Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Today we are celebrating my younger son's birthday.  His birthday isn't technically until October first, but I'm leaving for three months on Wednesday.  Yes I did say three months.  If you do your math, you will realize I won't be around for the holidays.  This means I won't be able to make a turkey for Thanksgiving. It also means no Bouche de Noel... or I might just make it when I get back anyway.  It's a sad fact of life.  Anyway, I wanted to make something special for Aiden for his birthday so I decided to make some of these.

These look like an ice cream cone but they are actually cupcakes! When you take a bite into one, you discover a delicious secret on the inside - in this case, chocolate banana cake.




You don't have to use chocolate banana cake.  You can even used store-bought cake mix and frosting.  I think it's a little more personal if I make it from scratch so I decided to whip up some cake that would kind of give it a banana split-esque taste.

The frosting I used was just a whipped cream frosting - the same frosting used on my Chocolate Vino Minicakes.


Chocolate Banana Cupcakes


Ingredients:
1/2 c. oil

1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
3 medium well ripened bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. water
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla

In large bowl, cream oil and sugar together.

Mix baking soda and water together and pour into oil and sugar mixture. Mix well.

Mash bananas well. Add mashed bananas and egg into mixture.

Whisk cocoa and flour together in a bowl.

Add vanilla to banana mixture. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Scrape down sides of the bowl if needed.

Place ice cream cones in mini muffin pan. Fill cones halfway with batter. (About a tablespoon of batter.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.






Allow cones to cool completely and frost with frosting. Another option that I think would work great for a birthday party at home would be to top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and other assorted toppings. (I used sprinkles and maraschino cherries.)

Here is a picture of the birthday boy (right) and his older brother enjoying one. They also each got one later at the birthday party.  (Although Aiden was more excited about blowing the candle out than eating the second cupcake. He also didn't like us singing "Happy Birthday." Not that I blame him, I really hate that song too.)  

 I let them have a few extra today since Mommy will be gone and this is the last time they will get to have something I've baked for awhile. (Stay tuned for Combat Baking!)


One last thing to add - these cupcakes are really unstable once you get the frosting on them. I put them back in the pan after frosting, and was going to place them in the freezer when half of them came crashing down, bringing their friends with them. I'll admit, I nearly cried. Lesson learned - make sure you stabilize them before you transport them!