Christmas Trees Pandan-Strawberry Chiffon Cake Pops

It was going to be Christmas and parents were asked to contribute to the kid's Christmas party in school. My first idea was cake pops since it is cute and will be easier to divide among the kids. However researching and after trying out cake pops, I was a little disappointed. I found them too sweet and hard for the kids.

At this time, my daughter was crazy over ice cream cones and frequently requested chiffon cakes in ice cream cones. She loved to peel off the ice cream cone and eat the cone and cake separately. It was one day when I saw her holding the conical chiffon cake when the 'Eureka!' moment came. Why don't I try out Christmas Tree-shaped chiffon cake "pops"??!

This came about the birth of chiffon cake pops! I experimented first with ice cream cones, and then paper cone cups for water which could be found from skp. I baked pandan chiffon cakes in the cones, and then peeled off the paper. The result: soft, light and fluffy conical chiffon cakes that rose beautifully in the paper cones!

Next, I experimented with patterning "decorations" on the Christmas trees with the new chiffon patterning technique on big cakes. I used red strawberry paste as I wanted a dual-flavoured cake and patterned both swirl and polka designs so that the kid gets to choose! The above picture shows the final result. A forest patch of swirl and polka trees with dual Strawberry-Pandan flavor on hearts snow ground!

The best part? My son's class teacher told me the kids absolutely loved the cute trees. It was the first item to be wiped out within the first few minutes and the kids said it was delicious! It was really such a joy to hear that from the teacher!

The recipe is shared below :)

80g cake flour
25g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
50ml vegetable/corn oil
50ml coconut milk (I substituted with fresh milk/water for health reasons)
1 tsp green pandan paste
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp red strawberry paste

Meringue:
4 egg whites
45g caster sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Prepare the conical cup holder by wrapping at least 2 layers of aluminium foil over a baking tray, and then using chopsticks to make holes. Gently insert the cups into the holes while making them bigger (see picture above).
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till foamy before stirring in oil, milk and vanilla extract.
4. Next add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found.
5. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Red patterns: Take 6 tsp of egg yolk batter out and mix ½ tsp strawberry paste. Scoop over 10 tbsp of meringue, then quickly but gently fold it in till well-combined (I use Cynthia’s handfolding method). Note: I made the red batter a little ‘stiffer’ since I didn’t intend to pre-bake the patterns (like in the chiffon tin).
7: Green chiffon cake: Add 1 tsp green pandan paste to the remaining egg yolk batter. Fold in 1/3 of the rest of the meringue by spatula, and then the rest using handfolding method.
8. Transfer the red patterning batter over to pipette or bag with wilton 5 tip. Place a spoonful of green batter in the cone, and then pipe red swirls in the cones using the wilton tip. Cover the swirls GENTLY with spoonfuls of green batter till the cup is 2/3 full.
For the polka dot designs, I piped the red dots as I added the green batter (alternate the two 2 times).
9. Bake the cake in preheated 160°C oven for 30-35 min.
10. Unmould as soon as cake pops are cool. Gently peel open the paper cones bottom up, following the paper lines to ensure cake tips are not broken.
11. Stick toothpicks or lollipop sticks below and viola! You may want to decorate the apex of the trees with stars or hearts using glace frosting (2 cups icing sugar, 2 tbsp soft butter, 2 tbsp boiling water) or kaya.

This post is written with lots of love,
Susanne