Oh blog, I have returned to you, with much randomness to share (during dear Jellybean's downtime, of course). Let us turn back the clocks and remember father's day. I am in IOU status with an actual gift, but I did prepare some delicious meals that day, including the much requested....
Chocolate Banana Pops
Let me start by saying that *I don't play by the rules when it comes to recipes. I'm the person that will combine 2 different recipes but won't write down how I did it exactly. @Misfit_King frequently asks "why don't you write down what you do?" Oh misfit_king, because that makes too much sense, and I do not live in the rational world. Each batch is a crap shoot. It makes the end result like the big mystery boxes on Let's Make a Deal...Is it a sweet ass '76 Mercury Cougar or just a donkey with an apron on and a lifetime supply of Dentu-grip?? Although, it does make sharing recipes difficult. When people ask me how I made something, I end up giving them the individual recipes and tell them "good luck!"
Chocolate Banana PopsAnyhoo, about a week before father's day, the Craftzine.com blog posted the recipe for Chocolate Banana Pops now if you compare my picture above to the example picture on their site, you may get a good giggle. go on, i'll wait.
The first glaring difference? I didn't use popsicle sticks...or craft sticks, whatever the kids call them nowadays. Sure, as a crafter, I always have some lying around, but that's just it. They are literally lying around: randomly on the floor where I last crafted, mixed in with my mold making & casting materials...my point is they were not at all food-friendly. You may ask, buy why didn't you just spend the, i don't know, 2 or 3 dollars for a pack of a hundred clean fresh sticks? You know why? Shut up, that's why. The second reason, see the above *. On a less hostile note, I'm more about improvising with what I have on hand then spending the cash. And what did I have? Skewers. Long wooden skewers. Long, pointy, wooden skewers. So a harmless, good time desert could now double as a weapon, if the situation called for it. Sweet sensible Chocolate Banana pops? meet your evil twin:
Chocolate Banana Pops...
of DOOOOOM!!!
of DOOOOOM!!!I was going to cut the skewers down, but I was worried about slender strips of wood being ingested. Also, if you're going to be reckless enough to use skewers in the first place, you may as well go for full tilt comedic effect and use the whole thing. plus, it's father's day, what better day to make something dangerous and tough, yet sweetly delicious?
If you aren't a baking rebel, like myself, I suggest you follow the directions. It will make for a much more picturesque desert. But here are some helpful things that may or may not help you in your quest for chocolatey-fruity deliciousness:
1) if you don't use craft sticks, use chopsticks (assuming that you have some stockpiled from takeout or you have a set of chopsticks in your kitchen drawers). if you do use something long like chopsticks or skewers, insert the stick with care into the bananas. you don't want to puncture yourself, and because the bananas are curved, you could risk breaking it into chunks, which makes applying the chocolate hard.
2) instead of using shortening in the chocolate, use butter. this is just my personal preference for baking in general as I don't like the taste it leaves. I don't have the exact substitution amount for the shortening to butter ratio (see what happens when you don't write things down?), but if you do a search in the googles for the exchange amount, there are plenty of sites to help.
3) after dozens of mini rainbow sprinkleballs went a-bouncing everywhere, i quickly nixed the wax paper, and just put add ons over the chocolate bowl. I also mixed crushed heath bars into the chocolate itself. worst comes to worst and you have leftover chocolate mixed with sprinkles/heath/whatever add-on, you can either spread the leftover mix flat onto wax paper (or leave it in the bowl), and refrigerate. After it hardens, you have your own customized chocolate bars!
4) as seen in the picture above, I used an aluminum pan to place the bananas in. We didn't have a lot of freezer room for something to lie flat and still be untouched by frozen bags of veggies, so keeping them in a pan worked out great. I also didn't have to worry about them rolling all over the freezer if another item was taken out.
5) eat beforehand. there is way too much yummy chocolate tantalizingly close to you to not sample as you make this treat. if you make this on an empty stomach, you will not want to eat for awhile afterward.
If you aren't a baking rebel, like myself, I suggest you follow the directions. It will make for a much more picturesque desert. But here are some helpful things that may or may not help you in your quest for chocolatey-fruity deliciousness:
1) if you don't use craft sticks, use chopsticks (assuming that you have some stockpiled from takeout or you have a set of chopsticks in your kitchen drawers). if you do use something long like chopsticks or skewers, insert the stick with care into the bananas. you don't want to puncture yourself, and because the bananas are curved, you could risk breaking it into chunks, which makes applying the chocolate hard.
2) instead of using shortening in the chocolate, use butter. this is just my personal preference for baking in general as I don't like the taste it leaves. I don't have the exact substitution amount for the shortening to butter ratio (see what happens when you don't write things down?), but if you do a search in the googles for the exchange amount, there are plenty of sites to help.
3) after dozens of mini rainbow sprinkleballs went a-bouncing everywhere, i quickly nixed the wax paper, and just put add ons over the chocolate bowl. I also mixed crushed heath bars into the chocolate itself. worst comes to worst and you have leftover chocolate mixed with sprinkles/heath/whatever add-on, you can either spread the leftover mix flat onto wax paper (or leave it in the bowl), and refrigerate. After it hardens, you have your own customized chocolate bars!
4) as seen in the picture above, I used an aluminum pan to place the bananas in. We didn't have a lot of freezer room for something to lie flat and still be untouched by frozen bags of veggies, so keeping them in a pan worked out great. I also didn't have to worry about them rolling all over the freezer if another item was taken out.
5) eat beforehand. there is way too much yummy chocolate tantalizingly close to you to not sample as you make this treat. if you make this on an empty stomach, you will not want to eat for awhile afterward.
Ok, go forth and enjoy!
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