Toffee apple cake pops recipe

These cute toffee apple pops from Royal Wedding cake maker Fiona Cairns are a modern twist on the classic Halloween treat. Surely because they're smaller it means we can have more than one?

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for the tin
• 300g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 3 dessert apples
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 100ml whole milk
• 30 lollipop sticks
• Hundreds and thousands

For the buttercream

:

• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 225g icing sugar, sifted

For the toffee covering

:

• 160g white caster sugar
• 200ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F/Gas Mark 3½. Butter a 23cm square cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir in the sugar.
2. Peel, core and finely grate the apples. A lot of excess juice may come from the apples; it is very important to squeeze this out using a tea towel, or you will have a soggy cake! To stop the apple from browning, squeeze over a little lemon juice and combine.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and mix in the grated apples, eggs, melted butter and milk. Stir until just combined, but do not over-mix. Tip into the tin and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a skewer emerges clean. Stand the tin on a wire rack for a few minutes, then turn out, remove the papers and cool completely.
4. To make the buttercream, in an electric mixer or in a bowl using a hand-held whisk, beat the butter until really pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and beat for at least five minutes more.
5. To make the pops, crumble the cake into a large bowl, removing any crusty bits. Mix in enough buttercream to hold the crumbs together. You may not need all the buttercream, but this is the quantity I used. Roll the mixture into about 30 balls. Place the balls on a tray lined with baking parchment and chill for several hours, or overnight.
6. Meanwhile, make the toffee covering. Place the sugar and 60ml water in a small, scrupulously clean, heavy-based pan over a gentle heat. Ensure all the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat and bring to a boil. Watch all the time until it turns a beautiful golden caramel colour and thickens. Remove from the heat, stand back and add the cream and vanilla. It will splutter and seize, but keep stirring until you have a smooth shiny caramel.
7. Allow to cool for a minute or two. Place each lollypop stick into the caramel, then insert into each cake and dip into the caramel, covering it completely. Place on a tray and return to the fridge to set. Re-shape the pop if it’s cracked slightly. When ready to serve, roll each in a tray of hundreds and thousands to cover.