Chocolate hedgehog cake pops

For the ganache, put the invert sugar and the salt in a saucepan, then the whipping cream.

Warm until the invert sugar melts, the salt dissolves and the mixture reaches about 80 degrees Celsius. Bringing it to a boil does no harm.

Off the heat, put the chocolate in a jug and pour the hot liquid directly over it.

Blend with a hand blender to combine the liquids in the cream with the fats in the chocolate into a good, stable emulsion. It should come out smooth and shiny.

Blend in the room-temperature water for a shinier, more elastic texture, then the butter.

Transfer to a mixing bowl, patch plastic wrap onto the surface and crystallise at room temperature, 20 to 22 degrees Celsius maximum, for at least 6 hours, until set to a creamy texture. Above 22 degrees put it in the fridge and check the texture from time to time; once creamy and set, use it straight away.

For the sponge, whip the eggs with the sugar and salt in a stand mixer with a whisk, starting on low and going to maximum, about 10 minutes, until greatly increased in volume, thick, airy and almost white.

Combine the sifted flour and sifted cocoa powder with a whisk.

Add the dry mixture to the whipped eggs gradually and fold it in with a spatula from the centre outwards, gently, so the air bubbles are not broken.

Slacken the melted butter with a little of the batter, mix until fully combined, then fold that back into the rest.

Pour into a 35x35 silicone mat with a 1 cm border and spread level with an offset spatula.

Bake at 165 degrees Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes. It is done when it has risen well and springs back when pressed; watch it, ovens differ.

Cool completely, at least one hour.

Peel off the baking paper, break the sponge into pieces and crush to fine crumbs in a food processor, or by hand in the palms.

Add the crystallised ganache to the crumbs little by little, mixing on low speed, until the mixture is pliable, flexible, soft and delicate -- not too creamy, not too soft, and with structure. Stop before it starts to liquefy.

Immediately scale the mixture at 50 g a piece and roll each into a ball on a tray.

Roll each ball gently into a teardrop, in the hands or on the table, lift the point up to make the nose and press gently.

Push sunflower seeds into the back as spikes.

Freeze several hours until hard.

For the coating, mix dark chocolate melted to 45 degrees Celsius with the neutral oil using a spatula. The oil releases the tension in the chocolate so the coating stays flexible, covers evenly and does not crack, while still setting solid and smooth.

Bring the coating to 40 degrees Celsius in a jug.

Insert a toothpick skewer from the top of each frozen pop, dip it in the coating and pull it out fast so the coating stays thin and even; let it drip, remove the excess and set it on the tray.

Once the glaze has set completely, twist the skewers out and move the pops to the fridge to defrost.

For the marzipan, combine the almond powder and icing sugar in a food processor and add the egg whites little by little on medium speed until it becomes a thick, pliable paste. A stand mixer with a paddle will do.

Scale 2.5 g of marzipan per apple and roll into balls so they all match.

For each mushroom take about 0.4 or 0.5 g, roll a ball and press it flat, then roll an even smaller piece, unweighed, into a stem and stick it on.

Make a hole in the top of each apple with a toothpick for the stem, and a smaller one on the opposite side.

Brush the apples with red colorant, streak a little yellow over for a natural look, and do some green. Colour the mushrooms with cocoa powder.

Pipe lines of dark chocolate melted to 30 degrees Celsius onto a frozen tray; it sets immediately. Cut to length with a scraper and leave the stalks to harden about 20 minutes at room temperature.

Set a stalk into each apple.

Pipe a drop of dark chocolate for the nose and two drops of white chocolate for the eyes, then, while the white is still soft, a drop of dark onto each for the pupils.

Dust with non-melting icing sugar and set the apples and mushrooms on top.