Homemade Funfetti Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

These are some of my favorite cupcakes to make! I love the concept of cupcakes that look like ice cream. My mom and cousin had a birthday in early august so I wanted to make them something summery since summer is coming to an end, and what better than ice cream cone cupcakes? When I think Ice cream cones I think sprinkles and when I think of sprinkles I think of my all-time favorite cake...funfetti! I don't know what it is about white cake with sprinkles in it but funfetti rubs me the right way. As you all know by now, I'm  not a huge fan of baking out of a box so I searched for a good homemade funfetti recipe and found one from Lovin' From the Oven. I recently discovered her blog and love it because she bakes a lot of my favorite things and things that I would LOOOOVE to make. These turned out just like the box mix. I love the use of fat free plain yogurt, gives it an interesting texture and tang.

Homemade Funfetti Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Cake and Frosting from Lovintheoven.com

Ingredients:

Funfetti cake: (this fills about 18 cake cones)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 XL egg whites
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup plain nonfat yogurt
a handful of rainbow sprinkles

Cream Cheese Frosting:
About 1/3 cup and 3 T of softened butter
10 oz cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Mix together in a bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together melted butter and sugar until combined. Add egg whites and beat until mixture is smooth and light. Stir in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the yogurt.

Gently fold in sprinkles, if using. Scoop batter about 3/4 of the way in your cake cones (you can put bake them in a cupcake pan or tin.

Bake for 25 minutes, until cupcakes are barely golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with a couple of loose crumbs. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in tins.

Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese together until well blended. Mix in the vanilla. Gradually incorporate the powdered sugar into the batter. Beat until smooth. Add more powdered sugar if necessary to get the desired consistency.

Pipe onto cupcakes using rounded tip or ziplock bag with corner cut and top with cherry and/or rainbow jimmies

Golden Graham Cupcakes

Believe it or not I actually have a cupcake post! Boy I've missed it...but my waistline has not...I'm still not having much luck in that department...but thats a whole other story. It was Shawn's roomates birthday. He loved my Thin Mint Cupcakes and requested some for his birthday (as I happily obliged). Then he changed his mind to Golden Grahams. I knew I could work with that so I was excited for another "Dame Good Creation". I just used a golden cupcake recipe as a base and incorporated Golden Grahams any way I could...You don't even want to know the damage I did to my body with these guys. The marshmallow frosting was just heaven in a spoon...multiple spoons...

Golden Graham Cupcakes

A golden cupcake with Golden Graham crumbs baked in, topped with marshmallow frosting and a Golden Graham treat then dusted with Golden Graham crumbs.

makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Golden Cupcakes
Adapted from "Crazy About Cupcakes" by Krystina Castella

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Golden Graham crumbs (grind cereal in blender or food processor)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with the electric mixer on medium speed until fuffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg yolks. Beat well. Add the vanilla. Mix.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, golden graham crumbs, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix well.
With clean beaters, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Fill the cupcake liners one-half to three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean.

Marshmallow Frosting (makes about 5 cups)
from "Cupcakes" by Shelly Kaldunski

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp water
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
pinch salt
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large, clean, heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch, about 2 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Using an electic mixer on medium-high speed, beat the mixture until it is very warm and soft (but not dry) peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Reduce the mixer to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla. Continue beating until te marshmallows are melted and the frosting is completely smooth, about 2 minutes more. Use right away.

Golden Graham Treats
Adapted from Cinnamon Toast Crunch Treats, and Fruity Pebble Treats

Ingredients:

1.5 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/2 (10 ounce) package regular marshmallows or 4 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups Golden Graham cereal

Directions:

Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat
Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted
Remove from heat
Add Golden Grahams and stir until well coated.
Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a small pan coated with cooking spray.
Allow to cool

"Think Pink" Cupakes

A friend of a friend was nice enough to think of me for her sisters graduation party. She asked me to make some cupcakes even though I'm still learning and gaining experience. I happily agreed as I need practice and any excuse to bake for someone other than myself. After messaging back and forth we decided on something pink, unique and girlie. I origionally wanted to do a 2-tone pink and white frosting with hot pink bows and little mini edible pearls. As it turns out, this baking experience was one of those where everything went wrong. I couldn't find the edible pearls or even those silver balls I have often seen at the grocery stores. Then, the 2-tone was too subtle to even notice and then finally, not all of the bows were turning out right. So I kept a couple bows and finished with topping off each cupcake with a hot pink rosette, crystal sugar and piping pearly white balls on each cupcake to kind of look like pearls.

The cake for these are strawberry. I used the strawberry cupcake recipe I had posted before. I also wanted to try something different and see if there was something even BETTER out there. After googling "best strawberry cupcakes" I came across this intiguing recipe on goodthingscatered.blogspot.com. I loved the way these tasted, but was not too into how they looked. They were a little too brown for strawberry cupcakes if you ask me. Which sucked for me because I had plans to layer the colors of the cupcake in 3 so that the bottom was a dark pink and the top was light pink, but food coloring did not have a pretty or significant effect in this batter. To add to the theme of "everything going wrong" I burnt a whole batch of 18 because I was too busy frosting to hear the timer go off...so I had to make a last minute late night trip to the grocery store...lovely!

