So I haven’t been around the vicinity of Le Food Blog for quite some time now. 3 weeks, more or less. I must admit that in between work, gym, Bridge Run, my sister getting married, training for the upcoming Brighton Beach Run and the recent Sydney Foodbloggers Mad Hatter Picnic, I haven’t had much time for myself and Sugarlace.

And for that, my apologies.

I must also admit that lately, the oven has been cold and the kitchen quiet. You see, the parentals were recently in town for my sister’s wedding, hence mother dearest has been in charge of the kitchen and suffice it to say, I’ve been kicked out. But rest assured that from this day forward (or until Mum graces my kitchen again), I shall be tinkering away with my pots and pans and arming myself with spoon, knife and fork once again.

The past weekend was no exception. It was the first weekend in over 3 months that I’ve started baking again. The reason for the hiatus? Nothing in particular. There could only be so much cupcakes and muffins and cakes that one could bake in a lifetime before feeling the need to stop for a second and let the oven cool down for a bit.

But I’m back, baby. I’m back.

Let’s start off with the basic ingredient of Sugarlace blogging: SUGAR! And what can be sweeter and more sugary than the promise of a white chocolate covered cake pop, huh?

HUH?!

Introducing… my contribution to the recent Sydney Foodbloggers Mad Hatter Picnic (with muchos gracias to Billy, Karen and one of the sponsors Nuffnang Australia for hosting!).

Aren’t foodbloggers the craziest coolest people on the block?

I did feature cake pops here in the past (my very first Sydney Foodblogger meet up for Suze’s birthday… a year and a half ago!), and I just had fun making them that I decided to give them a go again. This time, instead of using boxed cake mix I actually made a buttercake base and improved the chocolate melting technique (no more burnt, microwaved chocolate!). The result? The cutest cake pops that ever came out of my kitchen!

Cake Pops

Recipe adapted from Bakerella’s Cake Pops

Makes approximately 30 cake pops

Buttercake (recipe from Exclusively Food, my most favourite recipe website in the world!):

150g butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup plain flour

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Grease and line baking tin with baking paper.

2. Beat softened butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. Pulse and add buttermilk.

3. In a separate bowl, sift self raising flour and plain flour together. Add to the egg mixture in 2 batches, beating the mix in between additions. Mix until just combined.

4. Pour batter on to prepared baking tin and bake for approximately 60-80 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Miscellaneous:

200g cream cheese

1/2 cup icing sugar

500g chocolate melts

Smarties

Hundreds & Thousands /Sprinkles

Lollipop sticks or skewers

Assembly:

1. When cake has been baked and cooled, slice the brown sides and “crumbs” of the cake away. Crumble the cake in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese and icing sugar together. Add this to the cake crumbs and mix together by hand.

3. Line a cookie tray with baking paper.

4. Roll the cake crumbs into medium size balls and place on the lined cookie tray.

5. Place cake balls inside freezer for about 10 minutes. They need to be cold when rolled on the melted chocolate so the chocolate hardens quickly.

6. Meanwhile, boil water in a saucepan. With the chocolate melts in a bowl, place the bowl on top of the saucepan ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Melt the chocolates, stirring if necessary.

7. Take the cake balls out of the freezer. Impale each ball with a lollipop or skewer stick, and dip in melted chocolate. Decorate with smarties, hundreds and thousands, or any other lollies as desired.

Everyone gave great feedback about the cake pops, and for that I’m grateful. And relieved! Do you know how stressful it is to come up with a dish to bring to a foodblogger event, knowing that everyone in attendance are pros in the kitchen? I definitely felt the heat last weekend!

But it was all great fun and I’m really happy to say that these cake pops have renewed my energy in baking and cooking once again. Hurrah hurrah!