About the bake
These little cake pops are adorable and sure to become a festive family favourite. Don't worry though, no real Brussel Sprouts were harmed in the making of these, they are actually made of the most incredible tasting chocolate and peanut butter truffle, using our favourite local Proper Nutty Peanut Butter. Coat with green candy melts and decorate with little faces to really bring them to life.
We made our own Madiera cake for this recipe - and used about 1/3. But any plain chocolate cake will do as long as it isn't too moist. The crumbs need to be fairly dry. The undecorated balls will keep for one week in the fridge. Once decorated, the truffles should be eaten within 5 days.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 150ºc/130ºc fan/Gas 2. Grease and line the base and sides of a 6-inch spring form round tin.
Step 2:
Cream together the butter and sugar until very pale and soft.
Step 3:
Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour to stop the mixture from curdling.
Step 4:
Add the remaining flours and cocoa. Mix well to make a smooth fairly stiff batter.
Step 5:
Place in your prepared tin and level the top. Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hr 15 mins. and then check to see if it's ready. You may need a further 10-15 minutes. When cooked, allow the cake to cool in its tin for 15 minutes before cooling completely on a rack.
Step 6:
When you are ready to make the truffles, crumble 200g of the cake into fine crumbs. We used a food processor for this.
Step 7:
In a separate bowl mix together all the ingredients for the frosting until you have a smooth paste. Mix in the cake crumbs to make stiff dough like consistency.
Step 8:
Roll the mixture into 20 sprout sized balls. Each one will weigh about 18g.
Step 9:
Place the balls on a plate or board covered with cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the freezer or a bit longer in the fridge.
Step 10:
While the balls are chilling, melt your candy melts over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, you may need to add 1/2 a teaspoon of vegetable shortening to thin the mixture.
Step 11:
One by one dip the chilled balls into the green candy. Shake off any drips and place on a board covered with baking parchment. Use a cocktail stick or paintbrush to rough up the surface a little.
Step 12:
If you would like to, you can paint little faces on them, using a fine brush and black food paint. We used edible lustre powder applied with a soft brush to give them rosy cheeks.
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 150g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 150g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 150g Self Raising Flour
- 50g Plain flour
- 25g Cocoa powder
- 3 Large free range eggs
For The Frosting
- 25g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 85g Proper Nutty peanut butter
- 65g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Milk
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For The Coating
- 1 packet Green candy melts
Utensils
- 6 inch spring form round cake tin
- Cooling rack
- Food processor
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Clingfilm
- Saucepan
- Baking parchment
- Cocktail stick
- Fine paintbrush
Recipe Reviews
So much fun! I ate loads before I made them into sprouts....
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 150g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 150g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 150g Self Raising Flour
- 50g Plain flour
- 25g Cocoa powder
- 3 Large free range eggs
For The Frosting
- 25g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 85g Proper Nutty peanut butter
- 65g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Milk
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For The Coating
- 1 packet Green candy melts
Utensils
- 6 inch spring form round cake tin
- Cooling rack
- Food processor
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Clingfilm
- Saucepan
- Baking parchment
- Cocktail stick
- Fine paintbrush