a white chocolate flavoured sponge containing peppermint flavoured green and red swirly cake pops, sandwiched together with a white chocolate and peppermint candy cane butter cream. The cake is then decorated with fondant.
Ingredients
*FOR THE CAKE POPS*
50g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
50g self raising flour
1 egg
1 tsp peppermint essence
green food colouring
*FOR THE CAKE*
red food colouring
150g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
200g self raising flour
4 eggs
50g white chocolate spread
*FOR THE BUTTERCREAM*
100g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp cream cheese
100g white chocolate
3 peppermint candy canes
*FOR THE DECORATION*
1 x 500g pack of white Renshaw ready to roll fondant icing
1 x 250g pack of red Renshaw ready to roll fondant icing
1 x 250g pack of green Renshaw ready to roll fondant icing
1 tbsp apricot jam
edible silver balls
icing sugar for dusting the work surface
Instructions
**To make the cake pops:
Pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160o C (fan)
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy
Add the eggs and peppermint essence and beat together for a couple of minutes
Add the flour and fold through until all combined
Divide the batter equally into two bowls, in one add some green food colouring and in the other some red. You want to add enough to make the batters turn a bright red/green
Add the batters to your cake pop machine/baking trays and cook according to the instructions
Allow to cool once cooked
**To Make The Cake:
Grease and line 2 x 8cm cake tins
Cream together the butter, white chocolate spread and sugar until pale and creamy
Add the eggs and beat together for a couple of minutes
Add the flour and fold through until all combined
Add enough of the cake batter to each tin to just cover the bottom of each
Then add your cake pops to each tin - I added 5 to each of alternate colours
Add the rest of the cake batter to each tin to cover the cake pops
Cook in the oven for about 22 minutes until cooked through
Allow to cool completely
**To Make The Buttercream
Melt the white chocolate
Crush the candy canes with a rolling pin
Place the butter in a bowl and beat until smooth
Carefully add the icing sugar, little by little until a smooth paste forms
Add the cream cheese and white chocolate and beat until smooth
Fold in the candy canes
**To Assemble
Sandwich the two sponges with some of the buttercream
Then carefully using a serrated knife, cut around the cake to make it smooth and the same all the way around
Then using the rest of the buttercream, cover the sides and top of the cake with it which will help the fondant to stick top the cake
Dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out your white fondant with a dusted rolling pin, ensuring that you turn the fondant frequently to avoid it sticking
Once it has been rolled out big enough to cover the cake, roll it up over the rolling pin and then drape it over the cake
Working quickly, smooth the foindant over the cake being careful not to let it crease or over lap.
Trim the excess
Once the fondant had been smoothed over, roll out your green and red fondants side by side - dusting the work surface with more ising sugar as required
Cut out different sized stars (I did small and medium and 1 large ) and add to the cake using melted jam and a pastry brush.
I then added silver balls to add some extra festive sparkle
Recipe by Mummy Mishaps at http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/2013/12/peppermint-white-chocolate-christmas-cake.html