Ice-cream Cone Rainbow Cupcakes

I was wrong when I thought cupcakes was a frenzy in Singapore until I visited Washington D.C. and New York City last December. I was one of the luckier ones who got ahead in the snake queues at the famous cupcakes stores to sink my teeth into one (or rather two) of the many different flavours that were available. This got me into searching and experimenting various cupcakes recipes after I returned from my trip and I must say this is the best recipe amongst what I have tried so far.

For the purpose of the Aspiring Bakers' last theme event, I made a slight variation in an innovative way. ^_^

I am submitting the Ice-cream Cone Rainbow Cupcakes to the Aspiring Bakers #40: Rainbow and Ombre Party! (March 2014) hosted by Cynthia of The Baking Biatch.

Ice-cream Cone Rainbow Cupcakes
Recipe referenced and modified from: The Cupcake Diaries by Katherine Kallinis and Sophie Kallinis

Ingredients Required

Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1 1/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
Edible food colourings - basic colours (red, blue and yellow)
Flat bottom ice-cream cones

Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frostings

2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners' sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 chocolate chips, melted and then cooled to room temperature

For decorations (optional) - rainbow sprinkles, chocolate candies or any as desired.

Bakeware Used

Two standard 12-cup muffin pans

Preparation Steps

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with ice-cream cones.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar using an electric mixer for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
5. In a large measuring cup, add vanilla and vanilla beans seeds to the milk.
6. Add one third of the dry ingredients followed by one third of the milk, and mix thoroughly. Repeat in two more additions alternately. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix slowly until well incorporated.
7. Divide batter equally into six individual bowls or cups. Fold drops of food colouring - red, orange (mix red and yellow), yellow, green (mix blue and yellow), blue, violet (mix red and blue) into each of the divided batter until evenly incorporated and desired shade of each colour has been achieved.
8. Scoop approximately one teaspoon of each coloured batter into the ice-cream cone (depends on the size of the ice-cream cone) in the order of rainbow colours, starting with violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and lastly red. Gently shake the ice-cream cone after each addition to level the batter in the cone. The batter should be filled to a level just touching the inner lower rim of the cone - where the body of the cone begins to extend outward. Do not over-fill the cones or it may bake over the sides. Very gently tap the cone against the table top to release any big air bubbles. To determine how much batter to fill in the cone, first test by baking one in the oven.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes (start checking at the 15th minute) or until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Once baked, remove ice-cream cone from muffin pan and gently poke a few holes through the bottom of the cone with a toothpick. This helps steam to escape and prevents the cones from getting soggy. Place cupcake cones on a wire rack to cool completely.

Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frostings

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a double boiler. Be careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Set melted chocolate aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt using an electric mixer until light and airy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the cooled melted chocolate until well incorporated.
3. Fill a piping bag fitted with piping tip with the frostings and frost the cupcakes when the cupcakes have cooled completely.

The Dream Baker's Experiment

1. I used granulated sugar for my cupcakes.
2. I used two eggs measuring approximately 67 grams and 68 grams (with shell).
3. I omitted the vanilla bean seeds simply because I ran out of it. The cupcakes tasted just as good.
4. I used 2% reduced fat milk simply because that's what I usually have in fridge. 
5. I used liquid food colourings. For more vibrant colours, use gel colourings instead.
6. I used Keebler® brand ice-cream cones with flat bottom so that the cones can sit in the muffin pan without a holder. The cones are smaller compared with the ones used at McDonald's®.
7. I filled the cones with approximately one teaspoonful of each of the coloured batter for the size of the ice-cream cones I had used.
8. I placed the muffin pan one rack below the middle rack of the oven so that the cones sit just mid-way in the oven and they were baked by the 17th minute.
9. I baked one muffin pan at a time because my oven couldn't fit two muffin pans. 
10. I started filling the second pan of cones with the batter about five minutes just before the first batch of cones were baked so that the batter doesn't sit in the cone for too long to make the cone soggy.
11. I baked 30 cones of cupcakes based on the amount of batter and size of the ice-cream cones used.
12. For the cupcake frostings, I used 2% reduced fat milk, and I halved the recipe using semi-sweet dark chocolate chips (that is why the chocolate frostings appeared darker) and white chocolate chips for each half portion so that I get a variety of two flavours. Substitute with any frostings as desired.

I divided the batter using disposable cups to minimise my washing. ^_^

The size of the cones I am using measures approximately 3-inches in height, 2-inches in top diameter and 1-inch in bottom diameter. The batter is filled to the height level as marked by the red arrow in the first picture on the left. It is advisable to test one cone in the oven to determine the amount of batter to be filled for different cone sizes. Generally, the cone should only be partially filled.

Before and after the cones were baked.

Just having fun with different frostings designs. *_*

The ice-cream cones can also be filled and baked with any cupcakes batter and the baking time should be similar to the duration for baking the cupcakes in its standard size. 

The Dream Baker's Note

This recipe is a very good cupcake batter to begin with, even without the fancy colours and the innovative idea of baking in ice-cream cones. The texture of these cupcakes is very soft and fluffy. This cupcakes recipe can be baked in paper liners for a similar baking time of approximately 16 to 18 minutes (varies across different ovens, mine took 18 minutes to bake) and yield approximately 18 standard size cupcakes (with batter filled to 3/4 full). I'd baked the rainbow cupcakes version in standard cupcake size too. Have fun!


So yummy~~

Dare to dream.
The Dream Baker