Cake balls | NancyC

I think cake pops are cute and fun, so I was looking forward to reviewing this new cookbook, 175 Best Babycakes® Cake Pops Recipes (softcover) by Kathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss. Moore and Wyss are expert food consultants who develop recipes and test products like the Babycakes® Cake Pop Maker, which is designed to make cake pop-making quick and easy. The recipes in this book were especially created to be used with this cake pop maker, and there are all kinds of fun flavors you can make! The cake pops featured on the cover give you an idea of the many ways you can decorate cake pops. There are more ideas and some colorful photos inside to inspire you, too, along with helpful cake pop-making and decorating instructions. This book shows you how to do basic and not-so-basic things like coating the cake pops, decorating with sprinkles, adding decorative swirls and spirals, triple-dipping or marbleizing the pops, and making simple faces. Some of the yummy-sounding recipes include Caramel Cake Pops, Cream-Filled Chocolate Cake Pops, Chocolate Truffle Cake Pops, Root Beer Cake Pops, Almond Cream Cake Pops, and Classic Red Velvet Cake Pops.

The Babycakes® Cake Pop Maker not only makes cake pops–you can also bake doughnuts (or what many of us call donut holes), mini Ebelskivers, and cute little round biscuit and muffin bites! These would be great for brunch, showers, or parties. There are even recipes for savory nibbles you can serve as appetizers. So you can make lots of yummy things with this handy appliance!

If you’re not familiar with the Babycakes® Cake Pop Maker, here’s what it looks like…

It bakes 12 cake pops at a time in just 4 to 6 minutes, so it would be especially great for using in the summer months–you wouldn’t have to use your oven and heat up the kitchen. I don’t have this cake pop maker myself yet, but looking at all these recipes and ideas makes me want to try it out! If I had a cake pop maker, I’d probably try the Chocolate Malt Cake Pops first. So I thought I’d share that recipe with you. If you don’t have a cake pop maker, you might be able to make cupcakes with this recipe…I don’t know that for sure, but I don’t see why you couldn’t!

CHOCOLATE MALT CAKE POPS from 175 Best Babycakes® Cake Pop Recipes

Makes 26 to 28 cake pops

2/3 cup (150 mL) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (60 mL) chocolate malted milk powder

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking soda

Pinch of salt

3 ounces (90 g) semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup (75 mL) unsalted butter

1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons (30 mL) granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons (30 mL) sour cream

2 Tablespoons (30 mL) milk

1/4 cup (60 mL) finely chopped chocolate malt candies

Nonstick baking spray

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, chocolate malted milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Place semisweet chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe glass bowl. Microwave on High in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted. Set aside to cool for 2 minutes.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat brown sugar and granulated sugar into melted chocolate mixture. Add egg and beat well. Add egg yolk and beat well. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture. Beat in sour cream, then another one-third of the flour mixture, then milk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture. Stir in chopped candies.

Spray cake pop wells with nonstick baking spray. Fill each well with about 1 Tablespoon (15 mL) batter. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer cake pops to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining batter.

If desired, attach sticks to cake pops.

TO DECORATE: Dip cake pops in melted chocolate candy melts, then immediately sprinkle with additional finely chopped chocolate malt candies. If not attaching sticks to cake pops, use the fork tool (or fork) to dip the cake pops, then place them on a wire rack over a sheet of foil or waxed paper to set.

Excerpted from 175 Best Cake Pops Recipes by Kathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss © 2012 Robert Rose Inc.www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Have you made cake pops before? What’s your favorite flavor?

If you like making fun and creative treats, you’ll have to check out the new book Sugarlicious: 50 Cute and Clever Treats for Every Occasion (softcover). I’m excited to tell you that I have a copy of this book to give away, too! I’ll let you know how you can enter the drawing to win the book at the end of this post. But first, I’ll tell you a little more about Sugarlicious and share a cute recipe from it called Little Lamb Cake Balls.

Author and professional cookie decorator Meaghan Mountford (she also has a blog called The Decorated Cookie) includes 50 easy-to-follow recipes for any party or occasion in her book, which is also filled with colorful photos and illustrated step-by-step directions (all photos shown in this post are from Sugarlicious). Some of the fun treats you can make include Milkshake Cake Pops, Pink Princess Cupcakes, Sprinkle Marshmallow Pops, and these cute Barnyard Animal Snack Cakes…

There are some fun Easter treats I found in Sugarlicious, too–Bunny Cookie Pops and Easter Egg Painted Cookies…

And I thought these Little Lamb Cake Balls were perfect for Easter, too…

Here’s the recipe if you want to try them out!

LITTLE LAMB CAKE BALLS (from Sugarlicious)

Makes 48 to 60 cake balls

Cake Balls*

black edible writer

Jordan almonds

shredded coconut

white candy melts**

mini pretzel sticks

wax paper

Follow the recipe for cake balls (see below) to bake your cake, prepare your cake balls and chill.

Make 2 black dots for eyes with the edible writer on the Jordan almonds and set aside.

Pour coconut on a plate and set aside. Melt candy melts according to the instructions. For each lamb, break 2 pretzel sticks in half so each pretzel piece is about 1 3/4 inches long. Dip the ends of the 4 pretzel pieces in the melted candy melts; then insert them into the base of a chilled cake ball. For best results, return the cake ball to the freezer for 5 minutes to help set. Holding 2 of the pretzel legs, dip the cake ball in the melts and immediately roll in coconut. Stand the cake ball on the pretzel legs on a piece of wax paper.

Use a dab of melted candy melts to adhere the Jordan almond head to the lamb. Let dry.

*To make cake balls, bake a 9×13″ sheet cake using the recipe from Sugarlicious on page 25, your favorite recipe, or a box of store-bought cake mix. Let the cake cool completely and crumble into a large bowl. Stir in 1 1/3 cups of buttercream frosting or use 3/4 of a container of store-bought frosting and mix well, pressing the cake and frosting together with the back of a spoon or, preferably, mixing them with your hands until you have a texture that is wet, smooth and able to be formed.

Between the palms of your hands, roll the mixture into balls 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them on a baking tray lined with wax paper. Freeze for fifteen minutes, no longer. Move the tray of cake balls to the refrigerator to keep them firm but not frozen. Work with a few cake balls at a time, while keeping the remainder in the fridge.

**For helpful tips and instructions on melting chocolate and candy melts, see the Techniques section in Sugarlicious on page 34).

NOTE: Store-bought cake mix will make about 48 cake pops; the recipe in Sugarlicious makes about 60; amounts for other recipes may vary.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED–Winner is Ann W, comment #13!

THE GIVEAWAY!

Here’s how you can enter to win a copy of Sugarlicious:

First entry: Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite Easter treat.

Bonus entries: Leave an additional comment telling me you are a new Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest follower, or new subscriber. If you’re already subscribing or following, leave a comment telling me you’re already following and how. If you want to follow more than one way, you can leave a comment for each way you are following.

Be sure to leave all your comment entries on this post–the random drawing winner will be chosen only from the comments on this post!

The giveaway is open to residents of the continental U.S. and Canada. The giveaway will end on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at midnight (CST). Winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org and announced the following evening.

Linked to Sweets for a Saturday.