This is another grand-baby-inspired treat, for sure!  Ice cream cone cupcakes!  I wanted them to look as much like ice cream cones as possible.  I used my favorite King Arthur Flour’s Golden Vanilla cake mix.  I split the batter in 1/2, and added 1/4 c sifted cocoa powder to 1/2.  This gave me 1 dozen vanilla cupcakes, and 1 dozen chocolate cupcakes.  I used ice cream cones as my “cupcake” holders.  These came out soooo cute!

The biggest struggle in making these, was to keep them from becoming too top-heavy.  They tend to tip over easily!  So the challenge is to keep them upright.  The “crispiness” of the cones will diminish as they absorb moisture from the cake – so best served same day as they are made.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cones in a cupcake tin.  I used about med 2 ice cream scoops of batter, to fill the cones about 3/4 full.

Carefully place pans in the oven, and bake for approx. 25 min.  Check for doneness – a toothpick inserted in the  center of a cupcake should come out clean.  Carefully remove from oven, and cool completely.

I melted some white chocolate candy melts, and added this around the top of the vanilla cones, using a spoon.  Scrape off excess, as to minimize the weight at the top of the cone.  Add sprinkles, and set aside to dry.  So cute!

Mix up a batch of my butter cream cheese frosting.  See prior post.  Divide frosting into 3 small bowls, and add gel food coloring as desired.  To get my pastel colors, I used a TINY amount each of yellow, blue, and pink coloring.  Add spoonfuls of each color to a piping bag with your desired tip.  Rotate spoonfuls of the colors, until all frosting has been added to the bag.  Then pipe onto the tops of each cone.  I added a few more sprinkles over the tops.

For the chocolate cones, I whipped up a batch of my whipped mascarpone frosting.

1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream til stiff peaks form

Then add:  3/4 c granulated sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and a pinch of salt.  Whip until well-blended.  Add 1/4 c sifted cocoa powder, and combine.

Add 8 oz mascarpone cheese at room temp.  Add this by spoonfuls, while the mixer is on med.  Mix til well blended and smooth.  Don’t over-whip.  This is really yummy stuff!  Great for fillings as well.

Add mixture to a piping bag, with your preferred tip.  Pipe onto the tops of the chocolate cones.  I melted a bit more white chocolate candy melts, and drizzled that over the whipped frosting.  Top with sprinkles.

I found that storing these standing up in a loaf pan worked pretty well, placing them close to each other so they don’t tip over.  I fit 8 cones per loaf pan!  Store in refrigerator for about 1 week, covered lightly with plastic wrap.  They look just like ice cream in a cone!