At the end of all this, I was content with the cupcakes. They weren't exactly what I wanted and I hope they liked them for the effort haha! I definitely learned a lot from this cupcake experience which is ALWAYS a plus!

Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar (or a little less)
2 eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. chopped strawberries
1/4 c. strawberries
1 Tbsp. strawberry liquor
1/2 tsp lemon juice
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans.
Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time until combined.
Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined.
Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Fold in berries.
Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way.
Bake for 20 minutes.

For frosting, put berries, liquor, and juice in saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer for 5 mins.
Let cool then blend until smooth.
In bowl of mixer mix cream cheese and butter until creamy.
Add sugar, then vanilla.
Add berry puree until smooth.
Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled.

PS: I didn't use this frosting for the cupcakes because I needed something that would hold its shape...but it sounds delicious so I tossed it in for anyone to try...I just may have to myself. Instead I used the basic buttercream frosting I posted before, but added 8 oz of softened cream cheese and a tiny bit of whipping cream for some slight softness until it came to a consistency I was happy with.

Mothers Day Cupcake Bouquets

I've always seen those cupcakes that looks like roses and have been wanting to try them out. I finally get the chance for Mothers Day. I thought it would be nice to make a few bouquets for my mom and for some friends to give to their moms. I made strawberry, vanilla and chocolate and then frosted them with a basic vanilla buttercream colored pink. I didn't care too much for the chocolate recipe I used, it was my first time trying it and have had better so I wont be posting it. I made mini vanilla cupcakes so I could make small white flowers.

Strawberry Cupcakes (from "Cupcakes" by Shelly Kaldunski)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons strawberry jam
1/4 cup  finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops red food coloring
1/3 cup whole milk

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper foil or liners. In a small bowl, stir together the jam and strawberries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg whites, vanilla, and red food coloring and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in the strawberry mixture until just combined

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Vanilla Cupcakes (from "Cupcakes" by Shelly Kaldunski)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper foil or liners. In a small bowl, stir together the jam and strawberries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and egg white one at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Then add vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions; alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds, do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes (for mini cupckaes do about 10 minutes or so). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Vanilla Buttercream (this is enough for about 4-5 small/medium bouquets)

Ingredients:

1 pound of butter
2 pounds of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
(milk if needed)
red or pink food coloring

Directions:

Cream the butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar in 3-4 batches. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and beat on high for about a minute. Add desired amount of food coloring.

Bouquets

You sill need:

cupcakes
frosting
a vase
foam ball
toothpicks/scewers
tissue paper
wilton 2d tip
piping bag

Directions/Ideas:

There's a lot you can do with these bouquets. I wanted to do two-tone roses. There are two ways to do that. I did both. The first way is more subtle. You take some of your icing and in a separate bowl add more food coloring to make it darker than your base icing. Take a frosting spatula and line the inside of your piping back vertically with about 3-4 lines straight up the inside of the bag. Then you fill the bag with your base icing and frost! The second way is more drastic. Take a decorating brush that has been dipped directly in the food coloring and create the same striping effect as the first and proceed to fill your bag with your base icing and frost! To learn more or get better instructions check out wilton.com.

To frost a rose you need a wilton 2d tip. Its very easy. All you do is start in the middle instead of the outside and in a clockwise direction you circle your way outto the edge of the cupcake. Simple and beautiful!

The design can go many ways depending on the size and shape of the vase. Make sure you get a foam ball that fits. You just use toothpicks or skewers to attach the cupcakes to the ball. I recommend using more than one per cupcake so that they are stable. I also used tissue paper to cover up bad spots or any areas where the ball was visible.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

I love birthdays...why? Because they give me an excuse to make my favorite thing in the world. I think it's rather clear by now what that is...but for those of you just tuning in, that would be cupcakes! It's one of my best friends in the entire worlds birthday this weekend. She was origionally planning on having a cookout but apparently it is going to rain. What a bummer, because I love cookouts! Anyway, she requested something fruity and even suggested something pineapple upside down-like. Luckily for me, I happened to have a recipe for pineapple upside down cupcakes!

The origional recipe comes from that cupcake calendar I have from the book "500 Cupcakes". It suggests to serve it warm (which is delicious I'm sure) but I had these in mind with a cookout theme and therefore, that just isn't doable. I thought these cupcakes would be fantastic with whipped cream, but again, that is a little difficult considering I have to transport these and can't serve them right away as they should be (warm and with whipped cream). The recipe actually had NAKED cupcakes which I don't really believe in, so I settled for vanilla buttercream and a cherry on top (I just couldn't resist).

