Perfect Recipe

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.

Oreo Cupcake

Ingredients:

225g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
85g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
150g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup(240ml) nonfat unsweetened yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
80g Oreo cookies, roughly crushed

Whole Oreo cookies for decorating

Frosting:

5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

Directions:

Cupcake:
Preheat oven to 180C and grease or line a 8-inch round tin. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Dribble in eggs slowly, about 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly for about 2 mins. On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Beat in ½ of the yogurt. Then beat in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining yogurt, and vanilla extract. Finally beat in the remaining flour mixture. Lastly, fold in the crushed cookies.
Pour into prepared tin, arrange whole Oreos on top and bake for about 40 – 50 mins till skewer inserted comes out clean.

Frosting:
In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Grab a spoon and spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
12 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1/2 and 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 and 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 and 1/4 cups sugar
3 small eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream Frosting:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/6 cup milk (45ml)
2/3 teaspoons vanilla extract
few drops of food coloring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the icing. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.