Cake Pop from Happy Cakes in Denver

Aug 2nd, 2010

After my tour, I went back to Happy Cakes because I just knew that I had to have more of their cupcakes and take pictures for you all. Now, this posed an interesting problem. I had gotten to the Highlands by.. bus. So, picture me wandering around a somewhat run-down (but lovely), historic part of Denver, with two bags of cupcakes, altitude sickness (ie a splitting headache), 90+ degree weather, a large camera bag, and unfamiliar transportation. I briefly considered taking pictures on the sidewalk with some weeds in the background because it’d keep with the character of the area, but I thought I’d look even weirder than I already did.

This sets the stage for why 1) my cupcakes were smooshed and 2) why my light was unusual. You see, I got back to downtown Denver in the late afternoon. There was plenty of light.. in the sky. Unfortunately, it was blocked by all the high-rises. After wandering around, I found a spot of sunlight on the street caused by the sun reflecting off a skyscraper’s windows. It happened to be between some pillars on some bank. The end result? Me nestled into a dubious alcove photographing cupcakes on the street. I’m sure passerbys are still trying to figure out what they saw that day.

Back to the cake. When I saw Happy Cakes had hat was essentially cake on a stick, I had to try it. They put it in this cute little bag all by its lonesome, where I was certain it’d get crushed.

Happy Cakes bag

It’s cute, right? I love rainbow sprinkles.

Cake on a stick

The white coating is white chocolate. For those unfamiliar, cake pops are basically cake crumbles mixed with icing, chilled, then dipped into some hard coating that is usually chocolate. The stick is optional. Pioneer Woman has a nice post about them here, and Bakerella is a good source as well, with more cake pops than you could shake a stick at.

Cake pop from Happy Cakes

As always, I love the rogue pink sugar crystal in the middle. It’s like a stowaway. This is the kind of detail you never notice without photos.

Close up on the sprinkles

You may notice the innards of the cake pop look like cake. There’s no indication of icing. I will also say that I didn’t taste icing per se. It was moist but I guess the flavors meld together when you chill the cake. As a result, this was a nice little treat that wasn’t overly rich. It wasn’t streaked with pockets or veins of icing, though that’d be kind of fun. I enjoyed eating it but can’t remember anything remarkable about it. I really love cake, especially frosting, but I think I prefer them a little more separate so I can experience their flavors individually.

Innards of a cake pop

Unfortunately, my dude was a little top heavy and fell off the stick, so here he is, half-eaten with a crack in him. These are the downsides of taking photos in the street. I’m fond of the lighting in this picture, though; that yellow hue on my hand is the setting sun of Colorado summer. It lends a nice warmth to the picture.