Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

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Sometimes, a classic birthday cake just won’t cut it.

Here’s a fun alternative to the traditional multi-tiered treat: ice cream cone cupcakes!

Perfect for your child’s birthday party, everyone (not just the kiddos!) will have so much fun with these treats.

Each cupcake playfully mimics ice cream in a cone – and holding one of these mini delights will make you giggle with glee!

You can say bye-bye to cupcake liners and hello to zero waste. Because you bake the batter inside an ice cream cone, every part of these cupcakes is completely edible.

It’s a neat treat, in every sense of the phrase.

While you may be rejoicing over not having to worry about the unnecessary cleanup of carelessly tossed away liners littering your table and floors, tossed there by sugar-crazed kids, I’m celebrating something else about this cool dessert:

The endless opportunities for customization!

Consider all the different kinds of ice cream flavors and toppings that you can choose from, and get creative with this concept.

For the base, use one of Foodal’s favorite cake batters:

• Chocolate Cake
• Yellow Butter Cake
• Red Velvet

We also have the frosting covered:

• American-Style
• Swiss Meringue
• Peanut Butter

While I would love to go on and on and on about the many ideas swirling around in my brain (like cookies and cream, salted caramel, strawberry, cookie dough, double chocolate…), I’ll offer just a few exciting options here to inspire you to think of even more ways to decorate these and make them your own:

Soft-Serve

Using a piping bag and a star tip, you can recreate the mesmerizing soft-serve-style swirl of vanilla or chocolate ice cream – or both!

Ice Cream Scoops

Use a cookie scoop to place mounds of frosting on top of the cupcake to mimic scoops of ice cream.

Old-Fashioned Banana Split

Bake vanilla cupcakes and top with pink frosting, finely chopped nuts, a drizzle of thick ganache, half a maraschino cherry, and a dried banana chip.

Chocolate Mint

It’s a hit or miss pick, but I’m in favor of letting this classic flavor shine bright! Bake chocolate cupcakes and decorate them with green frosting mixed with a couple drops of mint extract and finely chopped chocolate. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream, more finely chopped chocolate, and a fresh mint leaf.

You can make and decorate them ahead of time for the party so the kids can enjoy them right away while the birthday boy or girl opens their presents, or choose to have the kids decorate their own.

As long as you plan and prep ahead of time so you’ll have all the frosting and toppings arranged at each place setting with a pre-baked cupcake, the kids will have an easy time decorating them.

Let the adults get in on the fun – set up stations for them, too! No one should miss out on this playful cupcake idea.

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Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Prep

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place an empty ice cream cone upright in each cavity of two 12-cup muffin pans.

I recommend buying more ice cream cones than what is required for the recipe. The total yield is 24 cupcakes, but it could be more or less with the batter you are choosing to use, and some of the cones may be broken in the packaging.

Are balance and grace not your strengths? If you are concerned about the ice cream cones moving or falling over in the cavities, you can place balls of foil at the base of each cone to secure them in place.

This is not necessary, as the batter will weigh down the cones – but it’s a reliable failsafe!

Measure out the ingredients needed for both the cake batter and frosting.

Step 2 – Make the Batter

Prepare the cake batter according to the instructions in the recipe that you’ve selected. A typical batter for two 8-inch cake rounds will yield 24 cupcakes for this particular recipe.

Step 3 – Portion and Bake

Carefully pour the batter in the ice cream cones, filling each just a little more than half of the way full. You can use a mini cookie scoop to make portioning cleaner and easier.

Leave about a 1/2-inch clearance between the batter and the top of the cone (more space than you think you’ll need!) to give the cake enough space to rise.

Different batters will not rise in the same way. You don’t want to make the mistake of overfilling the cones, because the batter will overflow out of the cone, making a sad and gloopy mess!

Transfer the pans to the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes look dry and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Transfer the cupcakes to cooling racks to cool completely.

Step 4 – Make the Frosting

Prepare the frosting according to the instructions in your choice of recipe. It is best to have about 8 cups of frosting. You’ll need more than what you would expect to get that characteristic height for the swirls and scoops!

Frosting is at the optimal texture and temperature for decorating as soon as it is made. If you are prepping ahead of time, cover the frosting and store it in the refrigerator. Allow it to come to room temperature about 20 minutes before decorating to soften it.

Step 5 – Decorate

You can choose to decorate your cupcakes in a variety of ways, depending on the final look you want for the ice cream.

To decorate scoop-style:

This is a very easy and simple method that will still achieve the perfect ice cream look! With a mini cookie scoop, scoop out the frosting and place it directly on top of the cake. I like to scoop mine with a little extra frosting that extends outside the scoop to mimic the base that you would typically see with a real scoop of ice cream.

Top with sprinkles and your choice of garnishes before serving.

To decorate soft-serve-style:

This method is slightly more advanced. Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe two full swirls of frosting on top of each cupcake.

For a multi-flavored chocolate and vanilla swirl look, divide your vanilla buttercream in half in two separate bowls. Mix about 1/8 cup of cocoa powder into half of the vanilla buttercream.

Place the chocolate buttercream and vanilla buttercream in two small separate piping bags and cut off the tips. Place the piping bags cut side down inside a larger piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

When you squeeze the larger piping bag, you will get a swirl of both these flavors, just like you’d see in the classic soft-serve mix.

Top with your desired sprinkles and garnishes, and serve!