How to Make: Cake Pops

How to Make: Cake Pops

First of all, we must kick off this little blog by saying that we hope you are staying well and healthy in this crazy little world we find ourselves in at the moment. 
Like many parents who have the kiddies now at home full-time. We’re trying our hardest to come up with fun ways to keep the kids occupied and, hopefully, learning at the same time.
Baking is a great activity to get the whole family involved, teach the little ones some life skills and more importantly, top up the household supply of cake. So, we’re sharing this lovely little recipe for cake pops which look and taste amazing and are surprisingly easy to make.

What you’ll need:

For the cake….

    100g caster sugar 
    100g butter
    100g self-raising flour
    2 eggs 
    ½ tsp vanilla extract

      For the buttercream icing...

      75g butter
      1 tbsp milk
      150g icing sugar
      ½ tsp vanilla extract
      100g of milk or white chocolate - maybe even half of each!
      Sprinkles or any other fun decorations

      Also...

      Cake pop sticks
      Mini cupcake cases (optional)

      Let’s get started!

      1. First of all, let’s make the cake for our cake pops. Preheat the oven to 190°c then grease and line your baking tin.
      2. Grab your mixing bowl and add the butter, sugar and vanilla and mix until thick and well mixed with no butter lumps.
      3. Beat the 2 eggs into the mixture slowly then fold the flour in bit by bit. Once all of the flour is in, give everything a good stir then pour the cake mix into your baking tin and cook for around 20 minutes. 
      Note: Your cake will be ready once it has risen with a nice golden brown top. Use the knife test to pierce the centre of the sponge and check the knife for any excess moisture that may not be quite cooked yet. 
      Once ready, take your cake out of the oven and set aside to cool.
      4. Now it’s time to make the buttercream icing! Pop the butter and icing sugar into a large bowl and beat together until the mix is nice and smooth. Top up with the milk and vanilla extract then continue mixing. 
      5. Before we carry on with step number 6, make sure to give those hands an extra thorough wash with warm water and soap as we’re going to be getting stuck right in! Check up on your cake and once you're sure it’s cooled down enough to handle then break up the sponge into large crumb chunks...let’s call them ‘sponge-lets’! Place the ‘sponge-lets’ into the buttercream mix and gently mix together.
      6. Get those super clean hands at the ready once again! Scoop out small handfuls of the mixture and roll in your hands into a round ball shape. Continue until the mix is finished. The golden rule of cake is the more, the merrier!
      7. Line a plate or tray with non-stick paper to line your cake on and pierce each one with a cake pop stick before placing in the fridge to cool for roughly an hour.
       
      8. Just before the hour is almost up, break your chocolate up into small pieces and melt either over a pot of hot water in the oven or in the microwave. Continue to stir until smooth then take off the heat and place your melted chocolate next to the bowl of sprinkles. 
      9. Now for the fun bit! Take your cake pops out of the fridge and individually dip into the chocolate making sure they are completely covered then dip straight into the sprinkles. Repeat with all cake pops. Place them into a mug or tall standing bowl to set either at room temperature or in the fridge to speed things up.
      10. Cake pops look super cute and there are lots of creative ways to serve them! We think they look adorable placed into mini cupcake cases or arranged in a mason jar like a bunch of flowers. Who wouldn’t love a bouquet of cake!
      If you have a go at making these cake pops then make sure to send us a picture of your tasty creations and remember to save one for us!
      Quince & Cook x