Spooky Halloween Cake Pops

Today is Halloween so there's just time for one more quick spooky recipe. These are great fun to hand out to trick or treaters or to make at home with the children.

First I made some Frankenstein cake pops, which take just moments to make. All you need are some marshmallows, green candy melts (eg Renshaw or Wilton), black writing icing or Dr. Oetker's black gel food colour, some cake pop or lollipop sticks and something to stand your cake pops in - I used a piece of polystyrene.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave following the instructions on the packet. Push a cake pop stick into a marshmallow and dip in the melted candy melt. Stand in the polystyrene or your holder and leave to set- this will only take a few minutes. When set, use the gel colour or writing icing to draw on a jagged mouth, eyes and ears.

The idea for the ghost cake pops came from Dr Oetker, who sent me some of the ingredients needed for the recipe below. You can also use any leftover or shop bought madeira cake crumbled up and mixed with buttercream to make the cake pops.

This Halloween, Dr. Oetker has teamed up with Juliet Sear as part of the Even Better Baking Team to create an exclusive and fun Spooky Ghost Cake Pops recipe. A full video tutorial can be viewed via: http://bit.ly/1vKDMBk

 

SPOOKY GHOST CAKE POPS

Preparation time: 2 hours plus cooling and chilling
Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 10 minutes to melt 2 lots of chocolate

​Ingredients:

For the cake balls:

• 120g Dr. Oetker 72% Cocoa Extra Dark Fine Cooks Chocolate
• 150g soft unsalted butter at room temp
• 200g Light Muscovado Sugar
• 3 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla extract
• 125g Plain Flour

For the cake pops:

• 2 X 100g bags of Dr. Oetker White Chocolate Chips melted for sticking the balls onto the sticks & coating the cake pops
• Teaspoon of vegetable oil

To decorate the ghosts:

• 1 x  pack of Dr. Oetker White Regal Ice
• Icing sugar for rolling out
• Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing for sticking the regal ice to the cake pops
• Dr. Oetker Jet Black Gel Food Colour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1). Grease and line an 18cm (7 inch) square cake tin
2. To make the fudge brownie mix melt the extra dark chocolate in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted,  or in a heat proof bowl on a gentle heat over a bain marie. Leave to cool.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater for approx. 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. If you haven’t got an electric mixer you can do this with a wooden spoon in a bowl .
4. TIP: if you are in a rush or the butter is quite cold, the addition of a couple of tablespoons of boiling water at this stage, beaten on slow until mixed will speed up this process.
5. Add your eggs on a slow speed about a third at a time, mixing until combined.
6. Add your cooled chocolate stirring continuously.  Add the vanilla Extract and stir. On slow speed mix in the flour until just combined. Do not over beat. Alternatively fold in by hand.
7. Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins. Check it with a sharp knife or metal skewer. You want this to be slightly under baked, so the knife should come out pasty, with a nice paste on the knife.
8. Leave to cool, then turn out into a bowl and crumble with your hands to fine fudgy crumb.
9. To make the cake balls, take a handful of fudge cake mix and squeeze together tightly - you are aiming for little balls about the size of a large walnut, approx. 30g each. If the mixture is dry, the addition of a little chocolate or vanilla butter cream will help the mixture stick
10. Once you have all of your balls ready, dip the end of your stick into the melted chocolate chips  and push the stick into each ball, about half way in. Hold the ball to stop it splitting open when the stick goes in
11. Once all the cake pops are ready, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before dipping them, or pop into the freezer for 30 mins, so the balls are firm enough to hold when dipping in the coating
12. To coat the cake pops melt Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate on low power in a microwave bowl until just melted -  stirring occasionally or over a bain marie on a gentle heat
13. Plunge each cake pop into the chocolate coating until completely covered. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Once all are covered, dip each cake pop again
14. To decorate the ghosts roll out half the white regal icing into a large rectangle using plenty of icing sugar and a large plastic rolling pin. Roll fairly thinly – 2 to 3mm thick. Squeeze a little Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing onto the tops of the cake pops or brush with some melted white chocolate, to aid sticking of the sugar paste
15. Using a cake cutter or small bowl, cut out circles of regal icing and place on each of the pops, smoothing down with your fingers to create the white sheet effect. Allow a little wavy movement by using your fingers to create smooth waves.

I stood my cake pops inside a pumpkin for a particularly spooky Halloween effect!

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Dr. Oetker for providing me with some of the ingredients to make the ghost cake pops.