Baby Shower Cake Pops Recipe

When we saw these adorable treats in Kawaii Cakes, we knew we had to share the recipe with you all. The exterior features a teddy bear almost too cute to eat, we say almost because inside you'll find the most delicious brownie torte cake. They'd make a lovely addition to your baby shower menu, or why not serve them up as a birthday treat! Read on for the full extract from Kawaii Cakes: Adorable & Cute Japanese-Inspired Cakes and Treats by Juliet Sear (Hardie Grant, £9.99) Photography © Jacqui Melville.

Teddy Bear Cake Pops

SO CUTE! Cake pops are perfect for parties and presents. You can make these in any colour or play around with different animal shapes. I use my Chocolate Brownie Torte recipe (below) here, but you could use any cake pop recipe you like. Fluffy Vanilla Cake also works well, with a little buttercream to stick it together. Makes 12.

Things You'll Need

• about 360 g (12½ oz) ready-baked Chocolate Brownie Torte (recipe below)
• 300 g (10½ oz) white candy melts
• 12 lolly (popsicle) sticks
• polystyrene block, or pack of sugar paste (fondant), or similar, for drying
• 24 chocolate chips
• 100 g (5 oz) brown candy melts
• soft-peak black Royal Icing (recipe below), in a piping bag fitted with number 1.5 round nozzle, for face details
• coloured ribbon, for decoration

Break the cake up and pulse a few times in a food processor until you have a sticky crumb. Alternatively, break up the cake with your fingertips until fine and sticky.

Take about 30 g (1 oz) of the cake crumb and squeeze together. Roll between your palms to make a ball. You should be able to make 12 balls in total.

Melt half the white candy melts in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Alternatively, microwave following the packet instructions.

Push a lolly stick into each cake ball. Dip the pops into the melted white candy.

Keep the pops upright by sticking into a block of polystyrene or sugar paste, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Once the first candy coating on the cake pops has dried, dip the chocolate chips into the melted candy one by one, and press 2 chips against each cake pop to make ears. Return to the fridge for about 15 minutes to set.

Pour the excess white candy into a piping bag, to use for the face details. 

Melt the remaining white candy melts and brown candy melts together to get a nice shade of ‘teddy’. Plunge each pop into the chocolate to coat, tapping off any excess. Leave to set in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Once set, pipe little white details onto the ears and make a circle to create the snout. Leave to set in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Finish by piping their cute eyes and nose in black, to bring them to life.

Decorate by tying a short length of ribbon at the neck of each teddy pop.

Chocolate Brownie Torte Recipe

This is a lovely, rich recipe, and would be a good alternative for a kawaii Christmas cake for those who don’t like fruit cake. It’s the best recipe I know for making cake pops. You can use an electric mixer with a paddle or beater attachment, a hand-held mixer, or the old-fashioned method – a wooden spoon, whisk, extra time and elbow grease! The cake will keep nicely for up to two weeks. Makes 2 × 20 cm (8 in) round cakes

Things You'll Need

• 225 g (8 oz/11/3 cups) plain chocolate chips (70 per cent cocoa solids)
• 250 g (9 oz/2. sticks) soft unsalted butter
• 350 g (12 oz/1. cups) light muscovado sugar
• 6 medium free-range eggs, beaten with 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 225 g (8 oz/1. cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• Belgian Chocolate Ganache (optional)

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F/Gas 1). Grease and line 2 × 20 cm (8 in) cake tins.

Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on medium power in the microwave for 1 minute at a time, until just melted, stirring at each interval. Alternatively, place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water. Allow to cool.

Beat the butter and sugar slowly until combined, then turn up the speed to maximum and continue to beat until pale and fluffy.

Add the beaten eggs and vanilla a little at a time, beating slowly, until each batch is incorporated.

Pour all the cooled chocolate into the mix, beating continuously.

Fold in the flour until just incorporated. Spoon evenly into the tins and bake for 25–35 minutes. Check every 5 minutes as all ovens vary.

The cakes should be well risen, but still wobble a bit when shaken. The crust will sink back into the cakes as they cool. Leave to cool in the tin.

If making a layer cake, sandwich the cakes together with a filling of Belgian chocolate ganache buttercream.

Royal Icing Recipe

Things You'll Need

• 250 g (9 oz/2 cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra if needed
• 1 egg white
• juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons), plus extra if needed

As a general rule, I calculate quantities based on 1 egg white for every 250 g (9 oz/2 cups) icing (confectioners') sugar, plus the juice of half a lemon. It’s not a precise science. This icing will keep for up to 1 week in a plastic food bag or wrapped pot. When you come to using it, cover it with a clean, damp cloth as you prepare your other ingredients, as it dries out very quickly once exposed to the air. You can also buy ready-made powdered royal icing sugar, to which you just add water.

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together. If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on a slow speed. You need to be able to see inside the bowl to check that all the icing sugar has been incorporated, but the mix is still very stiff. If you need a little more  liquid, add a dash more lemon juice. If you need a little more sugar to dry the mix, add a handful or so of icing sugar. You want to achieve a thick, stiff paste that isn’t powdery dry and really holds its shape. Beat on a slow speed for about 3 minutes to make a smooth icing. Royal icing is one of the handiest mediums for decorating colourful cute cookies with any type of kawaii design you can imagine. It’s great for decorating your bakes and cakes too, and is easy to draw with. It’s easy to make, and you can also buy royal icing powder in the supermarket – you just need to add water. The most important thing is to get the consistency right, as this will make decorating much easier.

Soft Peak

This is when the icing is ‘let down’ with a few drops of water, lemon juice or egg white if you prefer (use pasteurised), so that it can flow freely from your icing bag. Use this for piping patterns and kawaii faces or for outlining shapes of cookies. It’s not completely runny and the line should still hold its shape. It can also be used for sticking decorations to cakes. To test, just add a few drops of water at a time until the icing feels easier to stir and is looser. Don’t make it too runny! It should still hold a peak, but the peak should glisten and flop over slightly.

If you give this recipe a go, we'd love to see your creations! Make sure you tag @booricollections on Instagram.