Ice cream Cone Cups

To make these cupcakes start by placing cake cones inside each well of your muffin pan. Using a yellow butter cake recipe fill the base of the cones with batter and bake. The cake cone is like an edible cupcake wrapper and will still be crunchy after baking. I love the extra texture of the crisp cone that you get to enjoy with your cake and icing.

Making the icing for these cupcakes is the fun part. When it comes to ice cream I always have a hard time making up my mind which flavor I want. By starting with a vanilla buttercream frosting as the base you can easily adapt the recipe to create some of your favorite “ice cream” flavors. By simply adding toppings, extracts and food coloring you can create: Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Cookies & Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip.

To decorate the cupcakes you can go for the hand scooped look and use an ice cream scoop to dollop the icing on top or the “soft serve” look and use a large round tip and piping bag to swirl on top. My personal favorite is the soft serve look as it reminds me of summer trips we often made to the Dairy Bar for dinner. This was a little road side stand where you could order burgers and fries and all kinds of ice cream treats. I would end every meal there with a vanilla soft serve cone covered in rainbow sprinkles and a pair of candy eyes.

These cupcakes are such a great idea for a kid’s birthday or summer time party. You can have the cupcakes pre-baked and then set up a decorating station with icing flavors and toppings and let the kids go to town creating their favorite ice cream cones.

ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKES
(makes 30 cupcakes)

For the Yellow Butter Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
30 cake cones

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cake cones upright inside each well of a muffin pan.
2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In bowl of stand mixer beat butter and sugar until creamy about 3 minutes.
4. Add vanilla and mix well.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Gradually add in the flour mixture and milk alternately, starting and ending with flour. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
7. Fill cake cones with batter.
8. Bake for 26-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Once cupcakes are cool frost with your favorite “ice cream flavor” icing.

For the Vanilla Butter cream icing:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
1 Tbsp vanilla
9 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup milk
pinch salt

1. Cream butter and vegetable shortening until smooth.
2. Mix in vanilla.
3. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar 2 cups at a time and mix until combined.
4. Add milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
5. Add pinch of salt and continue mixing icing for about 6-7 minutes until light and fluffy.
6. This recipes makes 9 cups of icing.

TO MAKE “ice cream flavor” icings start with vanilla butter cream and add the following ingredients for each flavor:

VANILLA:
3 cups vanilla butter cream

CHOCOLATE:
2 cups vanilla butter cream + 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

CHOCOLATE CHIP:
1 cup vanilla butter cream + 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP:
1 cup vanilla butter cream + 3 drops blue, 1 drop green food coloring + 1/4 tsp mint extract + 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

STRAWBERRY:
1 cup vanilla butter cream + 3 drops red food coloring + 1/4 tsp strawberry extract

COOKIES & CREAM:
1 cup vanilla butter cream + 1/2 cup crushed Oreos

Additional toppings & tools used:
-rainbow jimmies
-chocolate jimmies
-Wilton candy eyeballs
-large round decorating tip 1A
-piping bags
-ice cream scoop

Obviously the possibilities are endless for ice cream flavors. These are some of my favorites but feel free to experiment and create your own cupcake icing after your favorite ice cream flavor!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer filled with lots of ice cream & cupcakes!

Lemon meringue cake

For the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake:

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seed

1/2 teaspoon cardamom (optional)

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup grapeseed or canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour three 8″ round cake pans and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds and cardamom.

In a large measuring cup or mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and lemon zest.

Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Add the boiling water and stir to incorporate.

Evenly distribute the batter between the three prepared pans.  Bake for about 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.

For the Lemon Curd:

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of 1/2 lemon

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons butter, diced

Place the juice, zest, yolks, and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Stir to combine.  While stirring, heat over medium.  Continue to stir until mixture begins to thicken, about 6-8 minutes.  Curd should coat the back of a spoon when done cooking.  Once thickened, remove from the heat and add in the butter.  Stir to combine.  Strain curd into a heat-safe container.  Discard the zest.  Cover curd by placing a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the surface of the curd.  Refrigerate until cool and thick.

For the Meringue Icing:

3 large egg whites

3/4 cup granulated sugar

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Kitchen Torch (for toasting)

Place the whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Whisk to combine.  Fill a medium saucepan with a few inches of water and place over medium heat.  Place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan to create a double boiler.  Whisking constantly, heat the egg white mixture until the sugar dissolves and it is warm to the touch.  Once warm, transfer the bowl back to the mixer.  With the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high until medium-stiff glossy peaks.  Add in the salt and vanilla and mix until combined.  Use it immediately.

NOTES:

Use plain vanilla buttercream to create a dam to hold in the lemon curd filling when assembling, if desired.

If you want a higher lemon curd to cake ratio, plan to double the lemon curd recipe for extra filling.

Use an off-set spatula to create a rustic finish with the meringue icing.

Use a kitchen torch to toast the meringue icing.  Hold flame about 6-8 inches away from the surface of the cake and do not keep the flame in the same place for longer than a couple seconds.

HOW TO BUILD A CAKE

STEP 1:   Apply a small smear of butter cream (about the size of a half dollar for a regular-sized cake, more for larger cakes) to a cake board that’s the same diameter as the cake round. This ensures that the cake will stick when placed on the board.

STEP 2:  Place the cake on the board. Turn the pan that the cake was baked in upside down, and place it near the baked cake. Use the pan as your guide and run a serrated knife across the top of the cake to cut it level.

STEP 3:  Once the cake is leveled, use a metal ruler to find the center point around the outside of the cake, and mark it by lightly scoring the cake with a knife. Set the ruler aside.

STEP 4:  With the knife in one hand and your other hand flat on top of the cake to keep it steady, use a smooth sawing motion to slowly cut around the cake from the outside edges toward the center until the knife is all the way through.

Filling the Cake

No matter how many layers your cake will be, you always want the filling layers to be about half as high as your cake layers.  I typically do four layers of cake with three layers of filling to achieve tall, beautiful slices.  Take time to fill and chill the cake properly in order to avoid what I call the cake “muffin top.”   That’s when the layers of filling haven’t been done properly or the filling is too soft for the weight of the cake, causing the cake to get those unsightly little bulges between each layer.

If you’re filling the cake with a butter cream frosting only, spread or pipe the butter cream  on top of the first cake layer and stop 1/4 inch away from the edge. When you place the next round of cake on top, press down starting from the center and moving out towards the edges – this forces the butter cream to fill in the space without going over the edge. Repeat with each cake layer until all the layers have been stacked. Use the level to check that the top and sides of your cake are straight.

 

 STEP 5:  If adding a softer filling like jam or cream cheese frosting, pipe a dam around the top outer edge of the cake round with a firm-setting butter cream.

STEP 6:  Fill the center with the filling, and top it with the next cake round. Place the cake in the fridge, and allow it to set completely, at least 2 hours but up to overnight, before finishing.

STEP 7:  Frost as desired.

Note:  Save That Cake Top!