Easter Chocolate and Dulce de leche Cake Pops. An International Incident Party.

I've been looking forward to this month's International Incident Party.  As always, it's hosted by the lovely Penny from the Jeroxie blog.  This month's theme is Cake pops.  Some might say that they are the new cupcakes.  They're cute, they're cool and they're fun and easy to make.  I've made cake balls before but have never made pops. Bakerella is known worldwide for this little ball of sweetness. You can see her demonstrate on how to make them here.  

There may be many steps to create these little cakes but it is actually quite easy to make.  I wanted to make Easter Cake pops and I got my daughter to help decorate them.  It's a great kitchen project for children.  They can get really creative.  

You don't have to freshly bake a cake just to make cake pops (though you can, of course) but you can use left over cake trimmings.  Just freeze any left over cake (no icing) in the freezer.  It can keep for a few months.  When needed just defrost in the fridge.

I had left over devil's food cake from when I made my Christmas cake balls. Instead of using the usual cheese cream frosting, I used a can of dulce de leche.  I make these from cans of condense milk.  You can get recipe here.  The dulce de leche makes it luscious and sweet, just the way Hubby and my children like it.  You don't have to make balls, you can make any shape you like.  I experimented and made little bunnies too.

To make cake pops:

Crumble the cake until until it resembles bread crumbs.  Add about a third of a can of dulce de leche and mix thoroughly until the mixture is moist enough to make balls.  Don't add too much dulce de leche or the mixture becomes too sticky and hard to shape.

Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and roll in the palm of your hands.  Shape the balls into eggs and place on baking paper on a tray.  Place in the refrigerator for about an hour to harden a little.

Melt chocolate in a bowl over barely simmering water until shiny and smooth.  Take a lollipop stick and dip about 1cm of it into the chocolate.  Insert the stick about half way into the cake pop. Let it set for a minute.

Dip the cake pop into the chocolate and cover the whole cake.  Don't move it around too much as you might lose some crumbs into the chocolate or the cake might come off the stick.  You can decorate straight away with sprinkles or any lollies or you can let the chocolate harden and then decorate with liquid gel pens.

Deanna had fun decorating them

Dry the cake pops by sticking them into styrofoam.  Or you can do what I did and stuck it in a box that I made little holes in.  

Deanna and I enjoyed decorating these.  We spent the whole afternoon do this so it gave a great opportunity to have mummy-daughter time.  When you make this, make them with children.  If you don't have any, borrow someone else's.

You can check out everyone else wonderful creation :

Meringue Nest with Orange Curd. An International Incident.

Yep, it's that time of the month again and this month's theme had me baffled.  Eggs. There were so many possibilities.  Sweet or savoury? Should the dish be made of eggs or look like eggs?

I had a light bulb moment and made a savoury dish.  It turned out great and Hubby loved it however I wasn't happy with the way the photos turned out.  So I've decided that I will make that dish again and take better photos and post another day for you all.

I, then thought of a sweet dish as I was flicking through one of my cook books. I was inspired and came up with this.

Meringue nest with orange curd.  I am so happy with the way my dish turned out.  This is not only looks like an egg but the main ingredient of both components is egg.  

The meringue turned out light.  Crunchy on the outside and soft and airy in the middle.  The orange curd was full of flavour and had the same consistency of a runny egg yolk.

Meringue Nests : (makes 6 nests)

75ml egg whites (2-3 eggs)

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat fan forced oven to 130degC .

Place the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat till soft peaks form.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until glossy.  Sift the cornflour over the mixture and fold through with the vinegar.

Place 1/3 cup portions of the egg white mixture onto baking trays lined with baking paper and shape into nests.  Place in the oven, then reduce the temperature immediately to 100degC.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Turn off oven and leave the meringues in with the door ajar to cool completely.

Orange curd: (makes 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup orange juice

zest of 1/2 orange

100g butter

1/2 cup caster  sugar

3 egg yolks plus 1 egg

In a saucepan, over medium-low heat, place the orange juice and the butter.  Stir until the butter is melted.  Add the sugar and egg and egg yolks.  Whisk continuously until the mixture thickens slightly (about 5-7minutes).  Leave to cool completely before using.

Make sure when you want to assemble the dish, both the meringue and orange curd has been cooled completely.  Both components can be made a day ahead.

Other party goers: