Sometimes you just crave something unhealthy. With all your mind you know that you should not, but rationality sometimes just leaves the door.

Then you are on your own.

And the cravings get the best of you. But this recipe is somewhat of an interesting one. It recycles old cake, so in some way, it is good because there is less waste. I am not sure how I feel justifying this recipe. I can already see the potential of using peanut butter... Stop! Okay, sometimes you can treat yourself. We only live once.

Have you seen these cake pops recently, well, pop up? I have seen them in many of the coffee shops I visit, but they are always so expensive and I do not really eat cake that often; being a baker I prefer bread.

But I had to try it.

So please join me in this recipe as a bread baker tries to make cake pops.

Ingredients and Recipe

I am no expert in this department, but I just threw stuff into a bowl. It worked. Here is my recipe or ingredient list:

• Some leftover cake (preferably dried-out pieces),
• Baking chocolate,
• Brandy, and
• Vanilla.

For the toppings, you can let your mind go crazy. We used:

• Coconut,
• Caramel biscuits, and
• Toasted nuts

The (Madness) Method

This is a hands-on recipe and you will smell like a bar. This can be good and bad. I began by breaking the cake into smaller bits and pieces:

Add some brandy and vanilla. (If you do not have to do anything the rest of the day, take a sip of brandy!)

The dried-out cake is theoretically soaking up the liquid you added. Or something in that line. But the end result is "wet cake" that you can shape into spheres or balls.

Do just that, shape them into golfball size balls and lay them on a baking sheet. You will put this in the fridge and let them chill very well. This is the ideal time to pour yourself a glass of brandy.

After having your drink and waiting for the cake balls to chill, you can begin with the melting of the chocolate. I needed to add some peanut butter or caramel in hindsight. Alas, we wait until the next cake pop session!

Now for the big moment! Get some sticks that will finish your "cake pop". I used some chopsticks I cut in half.

They did not work so well. But they did turn out okay. Stick them into the balls. (In hindsight, I should have put the sticks in before I put them in the fridge...) Dip them in the chocolate.

Immediately sprinkle over your mix, in our case, it was either biscuits, coconut, or nuts. Return them to the cold baking try and put them back into the fridge.

Wait for them to cool down and the chocolate to become hard again. Serve them as is or maybe with more brandy (jokes) or coffee.

And there you have it. Try not to overeat yourself with them. I am already getting new ideas in my mind. But I know I should stop. It is not easy having a sweet tooth in a world filled with sweets.

The texture is cakey, the pop of the hard chocolate and the mix of either nuts, coconut or biscuits worked so well. Maybe next time we will do peanut butter and peanut brittle, or caramel sauce and broken caramel pieces, or dulce de leche.... I should really stop.

Postscriptum, or do not abuse food

All jokes aside, do not misuse alcohol or the sugary treats. We only live once, but exactly that, we only live once. Look after yourself, health-wise and psychologically-wise. Food is good, but balance is better. But enjoy a sweet now and again.

All of the photographs are my own, taken with my iPhone. The recipe is also my own, as I just threw things into a bowl. The idea of cake pops is obviously not my own. But in our post-modern world, we are all just copies of copies. Happy cooking, and stay well.