Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

 

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ingredients for approximately 12 cones:

Vanilla cake mix (or you can buy the individual colored cake mixes)

White chocolate bark (or you can buy milk chocolate if you want a chocolate instead of vanilla look)

Butter cream frosting

Red M&M's or any red candy

Any toppings/candy you prefer - I used sprinkles

Ice cream cones (flat bottom)

Food coloring (unless you buy the individual colored cake mixes)

Ok, so I've added pictures or I know I would have totally confused everyone with my instructions!! Enjoy... I hope ;)

Make batter by combining ingredients for the vanilla cake mix in a large mixing bowl and set aside.  I used a box cake mix this time but you can certainly make yours from scratch. Next you'll want to add the coloring to the batter so you'll need a separate plastic or foam cup for each color of food coloring you'll want to use.  I used five different colors and put several drops of coloring in each cup.  You'll want really deep vibrant colors so don't be greedy....unless you are anti food coloring then you probably shouldn't be reading this post ;)  Add about 2-3 ice cream scoops full of batter to each cup and stir until there is no streaking.

                         

Fill a greased cupcake pan with the batter and bake according to cake instruction.  Repeat until you've used all of your batter.  You can also use the cupcake baking cups if you prefer. I didn't but will for sure next time.

            

         

Next you'll want to crumble the cupcakes and separate each color in a bowl.  The picture below is about what two cupcakes will like in your bowl.  You can certainly do all your colors at once and put in a bigger bowl but this just helped me keep up since it was my first time. Next time I'll probably do that.  Once you get the cupcakes crumbled and separated you'll add about a tablespoon of the butter cream icing to each bowl and mix.  You can use your fingers or if you don't like sticky or messy hands like me you can use a knife or spoon :)  **Your finished product will look and feel something like a play dough consistency.

         

Now you're ready to start rolling balls.  And I mean rolling!  Watch tv, blast music, dance, do something because you'll be a while my friend!  It took me forever since I really didn't know what I was doing.  Then I repeated the process with crumbling, adding icing, and rolling again and again. Next time I'll roll all of them at once.  After you roll each color cupcake, you merge them together.  Grab a ball of each color and put them together as if you're sticking pieces of play dough together.  Then gently but firmly roll into a smoother ball.  I was very particular and neat and realized quickly it doesn't matter.  It's all going inside the cone so it doesn't have to be perfect.  If you have a little helper, that would be helpful!  Mine was super handsome!!

Melt your white chocolate.  I bought one piece of bark that was microwavable. It came with a tray so that just made things simple but you can obviously buy bark chips and melt them according to the directions.  Ok, so after that looooonnnnggg process, you will add the balls to the cones.  I didn't think to do this until afterwards but next time I'll add some candies or chocolate in the bottom of the cones before I stuff them with the balls.  Drumsticks are my fave so it would be like getting the little chocolate treat at the bottom  :)  Forgot to take pics but hopefully you can figure that out!

Dip the tops of the cones in the melted chocolate just enough to cover the top edges.  This helps that ball on top to adhere to the cone once you're ready for dipping.  After dipping the cones in the chocolate add your two cupcake balls.  Refrigerating for a few minutes will help the chocolate harden a bit, adhering the cupcake ball to it.  Next you'll dip your cupcake cones in the white chocolate.  It's ok if it isn't perfect because you'll want it to look like melted ice cream.  You don't have to cover terrible thick because you'll add a second top coat.

        

Refrigerate for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to harden some because you'll dip for a second coat.  Re-dip just the top portion and add the sprinkles and red candy to the top. Only dipping the top will allow it to give it that "drip" look and it will also be enough for your sprinkles to stick.  Be sure to do this fairly quickly before the chocolate dries.  I added my sprinkles and red "cherry" immediately.  **You can add anything here that you like - chopped nuts, shredded coconut, candies, crumbled cookies or cereal, etc.

I put these in the refrigerator overnight since my son's birthday party was the next day. The easiest way I know to store them is in muffin pans.  You can add aluminum foil and poke holes for the cones to be inserted into but I would also stuff the inside of the pan.  I only had wax paper which I don't recommend but you get the point.

This isn't the most sturdy way and obviously will be tough if you make more than 12 or 16, depending on your muffin pan size.  For transport to the party was another issue.  Since the outside was hardened chocolate I was able to gently lay them in a pan in a cooler.  Still made me really nervous though!  Anyway, the finished product was a hit with the kids...and the adults too! 

                         

 

I hope I didn't leave anything out!  You can't ever tell with me!  I found this by looking at a few different YouTube videos and then just merged together some of the ideas.  This entire process took me several hours.  Probably half a day.  I normally would have been so over it but I actually enjoyed every bit of the process.  As I went along, I knew where I would do things differently next go around - to save time and create different looks.  I will definitely be doing this again.  Like my mom used to say...practice makes perfect! :)

Wavering in Faith

When I look at pictures of the universe I am in awe.  I am reminded how completely small and insignificant I am in this vast expansion of incomprehension.  It is absolutely gorgeous and mind boggling.  How in the world is it all surrounding us at this very moment???

