[Recipe] "Kid At Heart" Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

I was recently asked to make cupcakes for a child's birthday.  The problem?  I haven't made anything for children in forever, and let's just say that their preferences are a little different from ours.  (For example, I'm not convinced all children love apple pie cupcakes or Aztec Mexican ones, and so of course these recipes must be reserved for another day and entry.)  Sure enough, the little boy's mother had just one piece of advice for me: "He loves frosting!"

This piece of information, however, didn't really narrow things down for me, either-- I don't think children like the same kind(s) of frosting adults do.  For example, they don't necessarily love cream cheese-based frostings.  (His mother actually ruled out red velvet immediately after suggesting it as a possibility.)  And they don't love fruit in their dessert the way I do.  (Goodbye, berry- or lemon-based whipped and buttercream frostings.)  And, worse, perhaps through a deficiency of my own, I *small voice* actually don't love frosting all that much, anyway... in fact, I've always been willing to scrape off a little bit of the [excess!] frosting from a cake or cupcake in the name of friendship.  (You're welcome.)

So I did what I always do in times of recipe crisis: I turned to the Internet.  I Googled, perhaps rather n00bishly, "Cupcakes for Children" and found the following:

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

YES.  #Winning.  And not just in a Charlie Sheen way, though I would be surprised if he disapproved of this very fun dessert.  (That means what you think it means.)

It's simple, really.  Simple in its genius.  Essentially, ice cream cones take on the role of edible cupcake wrappers.  You can use any cupcake base you want (well, at least any without fancy fillings like cheesecake or cookie dough) and any frosting as well.  I went with a lovely classic homemade yellow cake base (recipe here, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen) and a chocolate buttercream frosting, but the idea really works for any combination of cake and frosting your little heart (or little one) desires.

The amount of cake batter that fits into each individual ice cream cone is roughly equal to 2/3 of a normal cupcake wrapper or tin, so adjust baking times ever-so-slightly to account for this (if necessary-- some cupcakes rise a lot, anyway).  Also, posts online suggested that the bottoms of the ice cream cones became slightly soggy and leaky from the batter, so I lined mine with a few chocolate chips and marshmallows.  They doubled, I think, as a nice surprise for the birthday boy, kind of like a Drumstick.

And, of course, I piled the icing high to resemble ice cream (it might not look like much, but the cakes didn't rise a ton) and decorated with a generous splattering of fun sprinkles. The sky's really the limit at this stage, though-- basically whatever you'd find on an actual ice cream cone or sundae-- is fair game.  Have fun and run with it.  Be a kid again.  After all,

"Love is an ice cream sundae, with all the marvelous coverings."
Jimmy Dean