Christmas cake pops recipe

These festive Christmas cake pops are packed full of dried fruit and spiked with a dose of Brandy butter.

Perfect for parties, these Christmas cake pops have all the flavour of a classic Christmas cake recipe without any of the faff. We’ve gone for a snowy theme, but the decorating options are endless. Try experimenting with red and green pops instead. Sprinkle with edible glitter, or half dip them in white chocolate and top holly decorations to resemble mini Christmas puddings.

Ingredients

• 50g cocoa powder
• 200ml boiling hot water
• 125g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 200g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 200g luxury mixed dried fruit

For the brandy buttercream:

• 120g butter, softened
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp brandy

For the cake pops:

• 200g blue candy melts
• 20 lollipop sticks

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and lightly flour a 20cm round cake tin. Stir the hot water with the cocoa until smooth and leave to cool.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add the flour in one go. Then the cooled cocoa powder. Fold in the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into cake tin, filling halfway and bake for 40 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the brandy butter: Cream the butter, gradually add the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the brandy and continue creaming until fully combined.
5. For the cake pops: Once cooled, crumble the cake thoroughly using your hands and add the frosting a spoonful at a time. You will most likely not need all of the frosting, so just add enough to bind the crumbs together and form a pliable mixture. Cover with clingfilm and chill for one hour or until firm.
6. Remove from the refrigerator and roll 20 equally sized balls from the mixture using your hands. Place each ball on a tray lined with baking paper, cover with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes or until firm.
7. Place the candy in a microwave-safe bowl and melt for 1 minute. Stir and melt for 30 seconds, repeat once more. Keep stirring until blended and smooth.
8. Dip each lollipop stick about 1cm into the candy and then into the centre of each cake pop about halfway deep. Dip each cake pop one at a time into the candy then decorate with Christmas sugar decorations or sprinkles of your choice.
9. Gently shake out over the bowl to remove the excess. Insert each cake pop into a polystyrene block or cake dummy to dry (about one minute).

Top tips for making Christmas cake pops

Get your candy melts and lollipop sticks from your nearest Hobbycraft store. Use an upturned colander to allow the coating on your cake pops to dry and the decorations to set. Simply poke the stick of the freshly decorated cake pop through a colander hole and allow to set fully.

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