Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

These are probably one of the funnest desserts I have ever made! I have been waiting for the perfect time to make these and I finally had the chance when my neighbors had a huge party a couple of weeks ago. I offered to bring something sweet for the kids and these were the perfect choice!  The kids and adults alike all loved these and they were gone in no time.

The only downfall to these cupcakes is transporting them! They are a bit top-heavy, so they topple over easily and they are to tall for a cupcake carrier. Luckily, I only had to get them across the street, but I need to devise a better way to transport them. I am open to ideas if anyone has any!

Because I was making a double batch of these and only had a limited amount of time, I used boxed cake mix, but you could certainly use your favorite recipe.  Using 2 boxes of cake mix, I had more than enough batter for 48 cupcake cones, I actually got an additional 4 cupcakes from each mix.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

• 1 box cake mix, prepared according to directions on the box
• 1 box of ice cream cones (24)
• Buttercream Frosting (4-5 cups, depending on how you decorate them, I used 1.5 batches of this recipe)
• Sprinkles or other toppings

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 ice cream cone in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Fill cone to just barely over the bottom ridge with the cake batter, leaving about 1 inch of space at the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired. I used a piping bag fitted with the Wilton 1M tip and topped the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles and the vanilla cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles.

Source: These are all over the internet with no clear original source

My little girl patiently waiting to dig in to her cupcake!

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

Despite the picture below, this post has nothing to do with cake, it is all about the frosting. But not just any frosting, a fabulous and easy buttercream frosting that is now my “go-to” recipe.  After seeing this recipe pop up on many of my favorite blogs, I was just waiting for the occasion to make it. Then I had a request for a “a plain cake decorated with berries, it doesn’t matter what kind of frosting.” Perfect!

All of the hype about this frosting was well-founded. It is smooth, creamy and perfectly sweet. Not make-your-teeth ache sweet, but melt-in-your mouth sweet. The consistency of the frosting also makes it very easy to decorate with. It wouldn’t hold up to heavy or elaborate flowers, but for basic piping and borders, it is perfect!

In case you were wondering about the cake, it was a yellow cake, filled with raspberry filling and decorated with fresh blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

• 20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.

Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Makes 3 cups.

Source: Cooks Illustrated April 2007, as seen first on The Way the Cookie Crumbles.

You may also like:

• Real Vanilla Buttercream (another delicious frosting, but a bit more work!)

100th Post and Cake!

Yay! This is my 100th post! I am one of those people who often has the best intentions with ambitious projects, but has trouble following through. Though my blogging has slowed down recently, I chalk it up to life being busy, not my lack of commitment. This blog has changed the way I feel about cooking and baking. I am not content to make the same meals every week anymore, if I can’t blog about it, I don’t want to make it! But for those days when I do want to make something tried and true, I have created this great resource to quickly look through and say “Oh yeah, that was really good!” I also love being a part of the food blogging community. There are so many great food blogs out there and I have learned so much from many of them. Since cake decorating has become my new “hobby” of sorts, I think it is fitting that my 100th post is about a cake, thank you for reading!

I didn’t have any occasion to make a cake for and I have been wanting to try this frosting recipe from Baking Bites for a while. I also have been wanting to practice some cake decorating techniques, so I decided to just go ahead and make a cake. I ended up giving it to my friend who has become my, self-termed, “guinea pig.” Thanks Melissa!

I loved how the frosting came out, the taste is so much richer than the standard buttercream I typically use. I also love how smoothly it iced the cake. The only problem I had, was that it was a very humid day when I decided to decorate this cake, so I had to keep stopping to refrigerate the cake, but the taste of the frosting made up for any difficulty I had decorating it. Oh, and if you haven’t checked out Baking Bites yet, head over there right now! Nicole has a wealth of information on her blog, from recipes to product reviews and I especially love her weekly “Bites from other Blogs.”

Real Vanilla Bean Buttercream

• 1 lb (2 cups) unsalted butter, soft and cut into one inch pieces
• 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 vanilla bean (I used 1 tsp vanilla extract)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place egg whites, with cream of tartar and 1/4 cup sugar nearby.
Heat 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved. When sugar reaches 230F on a candy thermometer, turn mixer on medium high. When egg whites are frothy, add cream of tartar. Gradually add the 1/4 cup sugar. When egg whites begin to form soft peaks, turn the mixer down to medium low and begin to drizzle in the boiling sugar mixture (which should be at approximately 245-250F, firm ball stage).

When all of the hot sugar is added, turn the mixer up to medium high and beat until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch. Add the butter one lump at a time and continue beating until mixture is smooth and fluffy, approximately 12-20 minutes. It will look rather like ricotta cheese for a while – just keep beating!
Once it is smooth, scrape vanilla bean and mix in the vanilla specks (or use 1-2 tsp vanilla extract).
Keep at room temperature – do not refrigerate before it has been spread on a cake or cupcakes.

Makes enough to frost one 2 layer, 8, 9 or 10 inch cake.

 

I wanted to practice scroll work and making a fondant loop bow on this cake. This is an 8-inch cake and I realize the bow is little big for the scale of the cake, but I think it would look beautiful on the top of a tiered cake. I love how the scroll work came out. I used the Wilton Press Pattern set to get the basic outline down, then embellished the scroll work from there.

Fondant Loop Bow (from Wilton Ready-To-Use Rolled Fondant box)

To make loops: Roll out fondant 1/8-inch thick. Cut strips 1-inch wide by 6-inches long. Brush ends with clear vanilla.

Fold strip over to form a loop, aligning ends. Pinch ends slightly to secure. Stand loops upright on side to dry.

To make bow: Attach bottom layer of loops with dots of icing, positioning in a circle, horizontally on top of cake. Pipe a ball of icing in center to attach middle and top layer loops.

Attach middle layer of loops, overlapping bottom layer. Attach top layer of loops, positioning upright and overlapping middle layer.