Chocolate Guinness Cake Pops

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since I haven't really done a lot of dessert decorating latetly, I knew I wanted to make something fun for the holiday. I was going to make cupcakes, but then decided on cake pops. I've never made them and I thought it would be fun. When making cake pops you definitely need something to hold them up. I bought a big block of styrofoam at Michael's and luckily the cashier gave me a coupon to use since styrofoam can be pretty expensive. I've also seen some cake pop holders before that you can buy.

These can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I just rolled mine in sprinkles and then decorated a few with clovers using some decorating tips (Wilton tip 252 to make hearts that resemble the leaves, and tip #4 for the stem). If you are making cake pops for a large party, the recipe below is great. But if you don't need to make a bunch, I would definitely half it. I wound up with way more than we needed, but we will be bringing some to my in-laws to share :)

Ingredients
1  11.2 fl oz bottle Guinness Beer
1/2 cup of butter cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup plain greek yogurt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 pkgs of creamcheese
White chocolate chips or white baking chocolate
Green food coloring or a bag of the green melting chocolate (can get from Hobby Lobby or Michaels)
Lollipop/candy sticks (available at Hobby Lobby or Michaels)

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium pot, heat the beer and butter until the butter has melted.
3. Remove pot from heat and whisk in the sugar and cocoa until fully combined.
4. In a small bowl (or glass measuring cup), mix together the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla then pour into the beer mixture and mix together.
5. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking soda then add to beer mixture and whisk until smooth
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack
8. Once totally cool, crumble cake up into a large bowl
9. Mix in the creamcheese and combine until well mixed (I used my hands for this)
10. Roll mixture into equal sized cake balls and place on a plate. Use a kitchen scale for accuracy.
11. Melt a little bit of the chocolate and dip one end of the sticks into the chocolate and then press into each cake ball. Be careful not to use too much pressure or you'll flatten them. Also, make sure not to let the stick go all the way through the cake ball.
12. Refridgerate cake balls for about an hour or so

13. Melt some white chocolate and green chocolate in seperate bowls. Prepare a few other small bowls with whatever sprinkles you may want to use.
14. Roll the cake balls into the chocolate and then into sprinkles
15. Stick the cake pop into the styrofoam. You may have to use a little force. Be careful not to stick them too close together (I decorated my styrofoam and will use that to serve as well in addition to the champagne glasses.)

16. Once the cake pops have dried, enjoy!
17. Since these have creamcheese in them I like to keep them in the fridge.

Tip: Be creative and serve in something fun!



Recipe source: adapted from tasteofhome