Chocolate cherry cake pops recipe

Chocolate cherry cake pops are small, bitesize chunks of stodgy, gooey, cherry-laced cake enveloped in sweet white chocolate.

They are a great option to serve up at a kids party - or even to have as a dessert option at a grown up drinks party. You can swap half of the melted which chocolate coating for milk or dark chocolate if you prefer, to make a pretty almost monochrome effect. And you can decorate them with whatever you have to had - sprinkles, crushed amaretti biscuits, glitter or swirls of chocolate in a contrasting colour. This recipe makes 20 cake pops and is really in a shade over an hour.

Ingredients

• 425g tin of pitted cherries (sweet) in juice
• 100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 165g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
• 295g caster sugar
• 60ml cherry brandy
• 150g plain flour
• 2 tbsp self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 egg

To decorate:

• 75g of icing sugar
• 100g of unsalted butter
• 50g of cocoa powder
• 250g of melted white chocolate
• 100g of biscotti crumbs (or whatever takes your fancy!)
• Edible silver glitter (optional)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4. Line a square 8" tray with butter and baking paper.
2. Drain the cherries and set the juice to one side. Take 100g of the cherries and 120ml of the juice and liquify in a food processor, until smooth. Cut the remaining cherries in half and set to one side. Discard the remaining juice.
3. Place the chocolate, butter, sugar, brandy and cherry puree into a saucepan. Over a low heat, stir until the chocolate has melted. Pour into a large bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
4. Whisk in sifted flours and cocoa powder, then whisk in the egg. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until firm to touch. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
5. Prepare the coating: In a large bowl, whisk the butter, cocoa and icing sugar into a nice, smooth frosting. In a separate bowl crumble the sponge into very fine crumbs.
6. Rub in the chocolate frosting until you get the consistency of a paste. Using the palms of your hands, roll into little perfect balls and place on a tray. Leave to set in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes.
7. Dip the end of the stick in the melted white chocolate and push halfway through the chilled balls. Now dip the entire ball into the white chocolate. Leave to drip before rolling in the biscotti crumb. Before the chocolate sets completely, drizzle a bit of edible silver glitter onto the ball.

Top tip for making chocolate cherry cake pops

The mixture will look runny before you bake it - but don’t worry. That’s how it’s meant to look!

How can I stop my cake pops falling off their sticks?

The trick is to use the frosting to hold it in place. Dip the stick into the frosting before you push it into the cake pop ball, so the ball has something to grip on to. Then dip the whole thing in the frosting, so that the first dip frosting meets the full dip frosting, and this will help to hold it in place.

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