I realize how selfish I am.  How self-centered.  How infinitely finite I am!  How big and important I am not.  James says it perfectly in that our life is a mist that appears for a bit then vanishes away.  Funny that we find confidence in and boast about someone living a nice long life should they make it to let's say... 70 or longer.  Not really grasping eternity, before my time and what should come after me, I still try to comprehend God's reasoning in my life.  I try to understand it and make sense of it.  It needs to be rationalized for me to be okay with it. I need to be let in on the plan and not only my plan but the plans of those I love.

I can feel just as strongly that God isn't with me and allowing my heart to grow cold and hard as at other times feel within my deepest, most inner parts His Word is true and real. Honestly it can be quite frustrating.  I get so wrapped up and distracted that I feed off what makes me feel content in the moment...tv, internet, food, griping, self pity parties.  Other days I know He conquers giants, calls out kings, shuts the mouths of lions, and tells the dead to breathe. Unfortunately, like the rest of those lyrics go, so often I feel I am where He cannot reach. However, I was reminded this past Sunday, that isn't the case.

I had been feeling for some time now that a change in my home church was on the horizon. We have been visiting another local church but wasn't able to attend that particular church this past weekend and I didn't feel led to attend my home church so we worshiped at home.  I let each of my boys pick a song then I would choose mine.  I wasn't too excited about the first choice from my oldest son but went with it anyway.  After all, it isn't all about me right? Much to my surprise, the first song began speaking to me and opening my heart.  After the boys songs played I felt led to pray before playing mine.  I normally ask the boys if they would like to pray; however, this time I didn't.  As I prayed aloud, I became overwhelmed and emotional, thanking the Lord for meeting me, us, in that place; our home.  I was halted in my words with knowing His presence was there.  To look at the picture above and then try to comprehend His spirit in my living room is unfathomable.  I don't understand it.  After praying, the boys immediately asked me, "Are you crying?", to which I replied, "Yes, boys, I am." 

I often find myself questioning God.  It doesn't have to be anything intricate.  It's the simple things.  Can He hear me?  See me?  Speak to me?  Forgive me?  Provide for me?  Heal me? Those are the questions I want to never doubt.  But I do.  Why?  I believe God is revealing to me that it's because I continue to allow myself to be distracted.  I am consistently bewildered in every aspect. May I confess something?  I took a few hours break from working on this post and had to go back and look at my notes to even see why I started it in the first place! So.Easily.Distracted.  My mind is constantly going and it's hard for me to focus on anything beyond a fairly short timeline.  I get so frustrated with myself in this area because of the guilt and doubt it gives me.  I tell myself that if I were more committed to the Lord this kind of thing wouldn't happen.  I am told through the Bible that the spirits of fear and doubt don't come from God but I still allow it to creep in to my mind and soul.

Two pieces of scripture that seem to always run rampant in my head are Matthew 7:21-23 and James 1:6-8.

Matthew 7:21-23  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

James 1:6-8 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

I tend to sort of piggy back on each of those.  I think for this season in my life I am more compelled to lean toward James.  I lie in the bed at night sometimes and just think how I don't want to be like a wave that is tossed and thrown about.  I don't want my prayers to be hindered or out of the will of God.  I don't want to pray fervently and wholeheartedly yet receive nothing because my doubt smothers it to death.  There are many times where I am begging or on my knees in prayer and I know without a doubt those cries and pleas are being heard but if I doubt that God will answer them according to His will, what good does it do? This always takes me to Mark 9 where we read about Jesus healing the boy with the unclean spirit...

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.  As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.  “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.  A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”  So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.  Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” "If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”  The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.  After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”  He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.

Not only do we see the power of prayer in the above passage but we see the power of faith. Mark 9 always impacts me no matter how many times I read it because it addresses the areas in my life that seem to contradict each other often - prayer and faith.  I will pray for anything and everything but my controlling and insecure heart rears its ugly head and out from it comes the doubt that resides within and causes my lack of faith.  It becomes emotionally and spiritually exhausting.  

It seems that most of our distractions should be the obvious much like the ones I mentioned and more.  It's the visible concrete evidence that we can point to.  It's those immediate and temporary feel good measures.  While those things can be weary on the body and/or mind those aren't truly the things that drag me down.  It's my own mind.  My own thoughts.  My own pride.  My own worry.  My own doubt.  Those are my distractions.  If my mind thinks and my heart beats to the same drum as the Lord, those other things shouldn't be chains that hold me down.  They are just scapegoats for when I am walking down a different path as the Lord but when I am hand in hand with my Father, He is the scapegoat. He is the One to whom I point my finger.  He is the One who takes my thoughts captive.  For that I am beyond overwhelmed, even more so than the picture above.

The bible speaks of having the faith of mustard seed but I had the willingness of that mustard seed Sunday morning sitting in my living room.  That tiny seed brought tears streaming down my face.  That tiny seed was placed at the feet of Christ and He cultivated it as He saw fit.  He reminded me that He loves me and doesn't leave me.  He reminded me that while I struggle with doubt and distractions, He is above all of that and it only takes that mustard seed to lay at His feet.  

Matthew 17:20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."