Christmas Cake Pops

Ingredients:

Cake:
1/2 and 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/2 and 1/4 tsp salt
3/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 and 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 and 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 and 1/4 cups hot water

Buttercream:
4-ounce(110g) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2-pound (225g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate coating bark ou candy melts
Sprinkles, for garnish

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and dust with cocoa powder; tap out any excess; set aside.
Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, beat in oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and hot water, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish, reserving any remaining batter for another use, such as cupcakes. Bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before inverting to remove. Let cool completely on rack before using.

Buttercream:
Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until creamy, about 30 seconds.
With the mixer on low, slowly add sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowls as necessary.
Add vanilla and increase mixer speed to medium. Blend until frosting is fluffy, about 1 minute.

Cake Pops:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Trim about 1/2 inch from the perimeter of the cake. Working in batches, crumble cake into the bowl of a food processor; process until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl and add 1 cup of frosting; blend together using the back of a spoon, until well combined, 5 to 10 minutes. Roll mixture into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch balls; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with parchment-paper-lined aluminum foil. Transfer to refrigerator until chilled, about 2 hours or to a freezer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Remove cake pops from freezer. To make lollipops, insert a lollipop stick into the bottom of each cake pop. Let chocolate set, 15 to 20 minutes.
Dip the cake pops into the chocolate and place right-side up on prepared baking sheet or stick lollipop sticks into a Styrofoam square. Let dry completely.

Santa Hats
Hats: Red Candy Melts and White Candy Melts
Fur: white sugar crystal sprinkles
Balls: white coated expresso beans, gumballs, yogurt covered peanuts will work
Paper Lollipop Sticks

Make the Hats: Make a cone shape instead of a ball. Put in the freezer until firm. Then, holding the top part of the hat, dip the bottoms in white candy melts, insert the lollipop stick and set in a styrofoam block to dry. Once dry, dip the tops in red candy melts so that it meets where the white ends. Gently place the balls to the top of the hat while still wet. Let them dry. Then, use a toothpick to generously dab more white candy melts all around the bottom of the hat. While still wet, sprinkle the sugar crystals on.

Brazilian Honey Bread
(96 individual breads)

Ingredients:
(if you need, use a “oz” conversion calculator on the internet)

490 g brown sugar
400 ml water
5 eggs (separated)
700 g all purpose flour
5 g ground cloves
5 g ground cinnamon
25 g chocolate powder
20 g baking soda
10 g baking powder
250 ml milk
300 ml honey

Syrup:

200 ml water
10 g brown sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
10 g cloves

Icing:

1.5 kg milk chocolate
1 kg semi-sweetened chocolate

Dulce de leche for the filling

Directions:

For the syrup, put all the ingredients in a saucepan in low heat, for about 15min. Drain it and let it cool.

Beat egg whites until it forms stiff and firm peaks, reserve.

Preheat oven 350°C. Butter and flour a 12 X 16inch pan, or use individual pans.

Mix with a whisk, the cold syrup, with the sifted flour, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, chocolate powder. Add the baking soda dissolved into the milk and the sifted baking soda. Add the egg yolks one by one and whisk well. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for approx. 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean. Let it cool. Pour the syrup over the cake. Cut the cake into squares.

For the icing, melt the chocolates in a microwave oven or in a double boiler and cover the breads. Use a fork to dip the bread. Place on aluminum foil to dry into the refrigerator.

Strawberry and Coconut Bonbon

Ingredients:

20 strawberries without leaves and stems;
1 can sweetened condensed milk;
1/2 tbsp butter;
3 tbsp grated coconut;
500 g dark chocolate;

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the condensed milk, butter and the coconut. Beat with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Cover the strawberries with the saucepan mixture and reserve.

Melt the chocolate in double boiler, dip the strawberries into the hot chocolate mixture. Use a wooden pick to dip the bonbon. Place on aluminum foil to dry into the refrigerator.

Marie Biscuits Choco Bars/Balls

Ingredients:

4 tbsp cocoa powder or chocolate drink mix (like nesquik)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 (100g) pack Marie Biscuits coarsely crushed
1 can condensed milk

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan, mix the condensed milk, cocoa and butter. Stir to dissolve the chocolate. Put over low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring until you are able to see the bottom of the pot when you tilt the pan,(the mixture should slide quickly). This should take 10-12 minutes.The longer you leave it to boil, the thicker it gets. Crush the biscuits and add to the pan and stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Flatten mixture into a greased plate. Allow to cool before cutting to desired size and then roll in sugar.

A alternative is to instead of coarsely crush the biscuit you can crush biscuits finely to make a fine powder and then butter your hands and roll the mixture into small balls (size doesn’t really matter but the smaller they are the more you get) and roll in sugar.