Fruit Cake Pops for the Season

The day started with measuring out all the ingredients carefully and then getting to bake, and so the preparations began to bake this awesome David Lebovitz cake. So the cakes come out perfect according to me and then I turn out onto the wire rack and the whole thing just crumbled onto the board. I was beyond shocked and screamed an instant "aiiiyyyoo"....Well I was not gonna let this disaster get to me...no way, there was so much of good stuff into this cake my heart wouldn't bear it go for a waste. So after some hard thinking and consultation with Nithya another baking buddy and good friend I converted this cake mess to cake pops and asked Sunehra to get this beauties some boxes to make them complete and ready to be gifted to all my near and dear ones.

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake - Recipe Courtesy David Lebovitz
Ingredients:
Dried Cherries - 1 1/2 cups, finely chopped
Rum - 1/4 cup (60ml)
All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate Chips - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Unsalted Butter - 140gms
Eggs - 2
Egg Yolk - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Milk or Buttermilk - 2/3 cup
Nuts - 1 cup, you could use walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans which are well toasted

To make the Cake Pops
Dark Chocolate - 250gms
Vegetable Oil - 2tbs
Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Skewers or Lollipop Sticks - 60 nos
Red Fondant Berries - 60 nos.
Green Fondant Holly Leaves - 60 nos.

A day or so before you make the cake, toss the cherries in ¼ cup of liquor. Cover, and let macerate. To bake the cakes, grease two 9-inch (23 cm) loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or dust with cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Stir together the eggs and yolk with the vanilla, then dribble them in while beating.Mix in one-third of the flour/cocoa mixture, then half of the yogurt or buttermilk. Then mix in another third of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the yogurt. Finally add the remaining dry ingredients, and gently stir in the nuts, chocolate chips and cherries. (Which should have absorbed all the liquid. If not, add that as well.). Divide and smooth the batter into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand on the counter top for about 15 minutes. With a skewer, poke 50 holes in the cake and spoon 3 tablespoons of liquor over each cake. Turn over onto a wire rack and allow to cool for half hour.

Making the Cake Pops
Prepare two cake trays with wax paper. Crumble the cake mixture into a large bowl. Mix in the whipping cream into the crumbled cake. Take a lime ball sized amount of cake and see if the mixture holds together. If not add some more whipping cream to bind the cake mixture. Make 60 lime sized balls and place them onto the tray. Cling wrap the cake balls and place them in the refrigerator for about an hour to slightly firm. Meanwhile melt chocolate into a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Once the chocolate is all melted, add the oil to give the chocolate a glossy look. Take the cake balls out, dip a skewer into a little melted chocolate and insert into the cake pop 2/3rd way. Then dip the cake ball into the chocolate to coat and tap slightly to let the excess fall off. Use styrofoam to place the cake pops and once the chocolate is slightly set, place the holly leaf and berry for decoration. I had plenty of berries and leaves left from my Christmas Cupcakes that I  had made, but you could use whatever you want to decorate your cake pops. I used the below video as my guide to making my cake pops. Though the entire process is time consuming, the end results are worth your time and efforts and its not that difficult at all.

So give these a try and let me know how it goes for you. And let me also thank my girl friend Sunehra Koshy for the boxes and cards i got to adorn my cake pops with...they were a hit!!!