St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot of Gold!

When Karen was thinking about creating a baking tutorial for St. Patrick’s Day, she quickly began her research into this fun, March-themed holiday.  Nothing says St. Patty’s Day like four-leaf clovers, leprechauns and of course, a pot of gold.  This lead to her inspiration for these St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls.

One recipe frequently associated with St. Patrick’s Day is Grasshopper Pie.  Grasshopper pie is historically a no-bake dessert with a chocolate cookie crumb base and a crème de menthe filling.  It’s called grasshopper pie because of its bright green (mint) color.  Through the years, grasshopper pie has been reinvented into cheesecakes, brownies and a variety of new creations.  She thought I’d make this recipe and put a new spin on it by turning it into a St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot Of Gold!  

Ingredients for St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot Of Gold!

Mint Cheesecake – filling only

• Cream Cheese
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Mint Extract
• Green Food Colouring

Chocolate Brownies

• Chocolate Brownies Mix
• Eggs
• Water/Milk
• Oil
• Silicone Baby Food Storage Tray
• Black Candy Melts
• Gold Coin Sequin Sprinkles
• Black Licorice Strings

St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot Of Gold!

STEP ONE: Prepare Your Cheesecake Filling

I prepared my mint cheesecake courtesy of a recipe that I found on Kraft, however, any baked cheesecake recipe will do – the key is to add a teaspoon of mint extract and 2 or 3 drops of green food coloring to get that minty green, grasshopper look, and taste.  I usually use a mixer to smooth my cream cheese first – Note: the cream cheese should be at room temperature – and then add the rest of my ingredients (sugar, then eggs, extract and coloring).  Since I’m only using the filling for this cake bite, you can omit the crumb base instructions and add the mixture directly into a spring foam or regular baking pan (the cheesecake will be destroyed/repurposed so if the cooking vessel is well spraying with baking spray, it does not matter what you use).  Bake the cheesecake as instructed and leave to cool. This will serve are a filling for the St. Patrick’s Day cake balls.

STEP TWO: Prepare Your Brownies

In order to save time, I used a packaged brownie mix to make my brownies (you can, of course, make them from scratch if you wish).  Prepare the brownies according to the box, bake and leave to cool.

When cooled, crumble the brownie and with your hands, gathering the crumble and roll into small balls (approximately 1 teaspoon).  Make a few brownie balls and set aside.

STEP THREE: Creating Your Chocolate Shell

I found these Kushies silicone trays at a local store, used for baby food storage but the shape of the pods perfectly emulates the shape of a pot of gold.  Alternatively, you can order similar molds online. I found this Silicone Baby Food Storage Tray on Amazon that would work great for the molds. This way you can order the molds without leaving your house and have it delivered to your door.

Melt your candy melts in the microwave for short intervals until smooth. 

Spoon or pipe the melted candy into the silicone tray making sure to cover the entire pod, including and especially the sides.  Place in the freezer to harden for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Repeat this step so that you will have a substantial layer of chocolate covering the pod.  

Repeat, as needed.  The purpose of this repetition is to ensure that the pod is well coated so that when you finally push out your cake bite, it will not crack.  No more than 3 coats should suffice – remember, you’ll need room for that delicious grasshopper filling.

STEP FOUR: The Grasshopper Effect for the St Patricks Day Cake Balls

Now is when this becomes an Irish delight.  Take your mint cheesecake filling and spoon or pipe a small amount into the chocolate pod shell.  Then take one of your browning balls from Step Two and push it into the middle of the filling so there is cheesecake filling all around the bottom of the brownie ball. 

The next step in making the St. Patrick’s day cake balls, top the brownie ball and the rest of the pod with cheesecake leaving room for the last finishing layer of melted candy melts. 

Now that the cheesecake Is covering the cake ball you need to do the finishing layer of the melted candy melts. Once done please leave in the freezer for 15 minutes to solidify and making them easier to remove. If you try to remove the St. Patrick’s Day cake balls – pot of gold too soon you will have a cracked pot of Gold so don’t rush this step.

STEP FIVE: The Removal of the Cauldron

Once hardened, remove the (now) cake bite/ball from the silicone tray.  A good trick is to first pull/stretch and release the sides before pushing out the bite, this will make removal easier.

What I like most about using these silicone-based molds is the texture of the cake bite when it is removed – it has a “cauldron-like” appears and because the bottom of the mold is slightly indented, the cake bites stand upright on their own (no need to add a flat base to steady it).

STEP SIX: The Gold Effect

Take your cake bite and dip the top of it into your melted candy, making sure the entire top portion is covered. The melted candy will act as a glue and secure the sprinkles to the cake bite.

Open and place your gold coin sprinkles in a small bowl. Then dredge the freshly dipped cauldron into the coin sprinkles. 

Once covered in sprinkles, you can embellish by adding some licorice string (affixing with melted candy on the sides) to create a handle and a cute fondant 4-leaf clover to amp up the St. Patty’s Day feel.

Now you can enjoy and share your St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot Of Gold!  This is a cute reinvention on a classic Irish treat that anyone is sure to enjoy. I am actually going to make some of these and plan to take them to my kid’s school for St. Patrick’s day so their whole class can enjoy a fun treat.

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Visit our St. Patrick’s Day page for even more creative recipes, free printables, party ideas and more! Make sure to check out our other cake pop recipes.

Thank you to our contributor Karen for this fun St Patrick’s Day Cake Balls – Pot Of Gold tutorial! You’ll find even more creative tutorials and treat ideas there when you Click Here to see all the Cake Pop tutorials she’s created for the Moms & Munchkins audience! Also, you can check out more of her cake pop creations on her Cake Bites by Karen Instagram page.