A few years ago I used to run my own baking business. I was well known amongst the local community, & people loved my cupcakes, cake pops, & cakes. I'd get orders and be booked almost every weekend catering birthday parties & events. I loved what I did, but wished I could make a healthier version of baked goods.
Since I'm now walking down a healthier path, I decided to try my hand at making a healthier version of chocolate cake pops, packed with nutrition. I'm so happy they turned out fantastic! Kid approved as well! Chocolaty goodness!!
Recipe as follows.
You'll need - A food processor, a small ice cream scooper, a tiny wire whisk, 24 paper lollipop sticks, 1 or 2 styrofoam blocks to fit 24 cake-pops. You'll need those blocks to stand the pops up so the chocolate can set.
For the chewy chocolaty inside:
**Please be sure the dates are pitted. And if dates are dry, soak them in some warm water for 10 minutes. Then drain.
Plus for some added nutrition I used some of my favorites from Purium Health Products:
1 Scoop Creamy Vanilla Meal Option
1 Scoop Rice Bran Solubles
2 Teaspoons CarobMint Spirulina
1/4c Organic Tropic Oil (*not pictured)
And lastly, add a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt & 1 teaspoon instant coffee. Place all ingredients in a food processor & blitz till well combined.
After your mixture is done. Take a small ice cream scooper & use it to make uniform balls. Scoop some of the mixture, place it in your hand, squeeze & mold it into balls. This recipe will make 24 pops.
Place them in the freezer for no more than 15 minutes before dipping in your chocolate. Of you leave them in longer, when you dip them, & your filling starts to thaw, it will expand & make the chocolate shell crack.
Now, let's get to the hard chocolate shell. Here's what you'll need:
4oz. Cacao Butter (can be found in most health food stores, in the baking section)
3 Tablespoons Cacao Powder
2 Teaspoons of Purium's CarobMint Spirulina
*This chocolate recipe will cover 12 cake-pops. I made another batch of chocolate to cover the other 12. You can double the recipe to cover the full 24 at one time, but since this was my first time making this, I didn't want to make more than needed & because cacao butter is expensive, I didn't want to take the chance of waisting any.
Sift the dry ingredients together & set aside. Chop the cacao butter into small pieces so that it'll melt faster. Then take your cacao butter & place it in a deep glass bowl or I used an 8oz. mason jar. Now you're going to make a water bath to melt your cacao butter. Place the mason jar in a small pot. Then fill the pot with water so that the bottom of the mason jar is covered about 1 inch. Heat on low till the cacao butter is completely melted. It'll look like melted butter when it's done.
Using a tiny metal whisk, add the dry ingredients to the melted cacao & mix till well incorporated. Let cool till you get a thick melted chocolate consistency. It may take 25-30 minutes before it gets that way depending on your environment temperature. But if you don't want to wait that long.... Yes, I was a little impatient. I put my mason jar in the fridge & checked on it every so often, stirring each time till I got the right consistency. If you forget that it's in the fridge, like I did, and it has hardened, just heat in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds. No problem. You might have to wait for it to thicken again as the cacao butter is very tempermenatal.
Anyway, as soon as you get the right dipping consistency. Take your balls out of the freezer *again, make sure they've only been in ther for about 15 minutes. Start by dipping the tip of the pop stick into the chocolate. Then insert 1/2 of the way into one of the balls. Now hold on to the stick & dip the ball into the chocolate. Remove & gently tap the excess chocolate back into the jar. Stick the pop into a styrofoam block to let the chocolate set. Do this for all 24 pops. *You can use the remainer of the chocolate to drizzle onto the pops for an awesome finished look.
Serve as is. Makes a great favor for small gatherings with friends. You can also omit the pop sticks and turn these into truffles. Once you get the hang of it, you can dress them up with a sprinkle of nuts, or shredded coconut. Wrap them up as a gift and give them away. If you can bare to part with them! =)
Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family & I have. For more info on Purium & to order Purium products click the link at the top right of my blog, under "My favorite finds..."
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