Oh these creative people…where do they come from?  You know who I’m talking about.  The people who see something on Tee Vee or in a magazine and say “I can do that.”  They research, experiment, and deliver.  Some call it a “spirit of invention.”

In my hometown, we call it “Moxie” and Dawn Hartill has it.  When she moved to Maine from upstate New York in 1997, everyone told her she had to try Moxie.  After almost twenty years here, she’s the one explaining Moxie to folks “from away.”  She’s not a big Moxie drinker, but she enjoys cooking with it and says “it pairs really well with chocolate in dessert recipes.”

She has a busy life.  Cooking and baking since she was 9 year’s old, she’s married with three teenage boys and she works full-time as a Regulatory Compliance Manager at a bank.  With four men in the house, she says “basically, I am ALWAYS cooking.”

Last year, she entered two recipes in the Moxie Recipe Contest.  One was for Moxie BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and the other was for Moxie Cake Pops.  Little pieces of frosted cake on a stick.  I can’t even fathom how to put cake on a stick, but Dawn did.

Moxie Cake Pops

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 12 oz. can of Moxie
½ can of chocolate frosting
12 oz. bag of Wilton Light Cocoa Candy Melts
Cake pop sticks
Orange jimmies

Mix cake mix with Moxie soda, mix until there are no lumps in the batter, and bake in a 9 x 13 inch cake pan lined with parchment paper for approximately 35 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely.

When the cake is cool, crumble it into a large bowl.  Add frosting and mix with your hands until it can hold a ball shape.  Roll the cake and frosting into a tight ball and place on a plate.  Repeat until all the cake mixture has been used.

Melt 2 – 4 ounces of candy melts in the microwave.  Dip the tip of the cake pop sticks into the chocolate and insert into the cake balls, approximately halfway through.

Freeze for 20 minutes.

Melt the remaining chocolate in a large cup in the microwave.

Remove cake balls from the freezer and dip carefully into the chocolate until covered.

Let the excess chocolate drip off; swirl and tap gently if needed.  Add the jimmies before the chocolate sets.

Once the chocolate sets, store in an airtight container.

Wow…I made a necklace out of watermelon seeds once, but this creation is nothing I would have ever attempted.  You’ve just got to love these people with Moxie!

What will Dawn Hartill do this year? Stay tuned.

The Moxie Recipe Contest will be held on Friday evening, July 11, 2014, at Chummy’s Restaurant in Lisbon Falls, Maine.  The judging begins at 5:00 p.m.