Breakfast in bed is all very well, but how about making mum something cool, sweet and quirky for Mother's Day instead - or as well?
How about a cake on a stick? This rather genius and very cute idea is the brainchild of English cook Clare O'Connell who has turned the concept into a home-based business in England supplying the likes of Harvey Nichols.
She's now sharing her idea, along with step-by-step recipes for doing it yourself in the book Pop Bakery (Cico, $19.99), out now.
It all starts with a simple cake recipe, and with a bit of crafting and some delicate paintwork, hey presto you have cake POPs in every style imaginable - from cute Russian dolls, to penguins, monsters, cacti or red and white topped toadstools.
They can be used to decorate other cakes or make great party treats on their own. Click the link for more on O'Connell's bakery. Here's her recipe for Russian dolls, which mum's bound to love.
Russian Doll POPS
20 × 1-oz (30g) cake balls (recipe below)
1 package (14 oz/400g) white candy melts
Coloured cocoa butters (food paints) in black and other colours
20 lollipop sticks
Paint palette
Thin paintbrush
1 Take your balls from the fridge and split each one into two balls, one bigger than the other for the body. Keep the heads and bodies in the fridge while you prepare the candy melts [melt in microwave according to packet instructions]. Once your candy melts are ready, take the heads and bodies from the fridge. Dip the head in the candy melts and attach it securely to the body of the cake POP.
2 Dip 1/3 inch (1cm) of a lollipop stick into the candy melts and insert it into the bottom of the dolls body.
3 Then dip the entire doll pop into your melts and shake slowly to remove all excess. Leave the doll to set in a colander.
4 Repeat steps 1-2 for the remaining 19 dolls.
5 While they are setting, melt the cocoa butters in the microwave on a medium heat for 2-4 minutes. Then pour them into a palette or the lid of the bottle. Egg cups are also perfect palettes for the paints. Take the paintbrush and first paint on a circle, followed by the hairline, and then the eyes and mouth.
6 Take the other colours and paint the decoration on to your doll. I tend to paint some bodies with flowers and others with hearts. Leave the other side of the dolls unpainted so that you can lay them down on a tray.
7 Place in the freezer to dry for 5-10 minutes.
Making the cake
This recipe is for a simple chocolate sponge cake that forms the base for all the pops.
1/2 cup (125 g) slightly salted butter, at room temperature
Scant 3/4 cup (125 g) superfine (caster) sugar
2 medium eggs
Heaped 1 cup (125 g) self-rising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
8 inch (20 cm) cake tin, greased and lined
1 Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) Gas Mark 3.
2 Put the butter and sugar in a food processor, and beat on medium speed until white and fluffy.
3 Slowly add the eggs as you continue to beat the mixture. Then sift over the flour and cocoa and continue to mix until everything is well combined.
4 Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until risen and cooked through. Test if it's cooked by inserting a skewer; if cooked, the skewer comes out clean.
5 Leave your cake to cool in the tin for 30 - 40 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooling rack for a few hours to cool down completely. Even better, make the cake the day before you want to make your POPs.
Making the cake balls
Makes 20 POPs
1 cooled cake (see above)
Scant 1/4 cup (70g) full-fat cream cheese
1 cup (140g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, sifted
1 Put the cake in a food processor and process to form a mixture with a crumb-like consistency. Put to one side. Combine the cream cheese and confectioner's (icing) sugar in a food processor until well mixed.
2 Combine the cake crumbs and cream cheese frosting with your hands, until all the frosting is incorporated and you are left with a moist mixture.
3 Measure out 1 oz (30 g) of cake mixture on digital scales. Roll this into a ball and place on a plate. Measure and roll 19 more cake balls.
4 Put the plate of cake balls in the refrigerator and let cool for a few hours or, if short on time, in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes until hard, but not rock hard or frozen through.
Cake balls and Russian dolls recipes and all images extracted from Pop Bakery by Clare O'Connell (Cico $19.99). Out now.
