Honey bee cake pop recipe

My little ones have rediscovered our garden this summer after a couple of years of bad weather had kept them inside. They seem healthier and happier for it and are now taking a new delight in all the creepy crawlies they find. They were a bit nervous about the bees that have been buzzing around our lavender, so I’ve been explaining all about the good work they do, pollinating the flowers and making lots of lovely honey for our breakfast crumpets. To further reinforce the idea of bees as friends, rather than foes, we made these cheerful little cake pops.

I’m not a huge fan of cake pops with shop-bought frosting and all its additives, so I’ve adapted the usual recipe to make use of that delicious honey. I’m also often put off by having to mail order those outrageously sweet little candy melts, so my cake pop coating is just white chocolate with a little food colouring. I did find that the more colouring I added, the thicker the chocolate became and the more difficult they were to dip, so choose a really concentrated brand and use sparingly.

 

Honey bee cake pops

Makes approx. 21

1 x 255 g madeira loaf cake
30 g butter
30 g runny honey
200 g white chocolate
a few drops of yellow food colouring
cake pop lolly sticks
50 g dark chocolate
50 g flaked almonds

2 - 3 terracotta flower pots
2 - 3 large baking potatoes to fit snugly inside
a few sheets of tissue paper
100 – 200 g dark brown sugar

• Crumble the cake with your fingers until you have fine crumbs.
• Melt the butter and honey together in a small pan, then stir it into the cake crumbs.
• Shape the mixture into teardrop-shaped balls with your hands – I made 21.
• Transfer to a sheet of baking parchment and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Melt the white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then stir in the yellow food colouring.
• Dip a lolly stick in the chocolate, then insert it into the centre of a cake ball. Repeat with the others, then return them to the fridge for another 15 minutes to secure.
• Meanwhile, create the stand by pressing a potato into each flower pot. Tuck a little tissue paper or kitchen roll down the sides to fill in the gaps so that the sugar doesn’t fall to the bottom later.
• If your white chocolate has hardened, reheat it over the pan of water.
• Dip each cake pop into the chocolate to coat it completely, then stick the end of the lolly stick into the potato.
• Melt the dark chocolate and spoon it into a small paper piping bag. Snip the end off, then pipe stripes around the body of each bee.
• Press 2 flaked almonds into the body of each bee to make the wings, then leave to set completely.
• The eyes and smile can be added at this stage – either pipe them on with some more melted dark chocolate or draw them on with a food colouring pen.
• Once the chocolate has dried, add some brown sugar ‘soil’ to your flower pot as a finishing touch.

If your little ones are interested in finding out more about the different creatures that live in their garden, go along to the Night and Day Gardens event at Basingstoke Discovery Centre between 29 July and 2 August. Visit the Basingstoke Discovery Centre's website for full details.

Happy nibbling!
Fiona B xxx