Serves 10
Preparation time:
1 hour
Cooking time:
40 mins
Christmas cake pops
Turn the traditional Christmas fruit cake into the season’s favourite new treat – the Christmas Cake Pop.
Ingredients
50g cocoa powder
200ml boiling hot water
125g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
50g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large Ella Valentine eggs, room temperature
200g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
200g luxury mixed dried fruit
Brandy Buttercream
120g butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp brandy
To Make the Cake Pops
200g blue candy melts
20 lollipop sticks
Equipment
Sticks can be bought from Hobbycraft stores and Lakeland (those are the most commercial places to get them from) online try www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk and amazon.co.uk - candy melts can also be bought from here and Hobbycraft (not sure about Lakeland though)
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 20cm round cake tin.
Stir the hot water with the cocoa until smooth and leave to cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the flour in one go. Then the cooled cocoa powder. Fold in the dried fruit.
Pour the mixture into cake tin, filling halfway and bake for 40 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Brandy Buttercream
Cream the butter, gradually add the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the brandy and continue creaming until fully combined.
To Make the Cake Pops
Once cooled, crumble the cake thoroughly using your hands and add the frosting a spoonful at a time. You will most likely not need all of the frosting, so just add enough to bind the crumbs together and form a pliable mixture. Cover with clingfilm and chill for one hour or until firm.
Remove from the refrigerator and roll 20 equally sized balls from the mixture using your hands. Place each ball on a tray lined with baking paper, cover with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes or until firm.
Place the candy in a microwave safe bowl and melt for 1 minute. Stir and melt for 30 seconds, repeat once more. Keep stirring until blended and smooth.
Dip each lollipop stick about 1cm into the candy and then into the centre of each cake pop about halfway deep. Dip each cake pop one at a time into the candy then decorate with Christmas sugar decorations or sprinkles of your choice. Gently shake out over the bowl to remove the excess. Insert each cake pop into a polystyrene block or cake dummy to dry (about one minute).
