I can’t believe it’s been four months since my last post! Things have been so busy with the work and house…I haven’t had time to do much baking. But I did make these cupcakes last month for Father’s day, and they were a hit!
These were inspired by a tutorial I saw on Cake Central on how to make hi-hat cupcakes. They reminded me of the Mr. Softee cones, which I was first introduced to when I moved to New York. So I looked up how to make ice cream cone cupcakes, and to my surprise, you can actually pour the batter into the cone and bake it right in there for the same amount of time you would use for a cupcake liner. You can still bake them in a cupcake tin, just put one cone in each hole.
Then you make the hi-hat frosting, freeze for 10 minutes to solidify, and dip in melted chocolate. Easy! I used red Mercken Melts so they would look like a Mr. Softee cone. Also, because my husband hates regular chocolate (weird!).
What is cool is that when you cut it down the middle, there is cake all the way to the bottom! The cone gets a little softer and chewy, and takes on the taste of the cake. I used my go-to recipe for vanilla buttermilk cupcakes for this one.
The only real difficulty is how to transport these. My sister-in-law showed me some pics online of a setup where people cut holes in a foil tin and sat the cupcakes in the holes. I decided to do a variant of this, and got one of the chafing dish stands to help.
These are really fun to make, and also really fun to eat! Perfect for summer.
- For the frosting:
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- For the dip:
- 1 lb red Mercken’s melts (or whatever color you prefer)
- Crisco
- In a stainless steel mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water, sugar and cream of tartar. Whisk until foamy. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and continue whisking until the egg whites are hot (about 160 degrees F). I used a candy thermometer.
- Using a heavy duty mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and the frosting has cooled to room temperature. This takes a while. I just let it go and came back occasionally to check on it.
- Using a piping bag and a large round tip, pipe the frosting in swirls onto the cupcakes, until they are tall & pointed on top. Place frosted cupcakes on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before dipping them in melted chocolate.
- Microwave 1/2 cup Mercken’s melts at a time with 1 TBSP Crisco. Microwave at half power for 30 second intervals and stir until it is smooth and flows freely from the spoon.
- Pour melted chocolate into a tall cup, so there is enough depth for dipping. Gently hold cupcake cone upside down into the chocolate and swirl so that all the frosting is covered. Add sprinkles if you desire, while the chocolate is wet.
- Place cupcakes on a plate and keep in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so the chocolate solidifies.
- Enjoy!
These are adorable!! And yes, John is a freak… 😉