Chick On Sticks - The Recipe

Cute hey? I decided against adding eyes or beaks in a different colour - minimalist chicks you could say. The amazing sons, the gorgeous husband and the fab friend all enjoyed them on Easter Sunday. They are very sweet though - so be warned if you don't have a sweet tooth or if you do and need to avoid indulging your sugar addiction. So, here's how....

Ingredients

• 2 x Sainsbury's basics Madeira cake (yes, the basics variety - cheap but actually very nice)
• 1 x tub Betty Crocker vanilla frosting (cheating all the way my lovelies)
• 1 x packet of Scotbloc (you really can still buy this from Sainsbo, fabulous stuff)
• yellow oil based food colouring
• lollipop sticks - the paper variety preferably
• chick shaped cutter (unless you are feeling very creative and have lots of time)
• polystyrene block (available free from Homebase I understand, or be prepared to hold the cake pops until dry)

What To Do

1. crumble your Madeira cakes into, well, crumbs
2. stir in the frosting, all the frosting - this is why they are so sweet
3. refrigerate the dough for a good hour or so
4. roll out the dough to the depth of the cutter and cut the chick shapes out, repeat as necessary
5. refrigerate the chicks for another hour or so
6. melt the Scotbloc gently in the microwave and stir in enough food colouring to get a good yellow colour
7. dip the lollipop stick in the Scotbloc and gently push into the bottom of the chick - about an inch or so
8. (yawn) refrigerate again for about an hour or until the scotbloc has fully hardened
9. re-melt the scotbloc gently in the microwave
10. dip the chicks headfirst in the melted scotbloc so they are totally covered
11. gently tap and twizzle the chicks over the bowl until the scotbloc stops dripping
12. insert the stick into the polystyrene block to dry

It sounds more complicated and long winded than it really is. You can do it in stages over a number of days which is what I did. A good website for supplies is The Cake Decorating Company, and they delivered incredibly quickly when I used them. I also referred to Bakerella's YouTube video for the tap and twizzle method so you get a nice smooth coating. Maybe I have too much time on my hands, or perhaps my housework aversion is to blame, but I love making cake pops. More to come I would imagine.