How To Make Cakesicles

This step by step tutorial will show you how to make any flavor cakesicles with troubleshooting and decorating tips and tricks! 

Cakesicles, also known as cake popsicles, are such a fun dessert! Often found at weddings, baby showers, and other events and parties, these are an individual and customizable take on the classic cake pops.

I personally think they’re much easier to make than cake pops, and with more surface area they’re super fun and easy to decorate! Check out these Easter themed cakesicles. So cute! 

If you’ve never tried making them, this cakesicle recipe has a step by step tutorial that will show you all the tips and tricks for perfect cake popsicles, every time!

Ingredients and Tools

Cake

You can use your favorite type of cake for cake popsicles! Boxed cake mixes work great, as do pre-made cakes like pound cakes.

If baking a cake, make sure it is at room temperature before making the filling. If it is warm, it can melt the frosting.  

Some cake flavor ideas:

• Chocolate Cake
• Vanilla Cake
• Champagne Cake
• Yellow Cake

But, you can also use carrot cake, strawberry cake, lemon cake, red velvet cake, really any cake you like!

And you don’t need to fill these dessert popsicles with cake at all!  You can use other fun fillings.  Other unique filling ideas:

• Edible cookie dough
• Brownies
• Cheesecake
• Donuts
• Rice crispy treats

Types of Frosting

The purpose of the frosting is to keep the cake moist. You only need a  little bit (much less than you think!), so while homemade or store bought buttercream frostings and cream cheese frostings are the most common, you can also use things like Nutella, chocolate ganache, or a bit of jam or fruit filling.  

Here are some fun frosting ideas to pair with cake:

• Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
• Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
• Strawberry Buttercream
• Mint Frosting
• Cake Batter Frosting
• Cookie Dough Frosting
• Peanut Butter Frosting
• Oreo Frosting

Chocolate Coating

I highly recommend using melting chocolate for chocolate and white chocolate cakesicles, and candy melts for colored chocolate coating.  

It makes coating these so easy, and you won’t need to temper the chocolate first!  Some candy melt brands:

• Wilton
• Sweet Tooth Fairy
• Ghirardelli

I personally think Ghirardelli tastes the best and you can find them at most grocery stores and Target.   But, they only come in white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate. 

You can buy candy melts in a variety of colors, but if you want to add food coloring to chocolate you’ll need to use candy colors, which are oil based food colorings, perfect for coloring chocolate. 

You can not use regular or gel food coloring to color chocolate or else it will get grainy and seize up.

If you do decide to use regular chocolate rather than the above melting chocolate or candy melts, it is highly recommend to tempter it first so it doesn’t melt as easily and keeps that nice shiny smooth texture and crunch. 

Cakesicle Molds

Yes, we have a whole section on cake popsicle molds. Why? Because the options are basically endless!  As long as they are food grade silicone molds that are flat popsicle molds (not the stand up kind), they’ll work! Be careful if there are too many grooves as they can be difficult to release from the chocolate. But, other than that some options are below:

• Traditional popsicle molds 
• Heart molds
• Animal/Disney molds
• Circle Molds

And, you can even turn any food safe silicone mold into a cakesicle mold by carefully cutting little slit in the mold for the possible stick.

How to Make Cakesicles

Cakesicles are surprisingly easy to make! I think they’re easier than cake pops in that you don’t have to worry about them falling off the stick as much as with cake pops.  You just need a few special tools and some basic troubleshooting tips and you’re good to go!

Step 1: Make Cake Filling

This is so easy! Just remember, you need way less frosting than you think.  For one prepared 9×13 box mix cake, I used a little over ½ cup of canned frosting.

The amount of frosting to cake ratio will vary depending on the cake and frosting recipe you’re using.  

So, start with a small amount of frosting and slowly add more, one tablespoon at a time, until you get the desired consistency.  You can mix with mixer, spatula, or use your hands.The ideal filling will hold together when you pinch it, but not be gooey or sticky.   Some people like their cake pops and cakesicles dryer and some like them with more frosting. It’s somewhat of a personal preference, but keep in mind that if you add too much frosting they have a harder time staying on the popsicle sticks.

STEP 2: CHOCOLATE COATING

There are two main ways to coat the cakesicles in chocolate. 

There is the dipping method, where you dip the cake pop into chocolate, similar to making chocolate covered strawberries or cake pops. 

Then, there is the spread and fill method, where you spread the melted chocolate all around the mold, let harden, and then fill with the cake filling.  

There are pros and cons to each method:

Dipping Method:

Fill the cakesicle molds with cake filling and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to harden. When ready to dip, melt the chocolate melts according to the instructions on the package.  

It’s really important to have the right consistency of chocolate, so depending on the brand of chocolate melts you might need to add some vegetable shortening to thin it out.

You can test it by dipping a knife or spoon in the chocolate – it should be thick enough to coat but thin enough that when you shake it any drips reincorporate back into itself. 

Then, quickly dip the cakesicle in the chocolate and shake to reincorporate any drips back into the chocolate. You can either put the popsicles on a styrofoam board to dry, or lay on parchment.

If you want to use dipping method, check out this chocolate covered strawberry post. It covers the basics of dipping food in chocolate and have tons of tips and tricks!!

