Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease two 20cm/8inch cake tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flours and salt in a medium sizes bowl and set aside. In a medium sized jug, whisk together the milk and vanilla extract and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat softened butter until smooth, add sugar and beat until well creamed and pale in colour. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat for 2 minutes before adding the next egg. Make sure to scrap down the bowl after each addition.
4. Add one third of the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated, then add half of the liquids and mix just until incorporated. Repeat these two steps, then fold in the last of the dry ingredients.
5. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake tins and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes, then remove from tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. For the icing, beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the icing sugar and milk and beat until well mixed.
6. Trim away the darker outsides of the cake and discard, then use your finger to crumble the sponge into a large bowl. Add about two thirds of the frosting to the crumbs and initially stir in with a wooden spoon or blunt knife, then carry on mixing together with your hands so that the crumbs are well mixed with the frosting. Check the consistency by squeezing a small ball together, if it doesn’t hold easily, add more frosting, thoroughly mix in then check consistency again.
7. Scoop tablespoons of mixture and roll balls between your palms until smooth. Press down on the top of each ball with your thumb to flatten it slightly and to leave and indent. Use the blunt back of a knife to mark lines from top to bottom all around the flattened sphere to help create the pumpkin shape. Place “pumpkins” on a tray and set aside.
8. Melt a small amount of Candy Melts according to the package instructions. Dip the end of a lollipop stick in the melted Candy Melts and gently push the dipped end into the bottom end of the “pumpkin”. Leave to set in the fridge for about 10 minutes. To coat each cake pop, melt the remainder of the Candy Melts according to package instructions in a deep bowl, once melted, stir in 1 tbsp of sunflower oil for every 100g/3½oz of Candy Melts used. Dip each “pumpkin” in the Candy Melts, then tap the stick on the edge of the bowl while rotating the cake pop to allow for excess coating to neatly drip off. Re-heat Candy Melts for short bursts on very low if starting to thicken. Stand cake pops in glasses, florist foam, polystyrene cake dummy or cake pop stand to dry, making sure that they don’t touch each other.If the coating is a bit thin, you can dip them a second time after they’ve set.
9. To decorate cake pops, mix royal icing according to the packet instructions until it is thick enough to be used for piping. Colour ¾ of the icing with black colouring, and the remaining ¼ with green colouring. Spoon each colour into piping bags fitted with small plain piping tips.
10. Use the black royal icing to pipe faces on each pumpkin, then pipe a small “stem” on top of each one to finish them off. Keep cake pops in a cool place or in the fridge, and they keep well for up to two weeks.