First, bake the sponge cake:

Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with erythritol and stevia until fluffy, then add the melted dark chocolate, defatted coconut flour, cream of tartar, vanilla, and rum (optional). If you’re using regular dark chocolate and erythritol instead of Torras dark chocolate with stevia, you’ll need to adjust or increase the amount of sweetener.

Gently fold in the whipped egg whites. Transfer the cake batter into a small baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 160°C (320°F) for about 12-15 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely.

How to prepare the ball mixture:

Once the cake is baked and completely cooled, crumble it and add 2 tbsp mascarpone cheese and 1 tbsp ground hazelnuts. Mix and knead everything together (use your hands) until you get a firm dough similar to soft playdough. The mixture should not be too soft or too hard. It should not be dry or crumble. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more mascarpone cheese. If it’s too wet, add a small amount of defatted coconut flour.

Form the mixture into balls weighing between 20-23 grams each. If the balls are larger, they won’t stay nicely on the sticks. Chill the balls for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Chocolate coating:

Once the balls are well-chilled, prepare the chocolate coating. Melt the remaining Torras dark chocolate with stevia over a double boiler, then add 70 g of Torras chocolate bars with stevia and a teaspoon of coconut oil.

Prepare the cake pop sticks. You can also use wooden skewers and trim them to your desired length.

Now comes a very important step that we should not skip if we want the balls to stay on the sticks: dip the stick in the melted chocolate and then insert it into each ball. Make sure the stick goes about halfway into the ball. Repeat this with all the cake pops. Chill them again so the chocolate hardens properly.

Prepare a narrow cup with the melted chocolate coating. Dip each ball with its stick into the chocolate and gently shake off the excess chocolate. Stick the coated cake pops into styrofoam or floral foam to allow the chocolate to harden. Decorate with your preferred toppings if desired.

Enjoy!