Push-Up Cake Pops: Birthday Style

Is that a spaceship? 

No, it's a push-pop! 

I first saw the use of push-pops here. 

Such a cute idea to use them for cake. I bookmarked it, and kept it in the back of my mind for the future. 

You may remember that last year around this time, we all went bowling to celebrate Chris' and Laura's birthday, both on March 15th. 

This year, I decided we would go out to eat for the birthday duo celebration, but that I would take the opportunity to make the oh-so-cute and portable push-up cake pops. 

However, I realized that I didn't just want to hand out the push-ups by themselves. I needed a stage or base. It could be like a center piece of dessert. They do make stands specially designed for these push-ups, but there's no fun in that. I decided to make one, and I decided it would look like a birthday cake!

So I got styrofoam...usually I don't support the use of styrofoam in any capacity, but I couldn't think of anything better. 

I placed the two pieces of styrofoam in a cake shape, and then made holes in them with the sticks of the push-ups. 

I used this handy little screwdriver to fully puncture the holes once the push-ups showed me the placement. 

Then I had this. Two pieces of styrofoam with holes it. Not very birthday-esque.

I decided it would wrap the pieces in wrapping paper that matched the colors of the party. I placed the paper over the pieces and made marks where I could feel the holes.

I folded the paper along the lines of the holes and punched them out.

My idea here was to keep the paper from ripping when I reinserted the push-ups.

I continued to wrap each piece like a birthday present,

and thankfully, my holes all lined up again!

But now what do you do? 

Bake a cake! Use this recipe from The Pioneer Woman because it's delicious. (You don't need the pecan frosting if you're going to use the white icing.) 

Then make icing! Use this recipe from The Pioneer Woman because it's delicious. 

Fill a bag with the icing using this tip from Pinterest.com. Placing the bag inside the cup makes all the icing fall to the bottom tip. Just pour in the icing instead of spooning it. Genius!

I used one of the push-pops to cut out the cooled cake. 

I had some maraschino cherries on hand and some dulce de leche. 

Then I layered a piece of cut-out cake and either the cherries or the dulce de leche. Next another layer of cake. 

And because it was a birthday celebration, I had sprinkles!

A few days earlier, I had tied ribbon on each push-pop's handle, and I made labels. 

The labels were inspired from the packing of the personalized M&Ms party favors I ordered. 

The "party" banner on the M&Ms was really the starting point for the colors and everything. 

Did I mention they were personalized? 

I created the design for the labels to mirror the party banner of the M&Ms, and I used the birthday guy and girl ages. Pretty stinking cute, I think!

Once, all the push-pops were filled with cake and topped with icing, the centerpiece was really coming together. 

But something was missing. 

The sprinkles!!

One great thing about the push-pops was that each one had a lid. It made transporting the centerpiece to the restaurant that much easier. I think both the birthday girl and the birthday boy were pleased with their treats!

Another great March 15th!