Pancakes & Bacon Cake Pops

As you may have guessed just by looking at some of the titles of my recipes throughout this cookbook, I love breakfast! I basically use any excuse to create a sweet treat that I can enjoy at the start of my day, as well as for a party or event.

I loved pancakes so much as a kid, I would have my mom make a couple extra— just so I could eat them cold throughout the rest of the day. As for the bacon, well, it’s optional, but who doesn’t love bacon and pancakes? Breakfast on a stick never looked so cute!

Pancakes & Bacon

yield: 2 dozen cake pops

MAPLE SYRUP CAKE

4 C (359 g) cake flour

4 tsp (15 g) baking powder

½ tsp salt

¾ C (172 g) butter, at room temperature

¾ C (143 g) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 ½ C (354 ml) pure maple syrup

¾ C (177 ml) buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground ginger

MAPLE BUTTER FROSTING

Makes about 3 ⅔ cups (457 g) frosting

¼ C (57 g) butter, at room temperature

¼ C (48 g) pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 C (260 g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more if needed

1 (12 oz [340 g]) bag white candy melts

1 lb (453 g) bacon, fried and crumbled, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch (22 x 33 cm) baking pan.

To prepare the cake: Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt two or three times into a medium-size bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter thoroughly using an electric mixer at high speed, adding the granulated sugar gradually; continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a liquid measuring cup, add the maple syrup to the buttermilk. Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture; mix well. Add the vanilla and ginger; stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (cover the top with foil toward the end of baking so the top does not brown). Remove from the oven and let cool until no longer warm to the touch.

To prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter using an electic mixer at medium speed, adding the maple syrup and vanilla, until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar in two additions. Beat until creamy, adding more sugar, if needed, for a slightly thick consistency.

To prepare the candy melts: Heat half of the white candy melts in an electric melter, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add the remaining half of the bag and stir until smooth. Turn the melter setting to low and stir the candy melts occasionally until ready to use. Alternatively, if you don’t have an electric melter, you can use your microwave set at 50 percent to melt the candy. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat in increments of 15 seconds, stirring between each heating until melted.

To assemble the cake pops: In a large bowl, break apart the entire cake in sections until you get fine crumbles (should resemble bread crumbs). Add the maple butter frosting 1 to 2 tablespoons (14 to 28 g) at a time, blending well with a spatula after each addition. You will start to see “dough” forming. Stop adding the frosting once the cake dough is the consistency of Play-Doh: moist but not soggy. Start molding the dough into a large bowl with your hands, picking out any dry pieces of cake as you form. Cover and chill the dough for 1 to 2 hours, until firm.

Remove the large cake ball from the refrigerator. Taking a small handful of dough with your fingertips, form a small cake ball about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter (a little smaller than a golf ball) and roll between your hands until smooth and even. Repeat until you get twenty- four cake balls all equal in size. Pile into a large bowl, cover and chill for 20 to 30 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Remove your cake balls from the refrigerator. Dip about ¾  inch (2 cm) of the end of a 6-inch (15 cm)-long candy stick into the melted white candy melts. While still hot, insert this end into the center of a cake ball and use your hand to secure and position the ball securely on the stick.

Dip the cake ball (now secured to the candy stick) back into the melted candy melts and lightly twist the stick in a counterclockwise motion until the entire ball is completely covered.

While the frosting is still wet, sprinkle crumbled bacon pieces on top of the cake pop. Place the frosted and decorated cake pop into a Styrofoam brick or cake pop rack to let cool and dry. Repeat the above steps for all twenty-four cake pops.