Good Food blog

Leftover cake isn't a problem that many of us regularly have to deal with, but it's good to know that if you do find yourself with a sponge surplus that there's a lovely little use for it in the form of cake pops.

These twee lollies also provide the satisfaction of letting you take a beautifully made cake, throw it in a food processor, blitz it to bits and then use the pieces to make something even more impressive.

Just how impressive is up to you, and the bar has been set rather high by April Carter in her book, Top of the Cake Pops.

April demonstrates how to create edible pop stars like Crumbye West, Lady Goo Goo and Amy Limehouse and how to make some incredibly sophisticated and luxurious-looking cake pops.

Here is April's red velvet cake pop recipe with cream cheese frosting, but we've got a few photos for you to feast your eyes on too:

You will need cake crumbs, frosting, lollipop sticks, candy melts, sunflower oil, a polystyrene block and whatever decorations take your fancy.

Have fun experimenting with your decoration - I love sugar roses and sprinkles in combinations of pastel and bold colours.

You can find lots of suppliers for candy melts, lollipop sticks and polystyrene blocks (search for cake dummies) online.

Combining the cake and frosting will create a dough which you can shape into cake balls and chill in the fridge.

Candy melts melt easily in the microwave and need a little bit of oil to thin to dipping consistency. Dip your lollipop sticks into the melts before making your cake balls into cake pops and they will stay securely on their sticks.

Now you're ready to dip!

Add your decoration of choice while the candy melts are still drying and pop into your polystyrene block to dry completely.

Enjoy impressing friends with your pretty and delicious cake pops - everyone will love them!

For more detailed instructions see our full cake pops recipe and you can also follow April Carter's adventures in baking on her blog Rhubarb and Rose.