The Ultimate Party Treat: Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

If you’ve never made an ice cream cone cupcake before, you’ve got to give it a try. I first spotted the idea in a Williams Sonoma cookbook gifted to me by my best friend at my first baby shower in early 2000. It was a ‘cooking for kids’ book, filled with simple ideas for everyday meals and special occasions, and the cupcakes struck me as completely brilliant. Based on the reactions they continue to receive today, I’m clearly not alone in my thinking.

The treat is simple: it’s a cupcake baked directly into an ice cream cone. Instead of ice cream, the eater bites into cake and frosting. The cone is easy for little hands to hold, and the treat looks absolutely adorable.

I think this is the ultimate party treat for the spring and summer season. For starters, it’s a busy time of year and you need nothing more than a boxed cake mix, a container of frosting, some flat-bottomed ice cream cones, and a jar of sprinkles to make this recipe happen. Add those items to your shopping list this week, and keep them tucked away in the pantry until you’re called to bring something to the guitar recital, classroom party, bake sale, and/or school fair. If you also have a child with a birthday in the coming month, consider yourself covered when it comes to handing out classroom treats or baking something that will impress the kids at the party. In my experience, kids LOVE this treat, even if they’ve seen it more than a hundred times before.

If your pantry is stocked with the supplies mentioned above, this really is easier to make than running to the store to pick up a box of cupcakes (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

The only downside to this recipe, if there really is one, is that the cupcakes don’t hold up well for more than a day or so. Any longer than that and the cones begin to soften and turn soggy.

Feel free to get creative by tinting the icing different colours and using an assortment of sprinkles. You can even top the whole thing off with a cherry to replicate a true ice cream treat!

Makes 24 cupcakes