Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes {With Cake Mix}

Easy ice cream cone cupcakes recipe with cake mix, homemade with simple ingredients. Each wafer cone is full of funfetti cupcake batter and topped with buttercream icing swirls and sprinkles.

Talk about show stopping presentation- these are the most fun kid birthday treats out there! They are such a classic/vintage dessert that I remember our moms and grandmas making, and for good reason. It looks like a normal ice cream cone until you bite into it, "Surprise!" A light, fluffy, sprinkle filled cake dances on your tastebuds instead! Every kid, and adult actually, that I have ever handed one of these to has been nothing but awestruck and elated. They are so easy to make especially since they use a cake mix as the base. For more fun cupcake presentations and themes check out this How to Make Cupcake Bouquet {Flower}, and this Football Cupcakes Cake {And Football Party}.

How to make easy ice cream cone cupcakes recipe with cake mix?

1. Prepare cupcake batter- According to box.
2. Pour batter- Into cones.
3. Bake- In a cupcake baking tray.
4. Cool cupcakes- Poke a hole in the bottom, and tilt the cone sideways.
5. Frost cupcakes- With a swirl on top.
6. Add sprinkles- Enjoy.

How do you keep ice cream cone cupcakes from getting soggy and stale?

Poke a hole in the bottom of the cone after baking, and tilt them in the cupcake pan to allow the steam to escape. This keeps the wafer cones crispy. However, even after doing this the cone will still become soggy over time. These are best served the day you make them.

How to pour batter in cones?

Fill a large pitcher with the batter to pour evenly in each cone. This is less messy and way quicker than spooning batter into each cone.

How to transport ice cream cone cupcakes (holder)?

There are a couple options. Use thick icing as glue to stick the cones to a serving dish. You can also use a large rectangular sturdy pan, and line it with heavy duty aluminum foil. Then, make holes for each cone.

How do you know when cupcakes are done baking? 

They are done when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean. This took about 20-22 minutes in my oven.

How to make an ice cream swirl on a cupcake?

Fill a piping bag with icing and attach Wilton Tip 1M to it. Then starting in the center, squeeze the bag and make a swirl to the outside of the cupcake, and then continue on top, ending in the center again.

Key ingredients for cupcake cones

• Cones- Wafer cones are best because they can stand up.
• Cake mix- Funfetti cake mix is a fun choice.
• Frosting- I chose buttercream.
• Sprinkles- To add whimsy and color.

Frosting and topping ideas

• Maraschino Cherry Frosting {Pink}
• How to Make Red Frosting {Red Velvet}
• How to Make Black Icing {Buttercream Frosting}
• Brown Sugar Frosting {So fluffy!}
• Easy Mint Frosting
• Peanut Butter Frosting {4 Ingredients}
• Chocolate Ganache Frosting {2 Ingredients}
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe
• How to Make Homemade Stabilized Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Whipped Cream {3 Ingredients}
• White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Decorating ideas

• Sprinkles- Can be How to Make Homemade Sprinkles or store-bought. Choose ones that match your theme, holiday, or event.
• Cotton candy- Use a tuft of cotton candy instead of or in addition to frosting.
• Sundae toppings- Add an Easy Chocolate Ganache {2 Ingredients} or How To Make Homemade Caramel Sauce drizzle with a Maraschino cherry on top.
• Candy- Add a mini candy bar like a Twix, Kit Kat, or Snickers sticking out of the frosting, or crush your favorite candy bar and sprinkle it on top.
• Cookies- Add your favorite cookie such as an Oreo, chocolate chip, Mint cookie, or fudge stripped cookie into the frosting.
• Candy cane- Use a whole candy cane sticking out of the frosting or crush it up into sprinkles.
• Swirl frosting- Fill a piping bag with half chocolate and half vanilla vertically to make it look like swirl ice cream when piped.

Variations

Try other cupcake flavors- Such as chocolate, vanilla, chocolate chip, lemon, strawberry, spice cake, or red velvet. Choose a mix that suits the guest of honor or the theme!

Add a filling- Such as Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam, How to Make Raspberry Pie Filling, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles (Eggless). Use this How to Make Filled Cupcakes {Stuffed Cupcakes} to guide you because the concept still applies here in this recipe.

