I so hoped to get these darling Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes out last week because I thought they’d be perfect for the 4th of July. I think they’d be perfect for any summer party, though, decorated however you’d like. These you’ll want to pin!
These Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes are phenomenal. The crunchy cone (and I’m not a “cone” person but the baking made them so much better), the easy, but very rich home-made yellow cake inside (thanks Ina Garten) and the buttercream. Oh the buttercream!! 🙂 It’s all an incredible combination.
This time, I used an Italian Buttercream but next time it’s my buddy Carlee’s White Chocolate Buttercream. I think it holds up better to summer heat.
While going home-made might seem to be a bit of work for what essentially looks like a kid’s treat – trust me – no grown up is going to want to turn these down. I’ve played and tweaked and these will make anyone of any age very happy!
I had quite a bit of trouble, initially, in making these. I found out a few things along the way:
- A heavier batter works best in the cones – a light airy cake mix batter just won’t let you get a good bite (it’s too springy) and the batter can be too wet, causing the cones to get soggy.
- The cones are difficult to bake all the way though – you may find that they’re very moist inside, here and there. I think that’s A-ok, because it’s delicious like ooey gooey buttercake!
- Filling is experimental! And there may be a little falling. Each cake batter will vary a bit in how it rises – this batter is best just up to the “ridge” on the cone – which will give you enough room to pipe in the frosting before bringing it up in a swirl. That helps keep the frosting in place.
- How the cake batter looks doesn’t matter – it’s all going to be topped with a gorgeous Italian Buttercream. (Because of all the buttercreams, Italian stands up best to a little heat.)
- To make it easy and less messy to fill the cones, put your batter in a ziploc, seal and cut off a corner. Squeeze the batter in.
- If you still want a fun treat and don’t want to frost, top these off with a scoop (or two) of ice-cream. You can’t go wrong with that!
- Bake these in mini-muffin pans on a sheet tray – it makes it so easy to get in and out of the oven and frost them. Even a regular muffin tin will be helpful. Baking in tins on a sheet tray is part of what makes it a little hard to bake all the way through. The other part is how thick the cones are.
- These are top heavy. If you’d like to put your Ice-Cream Cone Cupcakes on a platter, “glue” them down with a dab of frosting. You can easily lift them off but they’ll stay stuck (hopefully) until you do.
- If you want to make these a lot, pick up a special holder to make and serve these with (or make your own) because they are top heavy and a bit of a pain. I dumped over several.
One of the hardest things for me to find were cute 4th of July red, white & blue decorations. If your store doesn’t have any sprinkles or decorations for your holiday, ask at the bakery. Mine put some of theirs in a little plastic cup and charged a fair price.
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
- 9 tablespoons (1 plus 1 tablelspoon) butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place ice-cream cones in mini muffin pan, muffin pan or special holder.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cones to the bottom of the highest ridge with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
Frost and decorate as desired. I recommend White Chocolate Buttercream, especially if making and serving in summer heat. In the photos, I used Italian Buttercream (recipe coming.)
___________________________________________
I’ll be posting this recipe on Fiesta Friday number 179, hosted by Angie and co-hosted by Petra @ Food Eat Love and Laura @ Feast Wisely.Be sure to stop by Fiesta Friday and Petra and Laura’s blogs and see what everyone is making this week.
35 thoughts on “Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes”