Easter egg cake pops!

Happy Easter everyone! I'm currently out of Hong Kong for the school holidays and a little sad to be away from my Thermomix (sick I know), but it's lovely to be enjoying some quality family time in my homeland of Australia. I'm a little late with this entry which I created for a get together for my big girl and her baby group a week ago now. These are my first attempt at real cake pops and I'm pleased to say that they were a huge hit! 

I decided to go with an Easter theme, owing to the time of year, and naively thought that my egg idea was an original one . . . of course no idea is original these days! Just Google it and you can be sure that someone has thought of it before you :)  Of course, you could always make the traditional ball-shape cake pops with this recipe, for anytime of the year. 

I used my Nanna's faithful vanilla cupcake recipe for the cake crumbs which I have converted for the Thermomix. Nan always made butterfly cakes (also known as fairy cakes), with this recipe which were a big favourite of her grandchildren growing up. Her recipe works well for cake pops because it is not overly sweet like so many cake recipes. There certainly is enough sweetness in this recipe coming from the buttercream used to combine the cake crumbs and of course the white chocolate covering. 

This is also my favourite buttercream recipe at the moment. Something I have developed after playing with a few different recipes, and adapted for the Thermomix. I have made it several times now with great success. The meringue powder is a recent recommendation from a friend, it helps to stabilise the buttercream. Using a Thermomix you achieve a light and fluffy result in a fraction of the time you would normally need to spend beating the mixture using a traditional mixer. If you like to decorate cupcakes with buttercream, this recipe is just perfect! 

Easter egg cake pops 
makes 14

Directions for making the cake pops . . 

You will need:

500g Nanna's vanilla cupcakes (recipe below)

100g Light & fluffy vanilla buttercream (recipe below)

350g white chocolate melts

14 lollypop sticks (or use paddle pop sticks or bamboo skewers)

a thick slab of styrofoam to hold your cake pops

1. Line a baking with a sheet of wax or baking paper.
2. Break cooled cupcakes into pieces and add to the TM bowl (my daughters love to help with this). Crumb on speed 4 for 20-30 seconds or until the cake resembles breadcrumbs. 
3. Add 100g freshly made buttercream (see recipe above). Combine for 10-20 seconds on reverse speed 4. Test a small amount between your thumb and finger, it should be fudgy and hold together well. 
4. Squidge a tablespoon (20ml size) against the side of the TM bowl. Remove the cake mixture from the spoon and shape and roll into an egg shape. Carefully place the egg shapes onto the prepared tray.
5. Melt 20g white choc melts in a small microwave safe bowl on MEDIUM for about 30 seconds. 
6. Dip the tip of lollypop sticks in a little of the melted chocolate and insert into the cake pop eggs (insert less than half way). Place the tray in the fridge for at least 5 minutes to set the sticks and firm up the cake balls. 
7. Melt half of the remaining chocolate melts in the microwave on MEDIUM. Always remove the chocolate from the microwave and check at 30 second intervals. Do not wait for the chocolate to melt completely. Stir well until smooth. 
8. Carefully dip firm cake pops into the melted white chocolate by holding the lollypop stick and rotating until completely covered, then remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate drips off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off too :( 
9. Place your coated Easter egg cake pops in the styrofoam block and allow to dry. 
10. Decorate to your liking using a toothpick and melted chocolate as an adhesive for sprinkles and coloured sugar. I tried to use edible pens but they didn't write well on the chocolate. 

Nanna's vanilla cupcakes
makes 12 

ingredients
120g butter
120g raw caster sugar
240g self-raising flour
2 eggs
120g milk (I like to use buttermilk)
1 tsp vanilla essence

method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 12-hole muffin pan or line with patty cases. 
2. Chop butter into chunks and add to the TM bowl with the eggs and buttermilk. Beat for 1 minute at 37°C on speed 4.
3. Add the caster sugar and SR flour to the TM bowl. Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds, scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix for a further 5 seconds or until just combined.
4. Spoon into the muffin holes, filling almost to the top edge.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done when tested with a skewer.
6. Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Light & fluffy thermomix buttercream

This recipe is half quantity of what I usually make to ice about 2 dozen cupcakes. The buttercream will keep well stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month. Simply bring to room temperature and re-whip for a couple of minutes in the Thermomix to use.

ingredients 

240g butter, softened, cut into cubes

1 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups icing sugar, (TM made preferably)

method

1. Add cubed butter to the TM bowl and chop on speed 5 for 10 seconds.
2. Add vanilla paste plus the icing sugar one cup at a time, mixing at speed 4-5 until well combined after each addition. Scrape down sides of the TM bowl if necessary. If your icing sugar is a little lumpy you may need to mix for up to 2 minutes. There is no need to sieve when you have a Thermomix! The buttercream should be very smooth, light and fluffy. . . almost velvety :)