Mummified Cake Pops

These cake pops are perfect for Halloween and extremely easy to make! These cake pops were inspired by mummy cupcakes that had strips of fondant laid over the top for the bandages so this is great for anyone who doesn't have time/want to mess around with fondant. Unfortunately, the bandages didn't come out as well as I hoped because I was using the left over melted chocolate that I had added vege oil (it makes it runnier so it is easier to cover the pops) and was a little too thin. But luckily you can learn from my mistake and melt a separate batch of white chocolate. 

Cake*

1 cup sugar 
2 tablespoons cocoa 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 ½ cups flour 
1 egg 
½ cup milk 
150g butter (melted) 
1 teaspoon vanilla essence 
Pinch of salt 
½ cup boiling water

1. Put all ingredients except the in water in a bowl and mix together. I used my Kenwood kMix but doing it by hand with an egg beater is fine. 
2. When everything is combined, stir in the boiling water.
3.  Pour into a greased and/or lined cake tin (it doesn't matter what type as you will be breaking it up at the end anyway, but I find a ring tin makes cooking time faster). 
4. Bake at 180°C until an inserted skewer comes out clean. It was around 30 minutes for me at 190°C fan forced (don't ask me why, but my oven doesn't have a 180° mark).

*I used Baking Makes Things Better's "Easy Peasy Chocolate Cake" recipe. (original here)

Assembly

I used homemade buttercream frosting, Signature Range White Chocolate Buttons, bamboo skewers and chocolate sprinkles.

1. Remove the cake from the tin and crumble in a large bowl (I used a fork but you can also use your fingers). 
2. Mix in either a can (453g = 16 oz.) of frosting or roughly 2 cups of homemade frosting. Since these are chocolate cakepops, you can sift in cocoa powder or use chocolate frosting, but I just used plain homemade buttercream and I think it looked pretty funky.
3. Shape into balls (size of your choosing) and put on a non stick tray.
4. Melt a tiny bit of chocolate or candy melts and dip the tip of the lollipop stick or skewer into the chocolate before inserting into the cake pop. This will help the pop stay on the stick when you coat it later. 
5. Put the cakepops in the freezer for a bit just until it is firm when you touch it.
6. Melt the rest of the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave (I recommend using a bowl that is more deep than wide because that way you'll be able to dunk the pop into the chocolate and cover it one go. Plus, the chocolate won't harden up as fast, giving you some precious extra time). 
7. Stir in a few drops of vegetable oil.
8. Next, put the cake pop into the melted chocolate and rotate slowly for a smooth covering. Take the pop out and continue rotating above the bowl to catch excess drips. 
9. Place the cakepop in an egg tray, styrofoam block or colander to dry.
10. After you have covered each pop, I got a small teaspoon and drizzled the melted chocolate over the pop. I put a piece of baking paper on the bench to catch stray drizzles of chocolate, but you can also use a paper towel or do it over the sink. 
11. Put two chocolate sprinkles for eyes on the pop while the chocolate hasn't hardened. I picked the rounder sprinkles out of an assorted mix of Halloween themed sprinkles because I couldn't find any round sprinkles at the shops. If this is also the case for you, you could always melt some milk/dark chocolate and dot it on. 

Hope you enjoy and have fun making these Mummified Cake Pops and have a happy Halloween! -Kathy. 

PS. This is our first post! How exciting :D