Cake pops… Love or hate? Edible treat or decoration? Yes or no? My first sighting of these little cakes sent my mind into a tizzy. What fun I could have making and decorating these with my small one.

He would love all the mess. Mixing crumbled cake with buttercream, rolling it around in his hands, dipping it in messy chocolate covering, smothering it all over with sprinkles and of course what child doesn’t love to eat sweetness on a stick?

Now after a deeper look at how to make these, I’m not so sure. You see it’s all the handling and moulding and shaping that bothers me.

I would never be able to relish eating these no matter how appealing they look, or how much they tried to entice me.

My small one however would have other ideas, seeing as how he usually squashes his bread into a ball and proceed to eat it out of his hands. And as much as I like to think he has listened to me and washed those hands, the reality is NOT.

But then I was given a cake pop maker for Christmas. A pretty little gadget, so pretty in fact that I wasn’t convinced it would do as it promised.

I was wrong to doubt… But I was right in saying the small one would have fun with these. We both did and I am now officially converted into the world of cake pops.

There will be more.

Vanilla cake pops
Makes 18
Ingredients
125g soft butter
125g castor sugar
2 medium eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125g self raising flour
2 tablespoons milk

To decorate
Lollipop sticks
Cooking chocolate
Toppings such as sprinkles and chopped glacé cherries.
Glacé icing
110g Icing sugar
Lukewarm water

Method
1. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually mix in the beaten egg, adding a little flour if curdling.
3. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract
4. Sift the flour and fold into the mixture.
5. Preheat the cake pop maker (roughly 2 minutes).
6. Brush the upper and lower plates with vegetable oil and add 1 heaped teaspoon of the mixture to each hole. Close the lid and cook for 4 minutes.
7. Prepare the glacé icing by mixing the sieved icing sugar with a little warm water until you get a thick consistency.
8. Melt the cooking chocolate and pour into a bowl. Pour the sprinkles into smaller bowls.
9. When the cakes are cool dip the lollipop stick into the glacé icing and insert into the end of the cake (this is to hold it in place). Stand upright in an empty egg carton and allow to bond.
10. Now time to have some fun. Spoon the chocolate or glacé icing over the cake pops and decorate with your preferred toppings.