Ice cream cone cupcakes

I have been wanting to do some decorating with the girls lately, and decided this morning to make ice cream cone cupcakes. They were pretty excited about the idea, and I was too. I remember when I was little, my mom making these for me one year to take to school for my birthday. My birthday is tomorrow, so maybe I was being a little nostalgic...feeling "old" and remembering when I helped my mom make them. Em had wanted to make a big swirl on the cupcakes, but since my normal frosting is pretty heavy, I decided to try out 7 Minute Frosting. I've wanted to make it for a long time, but just never really had a reason to. I whipped up a batch of it, and it was really, really yummy; a lot like marshmallow fluff. I made it this morning, and have been craving a fluffernutter ever since.

7 Minute Frosting
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
4 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Boil until a candy thermometer reads 242 degrees (about 4 or 5 minutes.) Meanwhile, beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until foamy. While beating, stream hot sugar into the eggs. Beat on high for about 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla, and continue beating for another 2 minutes.

To make the cupcakes, I used the Moosewood Chocolate Cake recipe. I have another chocolate cake recipe that I like a little better, but the Moosewood is so incredibly quick and easy to whip up. The flavor is great, it is moist, and I've also found that it's a pretty decent recipe to use when I need to carve a cake. Anyway, I placed the ice cream cones in muffin tins and filled them with the cake batter (about 1/2 inch from the top.) I thought maybe I overfilled them, as a few spilled over, but now looking back at the Moosewood site, I think maybe I have my recipe written down wrong (I think I only have 1/2 tsp. of baking soda written...and I've been making it that way for the last year! LOL!) One recipe filled 12 ice cream cones. Then just carefully place them in a preheated oven and bake!

I let the frosting refrigerate for a few hours before I had the girls frost the cupcakes. It firmed it up a little more and made it a little easier for a kid to work with.