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcake

A vanilla cupcake with a pineapple topping. Also topped with vanilla frosting, sugar sprinkles and a cherry.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
20 oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
Vanilla buttercream (recipe follows)
Maraschino cherries (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease to 12-cup muffin pans with butter and dust with a little flour, tapping out the excess. In the bottom of each cup, drizzle 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon pineapple, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

Place all the cupcake ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla) in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2-3 minutes. Spoon the batter on top of the pineapple mixture in each cup. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Turn out the cupcakes onto dessert plates, serve warm with heavy cream if desired.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat butter until creamy and smooth. Slowly add confectioners sugar in about 3 or 4 batches. When creamy, add vanilla and beat on medium-high about 1-2 minutes.

Top cupcakes with frosting and a cherry. Enjoy! :)

Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

Easter Egg Nest Cupcakes

Happy Easter everyone! I got this idea for cupcakes from a cupcake calendar I have which has recipes from the book 500 Cupcakes. They have these cute little Easter egg nests and I wanted to take it further and make it my own.

Easter Egg Nest Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting that is piped to look like a bird nest and topped with various easter candies (jelly bean eggs, special dark hershey chocolate eggs, and peeps!)

Ingredients:

1 cup sweet butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
chocolate frosting (recipe follows)
easter egg candy
peeps

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place 18 paper baking cups in muffin pans. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2-3 minutes. Spoon the batter into cups.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pans from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 lb (4 sticks) of butter
2 lb bag of confectioners sugar, sifted
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

Mix the butter until creamy. Add vanilla extract and blend well. Slowly add powdered sugar about 1/2-1 cup at a time until completely combined. Slowly add cocoa powder until desired amount is achieved. If you want a more creamy frosting, add a little bit of milk. Mix on high to fluff about 1 minute.

Put 3/4 of frosting into a piping bag and pipe easter egg nests onto top of cupcakes (I used wilton tip # 32). Put the rest of the chocolate into another piping bag (with wilton tip # 233) and pipe along the nest to create little strings (to look like branches or twigs). OPTIONAL: I reserved a little bit of frosting before I added the chocolate and added green food coloring to make a couple leaves (with wilton tip # 67)

Top cupcakes with candy of your choice (jelly bean eggs, chocolate eggs, peeps). SUGGESTION: shave some chocolate and put on cupcakes so that it looks like dirt :)

These were so much fun to make! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes

So it's my roomates (and best friend of 12 years) birthday monday and my boyfriend just got asked to be a manager for a week again at work...they both love Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal so I think it is time to take a stab at these cupcakes.

Ideas for these have been racing through my head for weeks! I finally decided to just make a cinnamon cupcake that I found on Annie's Eats, fill it with a vanilla cream with crushed cereal mixed in and top with a vanilla buttercream frosting that has crushed cereal mixed in as well, dusted with crushed cereal and topped with a Cinnamon Toast Crunch treat. Wow! Yes, I am aware that I sometimes take on too much!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes

A cinnamon cupcake with crushed cereal baked in filled with vanilla cream frosting mixed with crushed cereal, topped with vanilla cream frosting, dusted with crushed cereal and topped with a cinnamon toast crunch treat.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup skim milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs (for cake batter)
1-3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (½ cup crushed (to top cupcake), 1 cup fine crumbs (for frosting and filling))
Vanilla cream frosting (recipe follows)
Cream filling (recipe follows)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch treats (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of Cinnamon toast Crurnch crumbs. Stir milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat just until butter melts; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick enough for the batter to fall in a heavy ribbon when the beater is lifted, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour mixture; beat just until blended.
Beat in the milk-butter mixture just until blended. Stir in desired amount of cereal (about 1-2 cups) Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners. Sprinkle Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs on top of each cupcake.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch treats: (inspired by fruity pebble treats from recipezaar)

Ingredients: (make 1/4 or 1/2 batch as you wont need that much)

1.5 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/2 (10 ounce) package regular marshmallows or 4 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal

Directions:

Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat
Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted
Remove from heat
Add Cinnamon Toast Crunch and stir until well coated.
Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a small pan coated with cooking spray.
Allow to cool

Vanilla Cream Filling (from Baking Bites)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1/2 cup butter (or trans fat-free shortening)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 scraped vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs

Directions:

Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes. Sir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil.

When thickened (consistency will be that of a thin pudding or custard), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature.

When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter (or shortening) and sugar together in a medium bowl until light. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the scraped vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract) and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 7 minutes, add cereal crumbs (1/2 cup) and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip, or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off, and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.

Vanilla Cream Frosting: (from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

Makes about 4 cups
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs

Directions:

With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. Then add 1/2 cup of cereal crumbs and beat until mixed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes

After cupcakes have cooled, fill a pastry bag with the vanilla cream icing.
To fill cupcakes, push pastry bag in the top as far as it can go without puncturing the bottom, gently squeeze while slowly pulling up until you reach the surface.

Using a piping bag with a round tip, frost each cupcake with vanilla frosting. Top the frosting with a cinnamon toast crunch treat and dust with ground up cereal

These are delicious if I do say so myself! They taste JUST like the cereal! YAY!My boyfriend actually labeled these as his favorite that I've made so far. They may be a lot of work but they are totally worth it. Also, the filling is optional...I just HAD to do it as I love leaving little surprises in my cupcakes :)