Spring and St. Patrick’s Day Cake Pops and Cupcakes, #Pejoy

The gift of a giant box of Matcha Green Tea Pejoy was delivered to the Ninja Baker from Glico. (Glico is the manufacturer of Pejoy, Pocky, Pretz and other scrumptious Japanese snacks.) While I am grateful for this generous present, all opinions are my own and I was not monetarily compensated for this post.

A cap of white chocolate and matcha Pejoy crumbles
atop the Ninja Baker's lemon cake pop.

St. Patrick shooed away snakes from The Emerald Isle of Ireland. You, too, can banish pesky pests (problems, worries.) The solution is simple. Say yes to a Pejoy spring fling! What is Pejoy? Japanese Pocky’s cousin. Instead of cream-coated biscuit sticks, the slim Pejoy cookie sticks contain (green tea) matcha or chocolate cream inside. (In Japan, a myriad of varieties of Pejoy and Pocky are sold.)

Matcha Green Tea Pejoy sprinkles atop a lemony St. Patrick's cupcake.

In between nibbles of a green tea matcha cream filled Pejoy, I contemplated making cake pops and cupcakes; suitable celebration fare for St. Patrick’s Day, spring and the not-so-surprising but still romantic results of The Bachelor. (Did you watch the ABC TV reality show? Were you shocked to see Chris Soules wave bye-bye to Becca?)

Ninja Note: Jordan almonds are a splendid anchor for flailing cake pops!

Allowing myself the pleasures of fluffy TV shows like The Bachelor, basking in the California sun with bike rides on the beach and strolls on Montana Avenue (Santa Monica’s Rodeo Drive) are but a few of the activities I’m aiming to include on a daily basis. At the moment, the courage and goodness of St. Patrick and other saints eludes me. Still, I can add sunshine to my corner of the world. If I’m smiling - doing things that make me happy - I’m more capable of presenting my heart to people. (Instead of snarkiness and skepticism.) What are 3 things you do or can do to brighten your day?...P.s. Making Matcha Green Tea Pejoy and white chocolate garnished lemon cake pops or cupcakes counts!

5-Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cake

5-Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cake is super-easy to make and serves as the perfect batter for fluffy cake pops and cupcakes. 5-Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cake is also semi-healthy: Greek yogurt and a Stevia blend sugar are swirled in with cake mix. Lovely for an afternoon tea, baby shower or it's-a-Monday treat!

Adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe.

Ingredients:

5-Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cake:

1 box lemon cake mix
1 container (5.3 ounces) Greek lemon yogurt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon ½ Stevia – ½ sugar crystals
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Garnish:

1 package (12 ounces) White Chocolate Melting Wafers
Green food coloring – suitable for candy making
2 packages (1.98 ounces each) Pejoy Matcha Green Tea Cream Filled Biscuit Sticks

Directions:

For 5-Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cake: In the bowl of a kitchen stand mixer, combine all the ingredients. When the batter is smooth, make cake pops or cupcakes as directed below. You can also bake the batter in a loaf pan for 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven. (Use a toothpick to ascertain if the middle is completely cooked. If not, continue to bake in 5 minute increments.)

For cake pops: Spray or rub cake pop tins with coconut oil. Fill the cake pop wells half full. Bake for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean) at 350 degrees.

For cupcakes: Scoop the batter with an ice cream scooper into muffin tins lined with cupcake cases. Bake for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean) at 350 degrees.

For both the cake pops and cupcakes: Crumble the Pejoy in a food processor or with a rolling pin. Melt the chocolate wafers over a double boiler (or as directed on the package.) Add candy making friendly green food coloring to the white chocolate. Dip the cake pops / cupcakes into the melted chocolate. Sprinkle with Matcha Green Tea Pejoy.

Wishing you a St. Patrick's Day and spring which bursts and blooms with happiness!

The Ninja Baker

The Ninja Baker has guest blogged and contributed recipes to numerous food sites. These additional recipes can be found here.

Tags:

#Japanese #Pejoy #Pocky #chocolate #lemon #cakepops #cupcakes