Chocolate Cake Pop Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients

To make the chocolate cake
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 400g white sugar
• 8 L eggs at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 300g sifted all purpose flour
• 100g sifted pure cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
To make the pink buttercream frosting
• 100g butter without salt at room temperature
• 150g sifted icing sugar
• pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• edible pink gel colorant
To make the chocolate ganache frosting
• 400g dark chocolate
• 400ml full cream
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
To make the cake pops/balls
• (enough to make 10 small-regular shaped cake pops/balls)
• use the chocolate cake tops cut from the baked cakes (3 tops)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons of ganache frosting
• 0.25 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 150g dark chocolate melted and ready for dipping (save some for the top of the cake)
• lollipop sticks (for the cake pops on the top)

Instructions

To make the cake
1. Pre-heat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF.
2. Prepare your molds with melted butter and line the bottoms with cut out wax paper circles.
3. Beat your sugar and oil for about 2 minutes then add your eggs 1 by 1. Now add your vanilla. Lastly add the sifted dry ingredients and make sure not to overmix!
4. Fill the molds ¾ of the way and bake for 35-40 minutes depending on your oven.
5. Make sure the cakes are cooled completely before removing them from the molds.
6. Cut your levels with a saturaded knife (it works best).
To make the pink buttercream
7. Blend all the ingredients together on high until light and fluffy for approximately 5 minutes.
To make your chocolate ganache frosting
8. Heat your cream in the microwave for 2 minutes
9. Add your chopped dark chcolate and allow to stand for 2 minutes.
10. Add your vanilla extract and mix well.
11. Allow to cool at roomtemperature. Set further in the fridge (overnight is best).
12. When completely firm, beat at medium speed until the ganache becomes frosting like and is light and fluffy.
To make the cake pops
13. Blend your cake pop ingredients together really well. You don´t want any lumps.
14. Use 1 spoon of cake pop mixture at a time to ensure your mixture is not too wet, you want it to be able to form a ball without being too wet or too dry.
15. Once your balls are formed, place them on a sheet of wax paper and leave them to set for 5 minutes in the freezer.
16. Dip the lollipop sticks for the ones on the top into the melted chocolate and then into the centre of the balls.
17. Allow to set in the freezer for a further 10 minutes.
18. Now dip the cake pops and cake balls into the melted chocolate until they are completely covered.
19. Allow the excess chocolate to drip off and then place them back onto the wax paper to set completely in the fridge.
To Assemble your cake
20. Spread two of the 3 layers with the chocolate ganache frosting, top with 3-4 cake pop balls on each layer.
21. Cover with more frosting then add the next layer of cake until completed.
22. Leave to set in the freezer for 15 minutes.
23. Crumb coat your cake and leave to set another 15 minutes in the freezer.
24. To get the graded look, I frosted the top and bottom side with the chocolate ganache frosting and left a centre gap for the pink buttercream.
25. Make sure you put equal amounts of frosting for each part to ensure the cake is frosted equally. Don´t overwork the frosting as you will loose the different coloured effect.
26. Use the leftover melted chocolate that you used for the cake pops/cake balls and drizzle some over the top so that it runs over the sides.
27. Top with the chocolate cake pops by placing them upside down!

Notes