Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Cake Pops (Martha Stewart)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

had a very shiny nose...

At the beginning of making these cake pops, I was happily singing this song but as the day progressed, I was entering the state of melting down and couldn't sing this song anymore... 

It was a hot summery day when I was making these reindeer cake pops. They were made for a fund raising event and I thought of making 50 of these initially. In order to keep the cake pops in shape, I had to chill them well in the freezer before coating them in melted chocolate. However, these cake pops thawed out easily in this hot day and everything was in a mess. I tried to re-freeze the cake pops and ended walking back and forth to the freezer for too many times and eventually, I had to give up after making my 38th cake pop.

Out of the 38 cake pops that I made, the last 8 ones were really in disaster. Some got poked through their heads. Some had drooping eyes sliding off their face. And, I called them Santa Claus's badly injured reindeer, otherwise "the causalities"... LOL! My husband and son didn't want to see these causalities got thrown into our waste bin and ended up enjoying munching them. LOL!

Despite the ugliness of these causalities, my husband and son love these cake pops very much. As I was busy cleaning up the mess, all I can hear were these... 

Boy: Mummy, these are very nice!
Man: Hmm... very moist and chocolaty!

I must say hearing these nice comments was very helpful and did made my frustrations going away...

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Cake Pops

My son and I baked this cake

Making the cake balls

Things that I need to assemble the reindeer cake pops

Happy when I first made these...

Sad when this happened! Here's one of my melting causalities. LOL!

Here are the cake pops recipes by Bakerella (Angie Dudley) at Martha Stewart website
(with my modification and notes in blue)
 
Makes about 50

9-by-13-inch Chocolate Cake for Cupcake Pops
(Please scroll down for the recipe)
2 cups Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
(Please scroll down for the recipe) 
1 package chocolate coating bark
(I used 2 x 375g Nestle dark chocolate melts)
1 package white coating bark or pink candy melts
(not required for reindeer cake pops)
Sprinkles, for garnish
(not required for reindeer cake pops)
Candy-coated chocolates, such as M&M's, for garnish
(red mini M&M's of course to make Rudolph's red noses)

More to make Rudolphs cake pops:
white colour rolled fondant for their eyes
pretzels for their antlers

To make Rudolph's eyes, I rolled out a handful of fondant to approximately 2-3 mm thick and cut them with small round cutter. Using the end of a lollipop, I dotted a drop of melted chocolate onto each eye. 

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. (Instead of using processor, I crumbled my cake with my hands.) Transfer to a large bowl and add frosting; blend together using the back of a spoon, until well combined, 5 to 10 mins.

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 hrs or to a freezer for about 10 mins.

Begin to shape balls into cupcakes by rolling balls first into logs. Fit logs into a 1 1/4-by-3/4-inch flower-shaped cookie cutter. Push cake mixture into the cutter halfway so that some of the cake mixture extends beyond the top of the cutter. Shape extended cake mixture into a cupcake-shaped top. Push cake from cutter to remove. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Transfer to freezer until chilled, 5-10 min.

Note: All I did for this step is to shape the cake mixture into round balls and chilled them accordingly.

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 and dip the bottom of each into the chocolate; transfer, bottom-side up, to prepared baking sheet. To make lollipops, insert a lollipop stick into the bottom of each. Let chocolate set, 15-20 min.

Melt white chocolate or pink candy melts in heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the chocolate and place right-side up on prepared baking sheet or stick lollipop sticks into a Styrofoam square. Place a candy-coated chocolate in the center of each and top with sprinkles. Let dry completely. 

Note: Instead of dipping just the bottom of the cake pops, I inserted a lollipop stick into the bottom of each cake ball and dipped the whole thing into the melted dark chocolate. Then, I placed the lollipop stick into a Styrofoam to set. Just before the cake pops dried completely, I gave these Rudolphs their eyes, antlers and noses.

Chocolate Cake for Cupcake Pop
 
Makes one 9-by-13-inch cake

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

Preheat oven to 350°F (or 160°C fan forced). Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and dust with cocoa powder; tap out any excess; set aside. (I lined my baking pan with baking paper.)

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 mins. (My son was mixing this mixture with a manual hand mixer.)

Pour batter into prepared baking dish, reserving any remaining batter for another use, such as cupcakes. (I have poured all batter into my baking pan) Bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 mins. (Mine took 75 mins to bake)

Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool for 20 mins before inverting to remove. Let cool completely on rack before using.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting 

Makes enough for about 50 cupcake bites

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I didn't add this)

Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until creamy, about 30 secs.

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 min.

Happy Baking
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