Impatience...

One of my favourite things...to do in the summer is to take a drive with my husband after dinner and go get an ice cream cone at one of the many shops that pop up with the warmer weather. As with much of my life, I tend to lean towards simplicity and often opt for chocolate or vanilla and it's always perfection.

Well, in LMC land there is still a significant amount of snow on the ground and this does not generally bode well for the opening of the ice cream shops. Finding myself somewhat impatient with the fact that summer is nowhere near, this week, I decided to take matters into my own hands. The result? These super cute ice cream cone cupcakes that will make anyone wish for the days to come!

What I like the most about these is the fact that they can be made in any flavours you wish. I chose chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream icing. 


Easily enough, the first step is to just make your cake mix according to the instructions on the box. 

Once that's all done, line your muffin pans, not with baking cups, but with ice cream cones! Fill each one with about a third of the way. You'll likely get much more than 2 dozen out of this technique. I tried to get an even 24 and, well, you'll see why that didn't work out so well!

Bake according to the instructions on your cake box. 


Meanwhile, prepare your frosting. Like I said, you can use any kind of frosting you want, but I opted for a vanilla buttercream. I like white icing when using sprinkles because they pop better on the lighter surface. 


Buttercream Icing
 (I doubled the recipe for my cupcakes)

1/2 cups of unsalted butter, softened
4 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 


Cream the butter, then add the powdered sugar and milk. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk, if too thin add a little extra sugar. Mix in the salt and vanilla and blend until smooth. 

Once your cupcakes are done (toothpick!) take them out and let them cool. 


Now, this is where I pass along some hands-on baking experience and remind you that you really can't put a lot of batter in these things. While the front one looks great, you'll see in the background that they didn't all look as spectacular. Thankfully, the frosting will hide much of the flaws! 

 Using a 1M tip, pipe a cute little swirl on the top of each cupcake. Or, you can simply frost them with a regular knife. Or make flowers. Let your imagination take over!! 


But don't forget the sprinkles!!

 Take a big bite, sit back and wait (impatiently or otherwise) for summer to come along!

Happy Baking!! xox

Crystal 

Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe: