VEGAN CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE POPS (with matcha white chocolate crumbles)

Firstly, I feel compelled to say that the making and assembly of cake pops from scratch is a labour of love. Consider the number of steps involved, from the baking of a cake, to the preparation of frosting, to the melting of chocolate (or, indeed, the making of chocolate!) and the decoration of each cake pop… Yes. There is much to be done!

I do, however, hope that by experimenting with this myself, I will spare anyone who tries this any of the little frustrations I encountered along the way. It is also worth mentioning that any of the components alone are worth trying; the cake, the frosting, the matcha white chocolate.

I can’t claim that these are the healthiest pops out there, but they could provide a better alternative for many, especially those who are vegan, wanting to cut down on their sugar intake or trying to avoid artificial colours and flavours.

<3 MM x

Let’s begin with the recipes for the various components, starting with…

VEGAN CHOCOLATE OLIVE OIL CAKE

Prep time | 5 mins, Bake time | 45 mins

If making cake pops, you must start with making the cake! This can be done well in advance. We baked ours, stored it in the fridge and used it to make pops two days later.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

1 tin organic coconut milk
50 g cacao powder
200 g stevia sugar* (I used Dan Sukker, a one-to-one sugar replacer, not pure stevia)
200 ml olive oil
475 g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

* You could also try replacing this with a mix of coconut palm sugar and birch sugar for a richer taste (so 100 g of each). Or, if you prefer, simply use regular caster sugar.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (fan).
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl/the bowl of a standing mixer (e.g. KitchenAid). Pour coconut milk, oil, cacao and stevia sugar* into a food processor and blitz to combine well. Pour wet mix over dry, stirring (or using paddle attachment on standing mixer) to combine.
3. Pour batter into a baking parchment lined cake tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes in the oven until a knife/skewer comes out clean.
4. Remove cake from oven and allow it to sit for a few minutes before removing it from the tin and allowing it to cool on a wire rack.

 

VEGAN MATCHA WHITE CHOCOLATE

Prep time: 10 mins | Set/freeze time: 30-60 mins

One of the issues with traditional white chocolate is that it contains none of the health-boosting antioxidants that its dark chocolate counterpart can boast. Have no fear. Antioxidant-packed matcha to the rescue!

If using this Vegan Matcha White Chocolate to make crumbles for cake pops, you will want to prepare this in advance. It can even be done whilst your cake is baking. sure, it’s yet another step in the process, but it does provide a DIY healthier option for those wanting to avoid the use of artificially coloured sprinkles or candy melts.

INGREDIENTS

200 ml raw grated cocoa butter
3 tbsp coconut oil (I used Fitnessguru)
2 tsp stevia sugar (I used Dan Sukker, a one-to-one sugar replacer, not pure stevia)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp matcha powder (I used Matcha Maiden)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place a small saucepan with a few centimetres of water in it on the stove over low heat. Pop a large bowl over it, and gently melt the cocoa butter, stirring often. Mix in the coconut oil and combine well. Add stevia sugar, matcha and vanilla extract. Whisk to help the sugar dissolve and matcha incorporate.
2. Pour into silicone ice-cube tray/candy molds while warm.
3. Pop tray/molds into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Store chocolates in freezer and remove before use/serving.

 

VEGAN CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING

When it comes time to make your cake pops, you’ll need to mix up a batch of frosting to bind everything together…

INGREDIENTS

100 ml stevia sugar (I used Dan Sukker, a one-to-one sugar replacer, not pure stevia)
60 ml cornstarch
60 ml cacao
A pinch of salt
250 ml oat/coconut/almond milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cacao in a medium sauce pan.
2. Whisk in the plant milk, stirring constantly over medium heat. Bring to a slow boil and continue to whisk until frosting has thickened substantially.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in oil and vanilla.
4. Cool at room temperature before using.

 

VEGAN CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE POPS
(with matcha white chocolate crumbles)

If you have made it this far, you will be keen to get started with assembling and decorating your cake pops! I only decorated 8 Christmas tree-style cake pops with the matcha white chocolate crumbles, and the cake pop mix makes a LOT of cake pop balls (which can be frozen for later use, dipped in chocolate or decorated in other ways too). In any case, here is how I made them and here’s what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE POP MIX

2/3 of your cooled Vegan Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (you can eat the rest… yummy!)
1 portion of Chocolate Fudge Frosting

INGREDIENTS FOR MATCHA WHITE CHOCOLATE CRUMBLES (enough to coat 8 Christmas tree cake pops)

30 g solid portions of Matcha White Chocolate (direct from freezer)
100-125 ml desiccated coconut
Extra matcha for a more intense green colour (optional)

At least 50 g vegan dark chocolate for coating the cake pops in, melted
Dried cranberries, cut into teeny tiny pieces to decorate your trees (optional)

EQUIPMENT

Baking paper-lined trays
Cake pop sticks
A foam block or small glasses filled with rice (for setting the cake pops in)
A small food processor (I used this Braun hand blender chopper)
A cake pop presentation stand (I made my own from an empty Squarebars box, covered in white paper and a little fluffy “snow”)

DIRECTIONS

1. Crumble your cooled cake in a large mixing bowl (or in a food processor before tipping the crumbs into a mixing bowl).
2. Add the frosting, ensuring that everything is thoroughly incorporated. If your mix seems too dry (it should be moist, fudgy and hold together like dough), you can add a small dash of dairy-free milk.
3. Take a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball the size of a large walnut and place onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Repeat until all your mix is used up.
4. Shape 8 of your cake pop balls into Christmas tree shapes (the mix should be very easy to mould) and pop them into an airtight container lined with a little baking parchment. Refrigerate them for at least an hour (overnight, if you like). The rest of your cake pop balls can be placed in the fridge or frozen for later use.
5. Now to decorate your Christmas trees! Take your formed cake pops out of the fridge, dip one end of a cake pop stick into your melted dark chocolate and insert it half way into one of your tree cake forms. Repeat the process, then place each cake pop into a foam block or small glass filled with rice. Pop all of them into the fridge for a few minutes, then take out one at a time to decorate.
6. Prepare your matcha white chocolate crumbles by placing 30 g of Matcha White Chocolate (direct from freezer) into a small food processor (I used this Braun hand blender chopper) with the desiccated coconut and giving it a thorough blitz, until everything is incorporated. If you are happy with the colour, leave as is. Sprinkle a little extra matcha powder in and blitz again if you want a deeper green. Your mix may look a little wet at this point, so pop the chopper container into the freezer for a few minutes and quickly blitz again. Your crumbles should be good to go.
7. Take one of your cake pops by the stick and dip into your melted dark chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off, then sprinkle over your matcha white chocolate crumbles. If adding cranberry “baubles”, dip them carefully into the dark chocolate and adhere them to your crumble coated pops, before placing them back into the fridge to set. Repeat the process until all your pops are decorated. You may need to refreeze and reblitz your crumbles a couple of times along the way. It is fiddly, but worth the extra effort.
8. The set, decorated cake pops can be covered in cling film and refrigerated for a couple of days in advance of serving (this is what I did). When ready to serve them, simply place them in a presentation stand.

 

Phew! I told you this was an epic process. But the results are super-cute, rather delicious… and you can enlist the help of your family! 😉