Crazy for Cake pops!

Over the past few years, cake pops seem to have taken the dessert world by storm, making an appearance at all kinds of events from birthday parties and baptisms to baby showers, wedding showers and even wedding dessert buffets.

What I love about this recipe is that it is a great way to transform scraps and off cuts from even the most humble of sponge cakes and turn them. Into a dessert that’s worthy of even the most sophisticated of dessert tables!

For this recipe, you will need: 

Ingredients:

400g of cake of your choice (I used this recipe baked in a cake pan)

600 g ganache

1 pound of quality candy melts

Soft gel food colour in colour of your choice

Flo coat

Equipment:

24 cake pop straws

2 Stainless steel mixing bowls 

Silicone spatula

Large spoon for mixing

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 

Mini cupcake liners for presentation 

Yield: 24 cake pops

Shaping the Cake pops:

• In a large mixing bowl, break the sponge down into crumbs. Add the ganache to the cake crumbs, one spoon at a time and mix to combine, adding more ganache if needed so that the crumbs stick together to form a smooth dough thats similar to the consistency of cookie dough. 
• Using a small ice cream scoop, spoon the mixture into your hands and shape them into 24 equal sized balls. 
• Place the prepared cake balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and allow them to chill for about 30 minutes. 

Assembling the cake pops:

• Place the candy melts into a stainless steel prep bowl and place over a double boiler on low to medium heat. Allow coating to melt, stirring the mixture so that it melts evenly. 
• If colouring, stir in a teaspoon of Flo coat and then add a few drops of soft gel food colour. Stir to incorporate the colour.
• Turn off the heat and remove the bowl of melted chocolate carefully so that no steam or water gets into the bowl, set aside to cool.
• Once the candy melt mixture is cool, dip the end of a cake pop stick into the melts and then insert into a cake ball. Place on cookie sheet for a few minutes to set, while you prepare the sticks for the remaining cake pops. 
• Once the chocolate has set, and the sticks are firmly adhered to the cake pops, dip the cake pops into the melted chocolate and coat evenly, tapping the stick of the coated cake pop gently against the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate coating. 
• Set the coated cake pops in a styrofoam block for a few minutes, add embellishments such as disco dust, chocolate streaks or non pariels if using and set aside for 30 minutes or so for the candy coating to set.
• Wrap in cello bags for favours or coordinate your cake pops with a larger cake or cup cakes for a delightful dessert table set up!