In my quest to be a more present, engaging an creative mother I have decided to (finally) try some new crafts, excursions and... recipes! While my kids are always excited to help out with any meal, this weekend I surprised them with the task of desert! This recipe was so simple that with the exception of taking the pan out of the oven, my job served mainly as director and cheerleader.
One box of cake mix - Follow the ingredient list on the box, but generally it includes:
*Vegetable Oil
*A box of small ice cream cones with flat bottoms. Obviously you can go with any size, but because the cake fills the cup the small cones are actually pretty big in terms of cupcake size. This recipe will result in about 16 small cake cones with one box of cake mix.
* Sprinkles/decorations
While you can choose a gluten free cake mix, I was unable to find a gluten free ice cream cone option. This is obviously a nut-free and dairy free treat, which can be important for children with allergies - you can also substitute vegetable oil with coconut oil, or (obviously) make your own cake recipe.
Follow the cupcake recipe on the cake mix box and if you want to avoid any batter from bubbling out of the cone and into the cupcake pan, fill to about an inch from the top.
From start to finish, this project took about an hour, including the cooking time.
1/3 cup of cream cheese
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Let your cream cheese sit out a while to soften, then mash it together with powdered sugar. Add the vanilla a little at a time. When it's all mixed together evenly you're done! You can spread the frosting or you can put it in a plastic bag, cut a hole in the corner and pipe it. Make sure that the cone cakes are cooled down before you frost otherwise the frosting will slide right off.
If you would like a dairy free option for the frosting, replace the cream cheese with butter and add powdered sugar until you reach a fluffy consistency. We like to add almond extract instead of vanilla sometime too!
While I've had my share of cooking fails... this one turned out exactly how we expected the first time. One of the benefits that I didn't think of is that they are actually much cleaner to eat for young kids than a traditional cupcake. My 18 month old had cupcake all over his face, but the crumbs seemed way less.
And, my daughter has already volunteered to make them for a bake sale, so I'd consider this project a hit.
Please post photos of your conecakes on our Facebook page! Tell us in the comments how you made yours different!
