Cherry Ripes for We Should Cocoa

Fathers Day weekend was a big one for the family.  On Saturday we had Fran and John's wedding party and on Sunday we had a big family lunch to celebrate birthdays and my mum heading overseas, as well as Fran and John being in town.  I had planned to make Dan Lepard's Cherry Ripe Slice for ages.  When it came to making it, I wanted a gluten free option.  I decided on a Cherry Ripe version of cake pops.  They went down a treat! 

Firstly let me mention the cafe the Fran and John chose for their party.  The Famous Blue Raincoat was hidden away in a little suburban shopping strip in the inner West of Melbourne.  I loved the funky decor indoors and the cute courtyard with fragrant jasmine and painted walls.  The menu seemed to be vegetarian-friendly.  With lots of people to catch up with and Sylvia keeping me on the my toes, I didn't eat that much.  The trays of finger food looked lovely.

I had planned to start on the Cherry Ripe Slice before the party.  My usual disorganisation found me starting on them while Sylvia ate her dinner.  Once I had decided against the slice, I thought I would just make Dan Lepard's cherry-coconut filling and roll it in chocolate.  However he called for 600g of glace cherries.  I am not such a fan of these super-sweet cherries and baulked at buying 6 x 100g packets of cherries.  So I only ended up buying 300g.

Even so, 300g cherries made the mixture very pink.  I misread the recipe and used more condensed milk than I should.  This made for very sticky mixture.  I had to have a tub of water beside me to keep my hands damp to make it easier to roll the balls.  Using the advice of Helen, I pushed icy pole sticks into each ball before they went into the freezer.

One of the biggest challenges was to fit the balls with sticks in the freezer.  Mine just seems choc-a-bloc lately.  It didn't help that the space I made was so stingy that I knocked some of the sticks as I put them in.  With the soft filling, the sticks were already a little wobbly.  Maybe thinner sticks would work better but the only ones I have found are so expensive.

The next challenge was how to dry the chocolate.  When I previously made cake pops, I put them in little cupcake papers without sticks.  It seemed that if I just dried them upside down they would look odd shaped (and the few I did dry upside down had a flat head that I wasn't so keen on).  I had no styrofoam to stick them in but I did have a blob of green playdough that my mum had made for Sylvia.  It meant that the sticks could dry upright for a few minutes before I put them upside down in the tub.  I still had a few falling off the stick, but I think these were the ones that had been out of the fridge too long and lost their firm shape.  Melted chocolate is brilliant for keeping them on the stick - once it dries.

We took them down to my parents place - an hour in the car.  I worried how they would travel without being in the fridge but they were fine.  I think these can be served at either fridge or room temperature - and would keep quite a while in the fridge (based on my observations of how long condensed milk keeps in the fridge).

My mum served them upside down on a plate.  They were served alongside regular family favourites - pavlova, sponge cake and caramel slice.  I love the idea of serving these "cake pops" with the balls at the top - maybe even stuck into a cake or brownie - but it probably would make them harder to pick up.  The plateful went quickly.  Everyone was so intrigued by them and kids loved the sticks. 

This is Sylvia's stick.  She loved them.  The pink inside made them fun but I knew that my family would just love the combination of condensed milk, coconut and chocolate - how could you go wrong.  I mentioned that I thought next time some chopped glace cherries would add a little more texture.  My brother Andy told me not to bother.  The other variation I think might be possible, is to make these vegan by using frosting instead of condensed milk.

We had a lovely time in Geelong.  Sylvia loves playing with her cousins.  They played hide and seek around the house and then went to the park at the local school where the kids played football, pirates and spies.  Sylvia was happy with the slide.  I loved this mural on the playground wall.  If I was still at school, this is where I would like to eat lunch every day - with cherry ripe cake pops in my lunchbox!

I am sending these cherry ripe cake pops to Chele of Chocolate Teapot for this month's We Should Cocoa.  This event is celebrating the end of its first year of chocolate challenge by Chele and her partner-in-cocoa - Choclette of Choclogblog.  The theme is a virtual birthday party.  I am sure these little cherry ripes would be great at a party, and Chele being an ex-pat Aussie, will appreciate that they are inspired by one of Australia's favourite chocolate bars.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Port Fairy - a welcome break
This time two years ago: Spring Beans
This time three years ago: A not-so-nasty pasty

Cherry ripe cake pops
inspired by Dan Lepard
Makes about 40

250g coconut
200g condensed milk (next time about half)
300g glace cherries (next time more)
500g x 70% dark chocolate (next time a bit less)

Place coconut, condensed milk and glace cherries in the food processor and blend.  (Next time I might put 300g in the food processor and finely chop 100g to stir in for a bit more texture.)

Find a board or plate that will fit in your freezer with space for the lollypop or icy pole sticks (see my pictures above).  Cover board or plate with baking paper.  If you can have a few small plates, or even a few strips of baking paper, that would be useful because it is easier to handle them if you can take out a few balls at a time.

Roll mixture into balls about the size of a walnut and place on covered board or plate.  Keep your hands damp with a bowl of water at your side to stop the mixture sticking from your hands as you roll the balls.  Stick a lollypop or icy pole stick in each ball.  (If you don't have any sticks, you can just makes them as truffles rather than cake pops - they will still taste excellent.)  Place board or plate of balls with sticks in the freezer to firm up.  I left mine for 3 hours but read that you could do this in about 1 1/2 hour!

Once you are ready to dip the balls, melt the chocolate in the microwave until liquid.  If possible, have somewhere to have them sit upright and dry once the chocolate is on them.  Styrofoam is ideal but I found playdough worked for me.  I did wonder about using a glass they could sit in.  Also have any sprinkles read, if you want to decorate them - I used red sparkles.

Now take out the balls, preferably in small batches.  (NB I took all mine out at once and found that I needed to put the undipped ones back in the freezer about halfway through to firm and cool again.)  Use stick to dip them in the chocolate - mine wasn't very deep so I had a spoon to help cover them.  Let chocolate drip and then quickly (because they will set quickly) scatter some sprinkles on top.  Place cake pops upright to dry for a minute or two if possible (I used playdough) and then transfer to a tub where they can be stored upside down.  Keep washing your hands if they get chocolate on them or they will smudge the sticks.

If you have any melted chocolate leftover (I melted 500g and had a bit leftover) you can spread it on a sheet of baking paper and firm up in the fridge.  Feel free to decorate as you wish with sparkles, nuts, coconut etc to make chocolate bark.

Keep cake pops in the fridge - ours didn't last long but I think they would last well in the fridge.  They can be served cold or at room temperature.

Update: I have made these a few times - see my cherry ripe pops in 2015.

On the Stereo:
Gulag Orkestar: Beirut