Cupcakes are very hot right now. In pop culture, they are everywhere, from Lena Dunham consuming them in the bathtub to Michael Cyril Creighton continually featuring them in his hit web series “Jack In A Box” to the seemingly endless spate of reality TV shows about cupcakeries around the continent.  I’ve been a fan almost my entire life, probably since my mom first let me taste one at the age of two. Cupcakes, get into them. It’s been almost two months since my last cupcake-related post, which is far too long. I saw cupcake cones featured on an episode of The Cupcake Girls earlier this year, and knew I had to make these for the treeplanters. They are essentially what they sound like, cupcakes baked inside of ice cream cones. They are extremely easy to bake, and so very adorable.

Things That Are Going Well

– My sister Kaley, who is also cooking for a treeplanting camp, was able to come visit us for a few days in our Alberta camp. Kaley spends the majority of her time in Bolivia, so it’s super great to spend time with her during her brief stint in Canada. (Hi, Kaley!)

– We are 2/3’s though the summer, holla. 

Things That Are Not Going Well

-Rain. It’s been some rainy, miserable times here in Northern Alberta. Come on, sun. If there is one thing that is awful about this job, it has to be missing out on Summer. Cold mornings and rainy days—give me a Toronto patio, I beg of you.

– No internet access in camp. I’d like to think I’m not addicted to social media, but four days with no Twitter or texting and I was starting to develop shingles. I think I’ll have to delve into this further in the future. 

Cute Little Cupcake Cones

So Cupcake Cones- I can’t say enough good things about these delectable little treats. 

There are few different ways of making these, but I highly recommend baking the batter into the cones, that way you get cake in each bite. For the frosting, you can make either a classic buttercream frosting, a vegan frosting or a cream cheese frosting, anything that will stand up and work as the “ice cream” top of the cupcakes. These look best the day they are made, so be sure to serve them right away, but they still taste great as leftovers for the rest of the week. Also be careful! Ice cream cones are not very stable, and after painstakingly frosting each one, a spill can be quite traumatic. 

Ingredients

1.Cake Batter

(You can use a store bought mix, or make your own from scratch, enough for 24 cupcakes. Use any flavour you like, I love a lot of Chloe Coscarelli’s Vegan recipes, http://chefchloe.com/sweets.html)

2. 24 Ice Cream Cones (Flat Bottomed)

3. Frosting

4. Rainbow Sprinkles

Directions

1. Make the cake batter, and distribute evenly between the cones. You can set the  cones on a baking pan or in muffin tins for more stability.

2. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Let cool fully, then frost and decorate. These work best with a proper piping bag and tips, but you can make anything work, like making your own frosting bag out of parchment paper or a plastic bag. Sometimes we have to be industrious out here in the forest. 

And that’s about it. We are lucky enough to have a few days off before our next camp set-up, and I have been enjoying the luxuries of civilization. Wine, Hotels, Trash TV, and nice meals I didn’t have to make for myself. Let me know if you try out the cupcake cones, I’d love to see pictures of your creations! Until then I’m going to order some room service and enjoy a WhatNotToWear-athon. 

Until next time,
Kristy in the Kitchen (In The Forest)

Kristy LaPointe has spent the last few months chronicling her summer as a Treeplanting cook for SDTC, and trying to hide her ghetto summer wardrobe and aprons from Clinton and Stacy. She also acts, writes, sings, and has various other special skills according to her resume. You can follow her on twitter @kristylapointe, and enjoy the blog she co-writes at adeleandkristy.tumblr.com

~Kristy LaPointe