Preheat oven to 325°F / 170°C and line a sheet pan with baking paper
Lightly whisk the egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla together until blended
1 Egg, ½ cup Buttermilk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, ¾ cups Vegetable Oil
Add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix for about a minute
1 ¼ cups All-purpose Flour, 1 cup White Sugar, 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder, 1 teaspoon Salt
Add red food colouring and mix until the batter is the shade of red you want
½ teaspoon Red Gel Food Colour
In a small bowl, pour the white wine vinegar over the baking soda, quickly mix together and then pour into the batter. Mix the batter together
1 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
Pour into sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth
½ cup Cream Cheese, ⅓ cup Butter
Add icing sugar and vanilla and mix slowly until icing sugar is incorporated
4 cups Icing Sugar, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Turn mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until fluffy
Make Cakesicles
Rub the cooled cake between your fingers until it is all crumbs
Add frosting and squish together with your hands to combine everything together. You want about ½ cup of frosting for every 3 cups of cake crumbs. Add more frosting if you need to get the perfect consistency. You'll know it's right when you can easily roll the mixture in a ball and it holds its shape.
Melt candy melts or temper chocolate and pour into the cakesicle mold. Push the chocolate/candy melts up the side of the mold to make sure it is entirely coated
250 g Candy Melts OR Chocolate
Tip mold upside down over the bowl to get rid of any excess
Put popsicle sticks into mold and then place in the fridge for a few minutes to set
Once set, remove from the fridge and start gently pressing the cakesicle mix into the mold. Be sure to carefully push some underneath the popsicle stick so the entire cavity is filled. Be sure not to overfill, there should be no cakesicle mix bulging over the top of the mold. Aim to leave about 1-2mm of a gap at the top
Check chocolate/candy melts and reheat if needed. Pour thin layer over the back of the cakesicles to seal them. Slide a palette knife across the mold to smooth out the back and remove any excess. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes
Gently unmold the cakesicles and decorate using leftover candymelts/chocolate, sprinkles, glitter or whatever you have lying around!
Sprinkles
Notes
If you don't want to make the cake and/or frosting from scratch, you can use a box mix or ready-made cake/frosting. The ratio of cake to frosting should be about 6 to 1 in volume, so 3 cups of cake (crumbled) to ½ cup of frosting. You may want to add more or less frosting to achieve the right consistency. The perfect consistency is reached when you can easily roll the cake/frosting mixture into a ball and it holds its shape.
You can use candy melts or chocolate for the outer coating, if using chocolate, make sure you temper it. See my guide on how to easily temper chocolate.