Hot Cross Bun Cake Pops for Easter

Ok so I've been having a little bit of trouble getting into the Easter decorating groove.

I love a cute bunny cookie as much as the next person, but honestly there are so many really great ones already out there I just don't think I can add anything amazingly inspirational just at the moment.

So instead I'm going with super yummy.

These were supposed to be a lightly spiced cake ball based on the Hot Cross Muffin recipe of mine published HERE in the March 2011 Peekaboo magazine.


Instead they ended up being chocolate cake. I decorated a cake for my niece's 7th birthday on the weekend and carved a bit off to make a bag shape, and we all know that cake pops are the perfect way to use up all that excess cake and frosting.


Here is a quick peek of the cake I made for my niece. The instructions to make this cake is from 50 Easy Party Cakes by Debbie Brown. If you'd like to win the cookbook so you can make your very own make up bag cake like this one CLICK HERE as I have a competition running until the 14th of April 2011 to win 2 cookbooks.

Oh and here is my token bunny.....but he's not edible, my daughter stuck him on while I was taking the pictures and I kinda though it was cute.


Instructions after jump


Instructions

The ingredients for this are pretty flexible. Cakes are all different textures so if for example you were to use a mud cake you would barely need any frosting at all (if any). Use your judgment as you would for all cooking, crumble up the cake and then add frosting until the cake holds together well but make sure it is not too moist or it will not hold up well.

Ingredients
1 chocolate cake
1/2 to 1 cup frosting or butter cream
1 packet chocolate melts *
40 - 80g copha
Royal icing (I mixed up a small amount of premix royal icing, alternatively you could just use a little icing sugar mixed with water to a pretty stiff consistency)
Pop Sticks 6 "
Small zip lock bag for icing

Crumble cake into a large bowl and then add enough frosting or buttercream until the mixture comes together well and holds when you squeeze it in your hand. Shape some of the mixture a little larger than the size of a ping pong ball with a squarish bottom and rounded top.

Place shapes onto a tray covered with parchment paper and pop in the fridge.

Melt the chocolate with enough copha to make the chocolate smooth. If the chocolate is too thick the cake balls will not dip well. I shave bits of copha into a pyrex bowl with the chocolate and melt in the microwave on med-low on burst of 60 seconds, taking out and stirring in between each burst.

Dip the ends of the pop sticks into the chocolate and insert into the bottom of the cake truffle shapes. Lie them back onto the parchment paper sideways. Repeat for the remaining cake truffles and return to fridge to chill to set the sticks and ensure the cake truffle will be secure for the dipping process.

If necessary reheat the chocolate gently.

Dip each cake truffle into the chocolate, tap gently to remove excess chocolate and hold on an angle over the bowl until the chocolate stops dripping. You can then stick the pops into a styrofoam square to set completely.

Once all the pops are dipped and dry you can add the cross. Pop the royal icing or icing sugar mixture in a ziplock bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner and gently squeeze a cross. You might like to practice one or two on the bench before you try on the pops.

Allow the cross to set and enjoy.

Different quality and brands of chocolate or melts will require different amounts of copha. Chocolate Melts or Candy is preferable to high quality chocolate when making pops. It sets quicker which means that there is less time tapping holding and waiting for the pop to dry and it sets into a harder shell which means the pop is more stable and does not smudge/mark as easily.