Juliet Sears Mini Christmas Pudding Fruit Cake Pops Recipes

JULIET SEAR'S MINI CHRISTMAS PUDDING FRUIT CAKE POPS

Steps:

• 1. Form the fruitcake into little walnut sized balls. 2. Boil some apricot jam with a little water to thin out, and brush over your cake balls and set aside on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 3. Knead as much marzipan as you need and roll to approximatey 3mm thick then cut out squares big enough to cover each cake ball. 4. Place a piece of marzipan over the top of each ball, smooth it over the sides, then pick it up and pinch it around the bottom to seal, cutting away any excess. Roll each ball between your palms to smooth and make round. Place the marzipan balls on a tray lined with baking paper and dusted with icing sugar. Dry for a few hours or ideally overnight. 5. Brush over the covered balls with a little brandy, vodka or cooled boiled water for sticking the layer of sugarpaste. 6. Repeat step 4 using the teddy bear brown sugar paste. Set down with any cracks or joins hidden underneath. Before drying, dip the lolly sticks into the melted chocolate then push them into the bottom of the balls, 2/3rds of the way up. Leave to set. 7. To decorate the top of the puddings with a 'dripped' snow effect, lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out enough white sugarpaste to about 3mm thick then cut out as many flower shapes as you need. Slightly roll each flower out a little bit more to stretch and make the 'dripping' shape more random. 8. Add a touch of water to the top of each pop then stick on the white dripping and smooth down with your fingers. 9. To pipe on cute holly leaves and berries use the red and green royal icing and pipe a smile and eyes with the black royal icing adding a little dot of white over the black eyes to bring out their sparkle. Finally, with a paintbrush, add a little pink lustre for cheeks. 10. Display or package as you wish.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Pulse the madeira cake in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over just simmering water or in the microwave. Shop bought madeira cake can vary in texture so you may need to add a little extra melted white chocolate to make the mixture stick into balls. Stir the orange zest into the chocolate, then work the chocolate into the crumbs using your hands.
• Form into 10 small truffle-sized balls, then roll gently in your palms to smooth the surface. Arrange the balls on a baking parchment-lined dinner plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the mixture to set.
• Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave or over a bowl of just simmering water. Dip a lolly stick into the melted chocolate about 1.5cm in and poke half way into a cake ball. Repeat with the remaining balls. Put them back on the plate. Return to the fridge for five minutes.
• Dip the cake pops one at a time into the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip off and spin the pops to even out the surface. Poke the pops into a piece of polystyrene or cake pop holder if you have one, keeping the pops apart. Allow to set for about half an hour.
• Heat the white chocolate in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water. Allow to cool for a few minutes until it has a thick, runny consistency. If the chocolate is too hot, it will melt the dark chocolate underneath so make sure you do not overheat it. Spoon a small amount on top of the cake pops and tip them back and forth so that it runs down the sides a little. If you have holly decorations, set one on each pop. If using writing icing, wait for another 20 minutes or so until the white chocolate has set. To avoid a bloom on the chocolate, cover the cake pops in chocolate on the day you want to eat them - or the day before at the earliest.
• Pipe on holly leaves with the green icing and two little dots for berries using the red. Once finished, store them in a cool place, though not the fridge