Patriotic Cakesicles
A fun new twist on classic flavors we all know and love for a fun filled summer party
Nothing rounds out a classic BBQ meal more than a sweet dessert to indulge in. Most enjoy pie or cake on a hot summer day after enjoying the weather and company of those around them. However, what if you took those desserts an extra step and got a little bit more creative. When I started to think about how I can create a fun treat for the whole family and I thought nothing beats a cake pop when it comes to my kids, but as an adult I like a little bit more cake to my dessert so the perfect solution was a cakesicle.
To make these desserts you will need a few more supplies than what you probably have in your everyday kitchen. To start with, you will need a cakesicle mold. These can be bought at most craft stores or amazon. Another supply to make these creations come to life will be popsicle sticks. These need to be food grade and not just from the craft isle of the store. Other than those two, a great tool to use is a stand mixer to make the dough come together easier. However, I have also made these with just using my hands to knead the cakes into dough. Finally to round things out, an important component is to pick a chocolate to coat the outside of the pops. I like to use an almond bark and then dye the color of the chocolate if need be. If you are going to try to use the already colored chocolate melting wafers, then be careful about how hot you get the chocolate. If the chocolate gets too hot, the cake will fall off the stick when dipped.
As I started to create my flavors, I wanted to start with one that is a crowd favorite of Vanilla Funfetti. Most people love a vanilla cake the best and nothing excites a child more than seeing sprinkles when they eat any dessert. For these cakesicles, you will only need vanilla cake mix (I like to use Betty Crocker), eggs, water, oil, vanilla extract, vanilla chocolate, and sprinkles. This recipe is the most versatile out of them all. Just change up the color sprinkles on the inside and now they can be used for all different celebrations. The design on this first cakesicle is just a classic design I do for most of my confetti pops. It includes just some white lines with sprinkles along the side. It is simple but also allows the other two designs to shine.
Another classic flavor I wanted to make sure I included was chocolate. I kept thinking about how I wanted to make it festive so the easiest way to achieve this was just by switching to Red Velvet. Now, I know this is a very controversial topic that chocolate and red velvet are not the same but to be honest I do think if made right they are basically the same flavor but different colors. For this recipe you will need red velvet cake mix (Betty Crocker), eggs, water, oil, and vanilla chocolate. I also used melting wafers to create the letters with a mold. This is a very time consuming process and take a bit to get the hang of but it 100% makes a difference to the design in the end. The design is a classic USA lettering with some line across the whole pop just to make sure it looked cohesive.
To round our flavors out, I wanted to create a classic American flavor. Out of all my research, the flavor that can up the most was apple pie. This however, was tricky to make sure it did not come out tasting like a fall Carmel apple. Not that Carmel apples are not good, but I was going for more a a light apple flavor so that it is not too heavy in everyones stomachs in the heat. I started out this cakesicle with a vanilla cake base, so all you will need to achieve this fun flavor will be vanilla cake mix (Betty Crocker), eggs, oil, vanilla chocolate, sanding sugar, and the key ingredient is an apple pie filling (this can be found in a can in most baking isles). I designed these cakesicles to look like a classic American flag with a whimsical twist as I felt like they would go with the holiday theme.
All three flavors together offer a well rounded pallet and complement each other. If you try any of the recipes, let me know how it goes. I know cake pops or cakesicles are sort of hard the get the hang of, but just keep trying and do not give up. It took me three tries to finally get the technique down to not lose over half of them to the chocolate. After you try these fun recipes you should also be able to just take any cake flavor and turn them into pops or cakesicles, so try to branch off and make whatever comes to mind.