Practical Recipes for Parents
In our family, ice cream cake reigns supreme. Even for winter birthdays, it’s what everyone asks for. However, we are seriously lacking in summer birthdays around here, so I created these ice cream cake popsicles to get our fix in the summertime! Plus, they’re portable!
I had no idea what I was doing, which means I made quite a few mistakes along the way. So, I’ve compiled all of my must-know tips so that you can get the perfect frozen treat right away.
But, even if you have a few bumps along the way, you’re pretty much guaranteed they will taste amazing! Cake + Ice Cream = Deliciousness
Look for the Lil’ Steps symbol throughout this post for ideas on how kids can help out!
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Must-Know Tips When Making Ice Cream Cake Popsicles
- 1/3 of a box of cake mix will make 12-14 popsicles.
- Have enough molds to make all the popsicles at once. Trust me. I purchased these molds, and they worked great!
- Use a scale to measure the cake mix and when adding batter to the molds. Kitchen Scales
- Place the molds on a baking sheet, they are too flexible to transfer by hand. My favorite baking sheets
- Allow the ice cream to thaw on the cake pops, not in the tub. In the tub, it will get too soft on the outside and stay too firm in the middle.
- Insert the popsicle sticks immediately after spreading the ice cream into the mold. If you try after it has resolidified, it will fall off the stick quickly.
- Freeze popsicles for 2 hours before decorating.
- Work on adding chocolate and decorations to 4 popsicles at a time. The rest should remain in the freezer so that they don’t start thawing.
- Immediately transfer freshly decorated popsicles back into the freezer.
3 Recipes to Try and Inspire You
I’ve created three different recipes, and to make it as easy as possible, I used boxed cake mixes and store-bought ice cream. If you want to be extra fancy, you can always substitute in your favorite homemade recipes, but you’ll only need a very small amount of batter so the conversions may be tricky.
While I’d love for you to try out these 3 recipes, I also hope they inspire you to create your own custom combinations!
Grandma’s Favorite (Yellow Cake + Chocolate Ice Cream)
Rich and buttery! These popsicles are for celebrations!
My mom has been baking up this classic combination for as long as I can remember. Since we are transforming this into an ice cream cake, I swapped out the chocolate frosting for chocolate ice cream and covered it in milk chocolate decorated with sprinkles.
If I’m being completely honest, I wouldn’t use the same sprinkles next time. These were a bit too hard and crunchy for me. Therefore, I recommend going with a softer sprinkle for decorating these popsicles. However, they did soften significantly after a night in the freezer, so I guess it really depends on how quickly you’ll be serving them.
Special Tip: Out of all the recipes, I noticed the yellow cake mix was the stickiest in the mold. You may want to put a little parchment paper down (don’t forget to take it off like me…ugh) or spray the mold with cooking spray to help it release after baking.
Strawberry Shortcake (White Cake + Strawberry Ice Cream)
Light and fruity! These popsicles are perfect for hot summer days.
I simply used a white cake mix and strawberry ice cream for the main components. Then, I covered it in a white chocolate shell and decorated it with powdered freeze-dried strawberries.
YUM! I absolutely loved this one! Plus, I can pretend it’s healthy with fruit in it.
Special Tip: As you probably know, white chocolate is not actually chocolate which makes its melting and freezing properties a bit different. With the true chocolate (contains cocoa butter) combinations, the shell is softer to bite into and doesn’t break apart as this white chocolate shell will once it’s frozen. If you don’t like it when chocolate breaks apart, you could leave it “naked” (no chocolate shell). It will still be delicious and saves a bunch of time too.
Cookies and Cream
Decadent and creamy! These popsicles are for true chocolate lovers.
I fused together devil’s food cake and cookies and cream ice cream for these rich little treats. To make it extra sinful, I coated them in dark chocolate topped with cookie crumbles. You might need a glass of milk to go with this one!
Special Tip: None, these went off without a hitch! Yay!
Tips for Choosing Your Own Cake Combinations
This is a great opportunity to get your kids’ suggestions! I would narrow it down to 2-3 choices for cake and ice cream flavors and allow them to come up with a custom combination from these.
- To calculate the amount of cake mix you need, find the weight on the box, and divide that number by 3.
For the brand I used, I need 144 grams of cake mix to make roughly 12-14 popsicles.
432/3 =144
- Read the ingredients listed on the box and divide them by three. For the box I used I needed the following:
3 Eggs/3 = 1 Egg
1 Cup Water/3 = 1/3 Cup of water
½ Cup Vegetable Oil/3 = 1/6 Cup Oil or 40 g
Choosing Your Decorations
No Decorations
This is totally a sensible and delectable option! I consider these “naked” popsicles and they will save you so much time and cleanup. I ran out of chocolate on one last popsicle, so I left it bare, and let me tell you, it was amazingly delicious and looked fabulous showing off its cake/ice cream combination.
Go this route if you’re a fan of really easy, quick treats or if you’re just not that into extra chocolate.
Chocolate Coating Options
Real vs. Fake chocolate, the great debate. First, what’s the difference? Well, real chocolate contains cocoa butter, while compound (i.e. “fake”) chocolate contains vegetable fats. As you may know, white chocolate is always compound chocolate.
When it comes to melting the two, compound chocolates will be much easier to work with and don’t require tempering. Real chocolate needs to be tempered to maintain a shine and snap after it’s been melted. Ann Reardon from “How to Cook That” explains this far better than I can. Check out her video.
However, for these popsicles, you’ll be adding oil to thin the chocolate down, so I found that the real chocolate lost its “snap” even when I tried to temper it. The white chocolate maintained a snap even with extra oil added.
Personally, I preferred the real chocolate on these popsicles. Thinning it with oils made it extra creamy and easy to bite into, even when frozen.
Because the white chocolate still had that snap to it, eating the popsicle was a bit messier but still delicious.
Melting the Chocolate
I find the easiest method to be the microwave. You’ll just need a microwave-safe plastic bowl and a spoon. Glass will get too hot in spots, which could burn some of the chocolate.
I like to cook it like this:
- 30 seconds – Stir
- 30 seconds – Stir
- 20 seconds – Stir
- 15 Seconds – Stir
- 10 seconds – Stir
- If needed, continue heating the chocolate in 10-second bursts until everything has melted.
Thinning the Chocolate
If you don’t thin the chocolate enough, you’ll have an extremely thick, heavy coating that will end in disaster. I have first-hand experience with this.
To thin the chocolates down I added a combination of shortening and oil. I noticed that the real chocolate would harden quickly when spooned over the popsicle, while the white chocolate remained a liquid longer. Therefore, the white chocolate coated the popsicles a little easier.
If you want to experiment with your own methods to thin down chocolate, you can use these tips from Masterclass.
Choosing Your Toppings
Have fun with this! You could chop up nuts, cookies, candy, or fruit. Sprinkles or edible glitters are a fun and easy option too.
Just make sure to add the toppings before the chocolate coating hardens.
Have your little one sprinkle the popsicles with toppings. If they are old enough, they can also help spoon the chocolate on the popsicle.
Combination Suggestions
- Chocolate Cake and Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
- Confetti Cake with Cake Batter Ice Cream
- French Vanilla Cake with Snickers Ice Cream
- Spice Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream
- Yellow Cake with Butter Pecan Ice Cream
- Chocolate Cake with Coffee Ice Cream
Now Go Enjoy the Yummiest Summertime Treat!
Let me know in the comments what your dream combination is!