Spreading and Filling Method

Even though this method has more steps, I actually think it’s easier and they come out perfectly smooth and shiny every time. 

To start, add about a tablespoon of melted chocolate to the molds. The amount can vary depending on the size of your molds. But, about a tablespoon is a good start.

Using a spoon, pastry brush, or paint brush, spread the chocolate around the sides of the mold, making sure it is thick along the sides and the chocolate goes all the way to the top. If it’s too thin or doesn’t cover everywhere, the chocolate can crack when you try to remove the cakesicle.

You can also add a second layer of chocolate along sides once the first layer has dried. This helps to ensure the sides aren’t too thin and won’t break. 

Then, shake the mold to even out the chocolate. If there any air bubbles, pop them using a toothpick, scribe, or tip of a knife. 

While the chocolate is still wet, clear out the space for the popsicle stick by adding and removing the popsicle stick.

Cleaning out a space for the stick helps ensure the ends of the cakesicle don’t crack.

Then, let the chocolate harden in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Once it’s hard you can either add another coat of chocolate if you like a thicker coating and/or reinforce the edges of chocolate by adding another teaspoon or so of chocolate around the edges.  This can help ensure the chocolate doesn’t break. If you add more chocolate, let harden again in the fridge for another 5 minutes.

Add about 2 tablespoons of cake filling to the molds. This amount can vary depending on the size of your molds. Be very gentle when adding the filling, if you push down too hard you can break the chocolate.   You want to leave some room on the top to add the chocolate.  

Then, gently push in the popsicle stick. It’s okay if the chocolate around the stick breaks a bit, we can fix it in the next step.

Add another tablespoon of melted chocolate, making sure to add a bit to where the popsicle stick is. 

If the chocolate broke in the previous step, use the top of a knife or spatula to gently press the chocolate near the popsicle stick.  The warm melted chocolate should reinforce any broken chocolate in that area.

Then, using a knife, spoon, or cake spatula, drag the chocolate over the filling. Add more chocolate and re-scrape if needed. 

Then, let the chocolate harden in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Gently remove the cakesicle from the mold, and you’re ready to decorate. 

Step 4: Decorating Cakesicles

Now for the fun part, decorating!!  Because these are so much bigger than cake pops, they’re easier, and I personally think more fun, to decorate.

 A super easy way is to drizzle extra chocolate over the cake popsicles and add some sprinkles:

In addition to adding more chocolate and sprinkles, you can also add the following:

• Edible Gold
• Luster Dust
• Edible Glitter Spray
• Sugar Decorations
• Fondant

But, similar to decorating sugar cookies with royal icing or a layer cake, the decorating possibilities are endless. You can decorate these for any holiday or theme you like: 

• Weddings, Showers, and Events: Baby Showers, Gender reveals, wedding showers, engagement showers, Birthdays, Graduation 
• Holidays: Thanksgiving, Valentines’ Day, Easter, 4th of July, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, any fun holiday will work!
• Cartoons: Paw patrol, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Peppa Pig, etc.
• Superheros:  Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Marvel
• Misc: Space or Galaxy, Mermaid, Tropical, Rainbow, Geode, or Unicorn Cakesicles

TIPS FOR DECORATING:

• For anything that needs to stick to the chocolate, like sprinkles, you must add it when the chocolate is wet or add a bit more melted chocolate as decorations will not stick as the chocolate starts to hardened. 
• I like to use a paint brush to wipe away the excess sprinkles but you can use any similar tool or even your hand. 
• Be careful when touching the hardened chocolate, it’s easy to leave fingerprints. Food grade gloves go a long way in keeping fingerprints off the chocolate when decorating or moving them around, especially if you’re making these for an event or selling them.

FAQ and Troubleshooting

More Tips and Tricks

• For ease, I used box cake mix and canned frosting.  But, you can use any cake and frosting you like! 
• I recommend melting or dipping chocolate such as candy melts. If you don’t use some type of melting or dipping chocolate,  it helps to temper your chocolate.
• You can not add regular or gel food coloring to chocolate or candy melts, you must use candy colors, which are oil based food colorings.
• If using the dipping method, you might need to thin it out the chocolate a bit with vegetable shorting or coconut oil. The amount will vary depending on what brand and color you’re using, but start with a teaspoon per ½ cup of melting chocolate until you get the desired consistency.  
• Using a box cake mix and canned frosting, I made about a 12 to 14 – 2 x 3.5 inch cakesicles, but the amount will vary depending on the size of your cakesicle molds, the cake recipe you use, and the method you’re using for covering them in chocolate.

Serving and Gifting Cakesicles

As mentioned, these are great for just about any occasion! They’re also a wonderful gift and often found in treat boxes and gift packages, or as favors for weddings and parties.

Here are some of my favorite ways to box them up and give them as gifts or serve them at events:

• Individual Clear Serving Boxes
• Square Treat Box
• Rectangle Treat Box

Paired with crinkle paper, you can match the theme of any event you like. You can also pair them in the gift box with other treats such as macarons, cookies, or chocolate covered strawberries.

Looking for more unique cake decorating tutorials? Check these out!

• How to Make a Rosette Cake
• How to Make a Fault Line Cake
• Cake Painting Tutorial
• Mason Jar Cakes
• Lunchbox Cakes

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