are about the cutest push pops in the world!!
These are darlIng!
great idea as usual! :)
Gorgeous cake pops – but love the movie too!
Have seen it sooooo many times, now have cool rider stuck in my head and i love it!
Soooo fun! You are seriously the best. Awesome idea!
You amaze me! Cute.
What a unique back to school treat. Good motivation for having to go back so early! I love these!
These are adorable! I’ve been thinking of getting these containers myself…might just have to place the order.
So super cute ! the kids will love it . x
Awesome for kids snacks!!!! And me too ; )
Great idea. They make fun party cakes
These are awesome for kids snacks!!
I had to giggle at the start of your post – I love that movie – I even tried to tape the songs (yes on cassette tape!) straight from the tv!! Makes me want to go and watch it now – and now I have coo-oo-ool rider in my head….
Cutest things EVER! Although my kids are going into their second week of school over here in Hawaii! Way too early!
Couldn’t bear to eat them! They are adorable! Perfect gift for Teacher’s Day! ;)
I bet the kids love these. I know mine would have when they were in school.
Oh, wait, three of them are still in college. Maybe I’ll send some in a care package before exams hit. :)
Not only do I see your love of Grease 2, but I’ll raise you with me lovin’ Maxwell Caulfield in Dynasty and The Colbys…I’ve dated us both haven’t I?? The pops are adorable!
These are beyond cute. And I could totally sing along with you. Don’t feel alone. :)
So, so cute!
These are Super Cute!!!
Such pretty push up pops :)
These are adorable to the max! I will most definitely be making these for my students–erm, in-the-far-future students. Also, I was at the Hollywood Bowl store on Friday for Pixar in Concert and came across your cake pops book–it’s so great seeing your work pop up in just the most random places! Thanks for sharing!
These are adorable! And of course I know Grease 2. And I will admit this here (in secret, shhh, don’t tell) that just last week a friend of mine and I were singing Cool Rider at work. Heh. You are not alone there :)
Um, I’m pretty sure I could sing every song in that movie. I’ll be your girl for all seasons…
You are amazing!!!! Your talent is endless : )
omg this is so cute and such an AWESOME IDEA. You are so creative its inspiring :’D
I just bought some of those push up containers and had NO clue what to do with them! I love you with all my heart right now! I mean you’ve always been amazing but seriously you out dis yourself with the cuteness :-)
And I raised my hand, head hung in shame as I sang parts of “back to school”, “cool rider”, “reproduction”, “who’s that guy”…Yes it’s true I own the DVD! I may need to talk to someone about this. Well at least I know I’m not alone ;-)
AWESOME. Having one of these in my lunch box would definitely make the school days more bearable!
amazing!!!