Cake Pops!

Table-top Kitchen at Expo West

Natural Products Expo West was a blast! I had tons of fun, and met lots of great people.  I had created two recipes for cake pops specifically for the show, and I was so happy to find that everyone loved them.  It was hard to keep them on the table - they were devoured so quickly!  

And everyone asked for the recipe.... 

The Device

So here we are, without further ado:

For these recipes I used a Bella Cake Pop maker (there are other companies that produce cake pop makers, you don't necessarily have to have a Bella).  Make sure to follow the directions with your appliance! The instructions for the Bella maker say to season the cooking surface <- this is VERY important, you don't want your creations to stick to the surface.  In addition, if the maker says to throw out the first batch or two, do it.  I know it will be painful to just throw the first ones away, but trust me, you should (they don't taste good).

On with the baking!

Vegan & Gluten Free Coconut Cloud Bites®
with Hodgson Mill Coconut Flour

Makes about 24 Cake Pops (this recipe can be doubled)

Whisk the egg replacer and
warm water together until
smooth.  Put aside.

Coconut Flour!

½ cup       Hodgson Mill Coconut flour

¼ cup       Morena Non-GMO pure cane sugar (or organic cane sugar)

1 tsp          Rumford aluminum free, double acting baking powder

¼ tsp         baking soda

¼ tsp         Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Xanthan Gum

¼ tsp         salt

2 Tblsp     Ener-G Egg Replacer

         +

½ cup       warm water

¼ cup       virgin coconut oil, melted

½ cup       coconut milk (non-gmo soy, almond or rice will work too, but coconut is best)

½ tsp        vanilla

Whisk the egg replacer and the warm water together until smooth, set aside.   Mix the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl, then stir in the wet ingredients.  Mix until uniform.  Place the batter in a pastry bag (or a food-storage bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze the batter into your cake pop maker.  You want to fill the wells just a bit higher than the edge, but don't fill them up too much - the batter will squeeze out from the wells and you'll have a big mess (I found this out the hard way).  Cook about 3-5 minutes (you can open the pop-maker after three minutes to check- if they're not done, leave for another minute or two.  Try to resist opening it any earlier than 3 minutes - I know they smell delicious and you'd like them to be done even sooner, but if you open the pop-maker too early, it will destroy your sweet, wonderful creation).  Open cake pop maker and let stand about 30 seconds before carefully removing cake poppers. (A bamboo skewer and a spoon work well for this- nudge the pop with the skewer and roll it gently onto the spoon. Don't try to dig the pops out with anything metal- metal utensils will damage the non-stick surface)  Allow to cool (centers will be very hot when fresh out of the appliance).

mixin' dry ingredients
together

*Coconut Cloud Bites® name and recipe are Registered Trademarks of snackforyourmind.blogspot.com

First couple of batches might not be
so round.  Don't worry! You'll get it!

Vegan & Gluten Free Chocolate Almond Dream Bites® with Hodgson Mill Almond Flour

Makes about 12 to 15 Cake Pops 

(you can double this recipe too, if you like)

     

1 cup           Hodgson Mill Almond Meal

1/3 cup       cocoa powder (non-alkaline)

3 Tblsp       Morena Non-GMO pure cane sugar (or an organic cane sugar)

¾ tsp           Rumford aluminum free, double acting baking powder

¼ tsp           baking soda

¼ tsp           salt

½ tsp           Hodgson Mill gluten free xanthan gum

2 ¼ tsp        Ener-G Egg Replacer

      +

3 Tblsp       warm water

2 Tblsp       organic virgin coconut oil, melted

¼ tsp           almond extract

¼ cup          coconut milk (non-gmo soy, rice or almond will work, but coconut is best)

Whisk warm water and egg replacer together until smooth, set aside.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add wet ingredients and stir until uniform.  Scoop the batter into a pastry bag (or a food-storage bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze it into your cake pop maker.  You want to fill the wells just a bit higher than the edge.  Again, don't over-fill, the batter needs some room to expand (this recipe takes a tiny bit less batter than the Coconut Clouds®.  Cook about 3 to 5 minutes.  Open cake pop maker and let stand 30 seconds before carefully removing cake poppers. (again with the bamboo skewers and a spoon.) Please, allow them to cool a little (the centers will be very hot when fresh, and burnt tongues are not fun).

One Hot Pop - Yes,
the photo is blurry.  I had to
roll the cake a bit so it
didn't burn my hand.

*Chocolate Almond Dream Bites® name and recipe are Registered Trademarks of snackforyourmind.blogspot.com


These bites are tasty; great for an after-school snack, for parties, or whenever!  I tried two other versions at the show too - I mixed in some Vegan Coconut Bacon (yes, that's what you just read, Vegan Coconut Bacon - and it's Gluten Free too! How cool is that?) from Phoney Baloney's, and some maple syrup into the Coconut recipe - seriously delicious savory sweet!
  And then, there were some lovely folks there from Texas: Barton Creek Crossing (Kenny and Willi Ann, with their amazing little girl Abby!).  They make some incredible Pumpkin and Apple Spreads.  Willi suggested trying pumpkin with the coconut, so we did.... and an incredible treat was born! Like eating the middle of a pumpkin pie.

And I intend on experimenting more - we'll just have to see what turns up.
But most importantly, eat them and enjoy!