It’s almost Mother’s Day here in the UK, and to celebrate I am bringing you some beautiful gold cake pops, filled with a soft chocolate cakey centre. These chocolate cake pops are pretty and easy to make, in any colour you choose!
You are going to love these little pops, because they are a great way to use up leftover chocolate cake or cupcakes, like the chocolate cupcakes I shared with you all on Monday. The chocolate cake is crumbled up, and then a tiny bit of chocolate frosting is added to create a sort of cakey playdough.
Top pop tip #1 – You are going to want to be sparing with the frosting. The worst thing you can do is add too much of it to the mixture, as this will result in a soggy cake pop. And that’s not something anybody would ever want. It’s definitely best to start off with a little bit, and then you can always add more if the balls aren’t coming together. I feel like there’s an innuendo in there somewhere.
If you don’t have any leftover cake (and that’s totally something I can relate to) then you can go ahead and bake some of these cupcakes to use. I found that for every one of the cupcakes I crumbled up, it would make about two fairly large pops.
Pop tip #2 – The cake balls will be much easier to deal with if the balls of cake are popped (see what I did there?) in the freezer for ten minutes or so, to harden up a bit. This will make the process of sticking and dipping them a hell of a lot easier.
I used these cake pop sticks which I bought this time last year to use for some Easter cake pops, and they’ve been cluttering up my baking shelves ever since. You are going to want to make sure that the sticks are a decent length, because otherwise your pops are going to a) topple over, and b) look a bit silly.
As you can tell from the picture above, my gold covering isn’t perfect. But I don’t think this really matters – it’s the antique look.
These chocolate cake pops were dipped into a mug of melted white chocolate, before being painted with an edible gold paint. But you could dip yours in milk or dark chocolate, or even some candy melts to make them extra colourful. Chocolate tastes the best though, of course.
Pop tip #3 – You will definitely want to make sure you have melted enough chocolate, and that it is in a mug or other tall and thin container. This will make dipping the pops a lot easier than if you used a bowl or something shallow.
To dip the chocolate cake pops, you are first going to insert the stick into the hardened ball. Make sure you dip the end of the stick in some of the melted chocolate first, as this will then harden and act as a glue to keep the ball secured on the stick. You really don’t want to miss this step, or rush and dip the pop before the chocolate has fully set, otherwise your ball will fall off 🙁
Pop tip #4 – If you are using melted chocolate to dip your balls into, then it can sometimes be a little too thick for easy dipping. If this is the case, you can add a teaspoon or so of vegetable or sunflower oil to help things loosen up a bit. Don’t add too much, or you will end up with a greasy mixture. Just add as little as you can to help things along.
The actual dipping process can be a bit of a learning curve. Your first few cake pops will look a bit of a mess. Be prepared for that. But once you have perfected the combination of dipping, tapping, and turning, you will be a cake pop pro.
I used this cake pop dipping tutorial video from My Cupcake Addiction to learn how to get the cake pops looking half-decent, and I suggest you do the same if you are a cake pop novice. It also explains how to get the metallic cake pop look, using some golden dust and alcohol (you can’t taste the booze – it evaporates).
Please let me know if you have any cake pop tips in the comments below for my next attempt. I would be very grateful 🙂
That’s enough of my ramblings – time for the actual recipe.
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- 110g (1½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
- 210g (1 and 2/3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 40ml (2 tablespoons) milk
- 6 chocolate cupcakes (see post above for link to recipe)
- 2 tablespoons chocolate buttercream frosting (see above)
- 200g (7oz) chocolate for dipping (I used Lindt white)
- 12 cake pop sticks (I used 15cm sticks)
- 2 teaspoons vegetable or sunflower oil (optional)
- Polystyrene block
- Decoration (I used edible gold paint)
- Cream the butter with a hand or stand mixer until it is pale and creamy, and no lumps remain.
- Add the cocoa, icing sugar, and milk to the butter, and mix well until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again. Set aside.
- Crumble up the chocolate cupcakes into a bowl, making sure any lumps have been broken up. I found this was easy to do by hand, but a food processor would also work well.
- Add two tablespoons of the chocolate frosting to the crumb mixture, and mix well until the mixture forms a dough. This may involve getting your hands in the bowl.
- Form the cake mixture into balls (smaller than a golf ball) and place on a lined baking tray. Put the baking tray into the freezer to harden up the balls.
- After 20 minutes, remove the balls from the freezer. Melt the chocolate, either in a microwave or over a pan of boiling water. If using the microwave, make sure to stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning the chocolate. Pour the chocolate into a mug or other tall and thin container ready for dipping.
- Dip the end of the cake pop sticks into the melted chocolate (about 2cm) and insert into the cake pop balls. Hold the other side of the cake ball with your hand, or place on the table, to avoid the stick damaging the other side of the ball when you press it in. Ensure the stick is as far in to the ball as possible, without coming out the other side, to help it stay in place when dipping. Leave the chocolate to set.
- Give the melted chocolate a good stir, or pop back in the microwave for ten seconds, to ensure it is as runny as possible. If necessary, add one or two teaspoons of vegetable or sunflower oil to make the chocolate runnier. Dip the cake pops into the melted chocolate one at a time, making sure to tap off the excess chocolate whilst turning the stick to create a smoother finish. Press the cake pop sticks into the polystyrene block and leave to set. If necessary dip the cake pops in the chocolate a second time once they have set.
- Decorate with edible paint, icing, candy melts, or leave just as they are.
- The cake pops will keep for about a week if stored in a cool dry place. They do not necessarily need to be stored in an air-tight container, as the chocolate will protect the cake inside. Do not refrigerate, as this will cause condensation to form. The undipped cake balls can be frozen for 2-3 months. Defrost at room temperature and then dip in chocolate the same day.
