| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 4 hr |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Inactive: | 3 hr |
| Cook: | 15 min |
| Yield: | about 36 pops |
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)
- Zest of 1 large orange
- 3 cups powdered sugar3 tablespoons whole milk, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Orange food coloring, as needed
- Two 12-ounce bags bittersweet (70 percent) chocolate chips
- 5 tablespoons safflower oil
- Orange and white sprinkles, for decoration
Instructions
- For the cake: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 11- by 8-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the baking sheet allowing the excess to fall over the sides. Spray the parchment paper with the cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until smooth. Add the mascarpone cheese, orange juice and zest. Mix until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared baking sheet, spreading the batter to the edges. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Using the excess parchment to lift, carefully remove the cake from the baking sheet and cool completely on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.
- For the frosting: While the cake is cooling, combine the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla extract and butter in a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, combine the ingredients until smooth, adding more milk if needed (the frosting should be stiff). Gradually add the orange food coloring until desired color.
- Cut the cooled cake in half. Using a serrated knife, trim the top layer of cake halves to make a flat surface. Spread the frosting over one half of the cake. Top with the other cake half. Refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the frosting has set.
- For the chocolate: Combine the chocolate and safflower oil in a small bowl and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Cut the cake into 1 1/4-inch squares. Insert a popsicle stick into the end of each cake square. Dip the cake squares into the melted chocolate, shaking off any excess chocolate. Decorate with sprinkles and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the cake squares. Refrigerate the pops until the chocolate has set, 1 to 2 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 36 servings |
| Calories | 259 |
| Total Fat | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 21 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 34 mg |
| Sodium | 80 mg |
Reviews
I can only attest to the cake recipe, which was fantastic! I made “normal” cake pops by mixing in different frosting, but used this cake recipe and would make this cake for regular cake or cake pops anytime in the future.
Awesome recipe
I can make them for Halloween!
These are rich, but fun and yummy! I made my cakes a week in advance and froze them. After reading reviews that people had problems with the cake crumbling, I decided to frost and cut the cakes into cubes while still frozen. Worked perfectly! No crumbling at all! Adding this to my box!!!
The following is from my daughter I am thirteen,and I made these by myself . My family love’s cake pops. The process was great, it cooked quickly, and the cake never fell apart. It was very RICH. But fun to make.
Did not like it at all
I made these to bring to work for a Halloween Treat. Everybody loved them. I never heard more”UMMMS” before. Easy to make. You must, must have the cake cold before cutting and dipping in chocolate. This is definately going into my recipe box.
The cake fell apart, so I just dumped it all in a bowl and made regular cake pops.
I agree that the time was off, mine also took 40 minutes to bake. I cooled the cake and also put it in the refrigerator overnight before I cut it and frosted it. When chilled it was very easy to cut into individual pops. They look fantastic!!
The cake itself was very yummy and so was the frosting. I followed the directions EXACTLY but when I tried to assemble the cake, it fell apart on me. Very disappointed. I want to make this again but need to figure out how to keep the cake together!