Three months from now, Mila will celebrate her second birthday. I'm still deciding if we will have a DIY home party or just book a Jollibee or McDo insta-party. I'm still pushing to do it at home so I can have more control on how the party will look, hoping I'd have the time and budget.While waiting for the final plan, I've been practicing on different recipes for the dessert table. Most of the parties I've recently attended, I noticed that cake pops are quiet a hit. It's everyone's piece of cake, without all the mess! Pretty much like cupcake, only more portable and perfect for little toddler hands. I knew I wanted to make one. One big problem: I don't have baking tools, much less an oven to make the cake since I have a teensy-weensy, bare kitchen.
Then I saw the the Nuffnang Philippines' #NoLimitWithInipit: Make Your Own Lemon Square Inipit Dessert Contest. Tah Dah! There's the answer to my cake-dilemma. I decided to try making my own cake pop using Lemon Square Inipit - our favorite soft, yummy, and fluffy Inipit cakes turned into the popular cake pops.
Here's how I improvised and made INIPIT POPS!
Ingredients:
3 pcs Custard Lemon Square Inipit
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1-2 tsp water
3/4 cup white chocolate
rainbow sprinkles
paper straw, lollipop sticks or barbeque sticks (remove the pointy end)
Procedure:
1. Using your hand or fork, mash the Lemon Square Inipit into crumbs.
2. Melt the mini marshmallows over double boiler. I used a small pan, 1/4 full with water. Then I put a non-stick pan on top. You can use a glass bowl for this too. Just make sure that it fits inside the pot without resting at the bottom or touching the water inside. Let the water boil and the steam will indirectly heat up the pan/bowl and the mallows will melt without burning. This is Improv #1. 3. Mix in the Lemon Square Inipit crumbs. Continue mixing the until all mallows are melted and the two ingredients combined well. Add about 1 to 2 teaspoons of water, depending on the consistency. You don't want it too thick nor too runny, and should not stick to the pan when done. (see photo below for the right texture that you should look for)
4. Remove from heat and let the Lemon Square Inipit batter cool down. Prepare your flat container lined with wax paper. On this case, I only have cupcake liners that I put inside a microwavable container, which worked well too (Improv #2).
5. Get enough batter to form 1-inch balls. Roll in between your palms to make it smooth. You can dust your hand with flour if it gets too sticky.
6. When all done, cover the Lemon Square Inipit balls with plastic wrap (or just put the lid on your container) and freeze for at least two hours. The longer, the better. This will ensure that the balls will hold its shape.
7. After 2 hours, it's time to prepare the chocolate coating. To melt the chocolate, some would use microwave or double boiler. I did Improv #3. Fill a ceramic or glass container with 3/4 cup of chocolate. It's best if it's narrow and deep so the balls will completely submerge . Put it on top of another container filled with boiling water. Stir using a barbeque stick until the chocolate is all melted. In essence, it's like a double boiler, but without direct heat. It will be more gentle on the chocolate and you will have more time to work with it.
8. Take out the frozen balls. Dip one end of the barbeque stick into the melted chocolate and insert midway into the balls. It will help them stick and not fall off. Let it dry for a minute.9. Dip the balls in the chocolate one at a time. Rotate a few times to ensure even coating.
10. Time to decorate! I only had rainbow candy sprinkles which I used to partially cover the Inipit Pops! by rolling the top on a platter of sprinkles before the chocolate is fully set. Let it air dry and enjoy!
Yield: 10 pcs Inipit Pops!
Inipit a native delicacy which is really a sponge cake sandwich, with custard filling. Lemon Square Inipit comes in different flavors which can add another layer of taste to your Inipit Pops! You can use custard, chocolate, pandan, lemon, ube-pastillas de leche, and queso.
Get more creative with you design. Try different ingredients like nuts or dedicated coconut to cover the Inipit Pops! You can use more chocolate or icing to draw on the Inipit Pops!
To keep the Inipit Pops! standing up, you can stick them on a styrofoam block. I used a mason jar filled with rock salt. I'm thinking you can use colored salt and layer them so it will look prettier on your dessert table.
Talagang ang Sarap maging kid with Inipit! Mila could not keep her hands off the Inipit Pops! She had the first bite and by the way she said WOW! I know I got a successful recipe. To think that I only used ingredients and tools that I already have. It's really easy and you can double or triple the recipe as needed. I can already picture this as a hit on Mila's birthday. I'm wondering what other desserts I can come up with. I hope this recipe inspired you to create your own dessert recipe too because there's #NoLimitWithInipit!
