Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes: such a fun treat for a birthday party! Try this easy hack that will make baking and transporting them a sweet breeze!

If you are planning a kids’ party, cupcakes are an absolute must! And nothing gets a better reaction than ice cream cone cupcakes! I love how everybody’s eyes light up when they see these fun treats!

You can even take these delicious treats one step further and make your very own Ice Cream Cone Cupcake decorating table with all the fixings.

So what are ice cream cone cupcakes? It’s basically just an ice cream cone baked with cake inside, and topped with frosting that’s piped to look like soft serve ice cream.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

prep time: 5 MINUTES cook time: 30 MINUTES additional time: 5 MINUTES total time: 40 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 2 & 1/4 cups flour
• 2 1& /4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 5 egg whites at room temperature
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons clear vanilla
• 1 cup whole milk at room temperature
• 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
• 12 ice cream cones with flat bottoms
• 1 stick butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream at room temperature
• sprinkles for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

For the Cupcakes

1. Whisk dry ingredients together.
2. In another bowl, beat butter & sugar together until light & fluffy.
3. Add oil & incorporate.
4. Add egg whites & full incorporate.
5. Add clear vanilla **regular vanilla will work just as well**
6. Starting & ending with flour mixture, alternate between flour mixture & milk while being sure to whisk after each addition.
7. Fold in your rainbow sprinkles.
8. Spoon or pipe 4 tablespoons of funfetti cake batter into each cone. Do not overfill.
9. Stand cones upright in a cupcake pan.
10. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For the Buttercream

1. Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar & set bowl aside.
2. Cream butter & shortening.
3. Blend in vanilla extract.
4. Scrape down the sides.
5. Place your mixer on the lowest speed & slowly add in your powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.
6. Do not worry if your buttercream looks crumbly & dry because we will fix that next.
7. Scrape down the sides one last time.
8. With your mixer on a medium high speed, slowly add in heavy cream.
9. Turn mixer up to a high speed and whip your buttercream until you have light & fluffy consistency you are looking for.

Assembly

1. Place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip.
2. Pipe a decorative swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake cone, beginning at the outside edge and working up.
3. Load up with sprinkles.

Notes

• If you’d prefer to skip the shortening, simply swap it out with 1 additional stick of room temperature butter.
• If you’d prefer a more white, stiffer, buttercream then simply omit the butter & replace with 1 additional cup of shortening. Also be sure to swap out the vanilla extract for clear vanilla extract.
• Make sure you sift your powdered sugar. This will help the sugar mix into the butter & shortening smoothly.
• When all your powdered sugar has been added in, the buttercream will appear dry. Don’t raise the alarms. When adding in your milk or heavy cream, your buttercream will start to have the fluffy texture it‘s known for.
• Keep in mind that your heavy cream should be added in 1 tablespoon at a time. I do this way to make sure I am not drowning my buttercream to the point of a soupy mess.
• Also worth mentioning, if desired, you can easily swap out the heavy cream for equal parts of your preferred milk.
• Room Temperature Ingredients: Be sure to allow your dairy ingredients to reach room temperature. Room temperature ingredients not only combine more effortlessly (no over-mixing needed) but they also trap air so much better. This trap air will expand and produce a fluffy texture during your baking process.
• Prepared Pan: There will always be the “next best way to prepare your pan” article. Simply put however, the most effective way i find in my kitchen is a light rub of shortening around the sides, parchment paper on the bottom of the pan (for majority of baking pans), & a very light dusting of flour (cocoa powder for chocolate baked goods) all throughout.