VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles

Spruce up your Edible Holiday Gifts with these assorted VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles #Christmas #CakePops #VEGAN #HolidayGifts

You know how a week before Christmas, all the shows on TV are some sort of Christmas special, showcasing how our favorite characters celebrate the season in their own way. And I wonder, why oh why, is it all about the presents under the tree?

I think that in the hustle and bustle of consumerism, we’ve forgotten that the holiday season is the perfect time to connect with the people in your life (for reals, not via social media, tch tch tch!), the time to re-learn the importance of giving to those who most need it (although there’s no time like the present to refresh that particular lesson), and the time to gift joy, togetherness and experiences.

Christmas day in the Dawson home was always the same: After vigil mass at midnight, we’d come home to a comely manger and a beautiful tree, plus a large tray full of delicious goodies. After a short family prayer, we dig in and sit together, sampling all the treats Mother forbid us from eating when it was being made, while serial lights twinkle all around us.

After too few hours of sleep, we’re up in the morning, not-so-bright and early, to a scrumptious breakfast of chicken curry and bread. It’s the only day of the year we have chicken curry for breakfast, so that brightens us up a little. After which, we get dressed in our special Christmas attire to the worst chore ever: taking large plates/boxes of all the goodies to all the neighbors, friends and family in a 2-3 mile radius. For those beyond that, we visit in the coming weeks as a family, well into the New Year. While this tedious and woeful (especially when the house we go to has unfriendly pets and grown-ups who like pinching cheeks) task usually falls upon the children of the home, the parents prep for an elaborate lunch.

After the rounds are done, we pitch in for the lunch prep and sit down, absolutely ravenous for the most delicious meal of the year! Just when the lunch we ate together as a family starts to weigh heavy on the eyelids, we’re back on our feet again, visiting our maternal grandmother late in the afternoon.

And then we’re back home for dinner, it’s usually to leftovers from lunch, which ironically taste better than it did in the afternoon. And when we hit the sack for the night, it is the soundest, most exhausted sleep we catch that year!

In essence, it is a day spent with focus on family, friends and food – the three very important F’s in my book. It was so much fun, despite how exhausting that all sounded, and I truly cherish the days gone by.

Time is a funny thing, isn’t it? In a world where time is money, when someone gives me something handcrafted, it immediately values higher in my mind. No matter how poorly made or hurriedly wrapped they seem, they are truly precious, thoughtful, personal and unique. And these VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles, make precious edible gifts.

Despite being cake pops, they are just as decadent as an all chocolate truffle, while being easi(er)on the pocket. Which means, they make purrfect gifts! Besides, look how pretty!!

I infused these VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles with this delicious Chestnut Praline Syrup for that extra festive touch. You can use your own syrups and extracts to flavor these cake pops, making them as assorted and varied as you like. Divide the crumbled cake mixture, add flavors and roll them in coordinating flavors for absolute perfection. Hint: Hazelnut Syrup cake pops dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped roasted hazelnuts. Yumm!

Here are some flavors to roll your VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles:

1. Cacao Powder
2. Icing Sugar
3. Chopped nuts
4. Cinnamon sugar
5. Chocolate ganache flavored with seasonal syrups
6. Crushed Candy Cane

When you make these VEGAN Chocolate Cake PopTruffles (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!

VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles

Spruce up your Edible Holiday Gifts with these assorted VEGAN Chocolate Cake Pop Truffles

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the cake

• 200 g all purpose flour
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g cacao powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 250 ml water
• 90 ml olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

For the cake pop mixture

• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate (dairy free)
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• 4 tbsp Chestnut Praline Syrup (substitute with sugar syrup)

For the chocolate ganache coating

• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate (dairy-free)
• 0.5 cup canned coconut milk
• 1 tsp Chestnut Praline Syrup (substitute with sugar syrup)

Other coatings

• Raw Cacao powder
• Chopped roasted nuts (hazelnut, peanut, cashews, etc)
• Icing sugar
• Crushed Dairy-free Praline
• Cinnamon Sugar
• Crushed Candy Cane

Method

 

Make the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line a sheet pan (38.7 x 26 x 1.21 cm) with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt). To it add the wet ingredients (water, oil, vanilla).
3. Mix batter until the dry and wet and mixed. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan and smooth the top.
4. Bake in the preheated oven at 350F/180C for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Cool completely on a wire rack, covered with a clean kitchen towel.

Make the chocolate mixture

1. In the meantime, heat the coconut milk until steamy (but doesn't boil) and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.
2. Stir until chocolate and coconut milk are combined and then add the syrup.

Shape the cake pops

1. Crumble the cooled cake with your fingertips until it's all coarsely powdered. Add the chocolate mixture to the crumbled cake and mix.
2. Scoop some of the mixture (about 1 tbsp) and shape tightly into a ball using your palms. Set aside on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
3. Refrigerate the shaped cake pops covered in a clean, dry air tight container for a few hours or overnight to harden.

Make the ganache coating

1. Heat the coconut milk until steamy (but not boiling) and pour over the chocolate to melt. Stir to combine and add in the syrup.
2. Insert a toothpick into a chilled, hard cake pop and dip into the chocolate ganache. Swirl and shake to drip excess chocolate. You may also sprinkle chopped roasted nuts on top.
3. Set on a baking tray lined with parchment paper to set. The ganache coating will harden enough to be picked up without leaving a print.
4. Once solid, transfer to a mini truffle wrapper. Repeat with the remaining cake pops with the coating of your choice.
5. Store coated cake pops refrigerated for upto 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature.