Hey! Happy Independence Day / 4th of July, Everyone! Here are some Celebratory Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes for the day! Who knew that you can bake directly in ice cream cones. Learn something new every day. Would be cute for a children’s birthday party too. Swap out your favorite cake flavor — I made chocolate cake, but vanilla, strawberry or even lemon might do. Fun dessert for the holiday!
Note: This is one of those recipes that you can “make from the box”: store bought cake mix, store bought frosting, ice cream cones, sprinkles. My recipe below is for “from scratch” cake and frosting though.
Ingredients
for the cupcakes
1220 store bought ice cream cones with flat bottoms
4 1/2 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
for the frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
1 cup cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4-4 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
sprinkles or sugar decorations as desired
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Place ice cream cones upright in muffin tins. To get them to stand upright, I created crumpled-up foil rings and slid them in the muffin slots around the cones.
In the top part of a double boiler over very hot, but not simmering, water, or in a microwave at medium power, melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat or the oven, and let stand, stirring often, until cool.
Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle blade on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. On low speed, beat in the confectioners’ sugar. Return the speed to medium-high and beat until light in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the chocolate and vanilla. Beat the egg whites and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed just until they form soft, shiny peaks. Do not overbeat. Stir about one fourth of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites, leaving a few visible wisps of whites. Sift half of the flour over the chocolate mixture, and fold in with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour.
Fill the ice cream cones about half way full, being careful not to overfill. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. I leaned them against the wall to cool upright, but they are much more stable and less prone to tipping over at this stage.
Note: the cake batter is enough for about 20 cone cupcakes, so if you want that many, you’ll have to do the above in two batches. If you only want 12, you can always make regular cupcakes (though in essence, you will be baking a second set either way).
For frosting, cream butter, cream cheese, salt, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, then beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes more, scraping the bowl with a spatula Fill your piping bag with the frosting. Frost as desired and decorate as desired, then chill. I used the same muffin tin with foil rights in the fridge.