Try other frostings- Such as Funfetti Frosting (Sprinkle Icing), Best Cream Cheese Frosting, Lemon Frosting (Lemon Buttercream), or Strawberry Frosting {With Fresh Strawberries).

Make a rainbow frosting swirl- Use this for unicorn parties!

Add fondant decor- Such as How to Make Fondant Flowers or How To Make Easy Fondant Bows or other themed decor pieces.

Use mini cones- For small hands, or bite sized treats.

Tips and techniques

Cake mix vs. homemade- Either can be used. I used a cake mix to save time, but you can use this Funfetti Cake / Confetti Cake {From Scratch} to make cupcakes from scratch instead.

You must use flat bottom cones, not the pointed ones- Because otherwise there is no good way to stand them up so the batter doesn't spill out.

Be very careful when placing the baking tray into the oven- Because this prevents the cones from tipping over and spilling.

Pipe and decorate only when cupcakes are cool- Because this prevents the frosting from melting and sliding off the cupcakes.

How to make box cake mix taste better? Follow this How to Make Box Cake Better (Taste Homemade) because just a few minor tweaks to the ingredients listed on the box makes a big difference. 

Don’t over-fill cones- Because the cupcakes will rise over the edges of the cone and make them look less uniform and a lot less like an actual ice cream cone.

What to do if you’re worried about your cones tipping over/ falling? Secure them tightly by wrapping crumpled aluminum foil around the base of each cone. This acts like scaffolding on a construction site.

Use a cupcake pan for baking- Because it offers stability which is greatly needed.

These cannot be frozen- Because the cone will become all soggy upon thawing.

What tip to use for piping? I used Wilton's start tip #1M to make a classic ice cream swirl.

Another idea- Snowman Ice Cream Cones

This is another cute idea that use cake scraps, cupcake scraps or those oddly shaped/ domed cupcakes in the form of cake balls. These are fun and easy to make with kids and requires no baking.

Step 1: Use this tutorial to make cake balls, using leftover cake scraps or oddly shaped cupcakes. They should be big enough that they can easily rest on top of an ice cream cone. Instead of buttercream, I used ice cream to moisten the crumbled cake into cake ball shapes. I also stirred in some chocolate chips when I was making these cake balls. 
Tip: You can also easily use store-bought donut holes or munchkins from Dunkin Donuts. 

Step 2: Dip your cake balls in melted white chocolate until they are fully covered. If you freeze cake balls for 15-20 minutes, it’s easier to cover them in melted chocolate.

Step 3: Place these cake balls on wax paper or parchment paper until the chocolate hardens.

Step 4: Make your cones different sizes so that some of your snowmen are big and some are small.
To do this, I used a regular ice cream cone and then I also used some, where I broke off the top.

Step 5:Fill your cones with candy for an additional surprise. Pour some melted chocolate around the outer rims on the cone.

Step 6: Now, place the cake ball on top of the cone and press gently until it sticks into place.

Step 7:Use melted chocolate to stick all these features: Blue confetti sprinkles for eyes, Purple confetti sprinkles for the buttons, pink confetti sprinkles for the cheeks, sour candy strips and orange Reese’s pieces for the head muff, sour candy strips for the scarf (use scissors to cut them if you want them smaller or thinner), orange sprinkle for the carrot nose, red licorice rope for the mouth/smile
You can play around with other candies too.

Step 8: Place these snowman cones on a tray filled with sparkling sugar and some edible pearls and you are done! For more snowman desserts, check out these Snowman Cupcakes (With Donut Toppers) and Easy Snowman Cake as well as these Snowman Cookies (Oreos).

Storage

Refrigerate- In a sealed container for 1-2 days. The cones will start to become soggy after a day though.

Freeze- These cannot be frozen because the cones will become soggy upon thawing.

More homemade cupcake recipes

• Galaxy Cupcakes {With Buttercream Icing}
• Cookie Monster Cupcakes {Sesame Street}
• Easter Cupcakes {Chick Cupcakes}
• Red Rose Cupcakes {How to Pipe}
• Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes {From Scratch}

Recipe