In a few days, Peter Cottontail will be hoppin’ down the bunny trail… so we better have some carrots ready for him! But not just any carrots. Really, how many boring carrots can one bunny eat? I say we go for sparkling carrots with a surprise inside!
Hi, it’s Carrie Sellman from Half Baked, the cake blog for sweet inspiration. I’m happy to be back at HWTM today, sharing a different kind of carrot recipe – just in time for EASTER! Sure to make your little egg-hunters squeal with delight, these carrots are actually cupcakes!! Cake batter is baked inside an ice cream cone, topped with icing and then coated in orange candy and oodles of sprinkles. Edible grass provides the finishing touch on top. Just look inside!
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SPARKLING CARROT CUPCAKES – A DIY TUTORIAL
by Carrie Sellman
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:
– Ice Cream Cones (12)
– Chocolate Cake Batter (made from mix or from scratch)
– Buttercream Icing (store bought or homemade)
– Orange Candy Melts (2 packs)
– Orange Sprinkles (2 jars)
– Green Edible Candy Grass
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place an oven-safe wire rack on top. Stand ice cream cones upright in slots of wire rack. Cones must fit snuggly or they will fall over when baking. Some batter may leak out the bottom of cone while baking (but that’s why we’re lining our baking sheet with parchment).
2. Fill each cone 2/3 of the way full with cake batter. Bake approximately 15 minutes at 350 degrees, until toothpick comes out almost clean. Let cool completely.
3. Top each cone with a small mound of icing. Return to wire tray and place in freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, melt orange candy coating in a tall microwave-safe container. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir. Repeat until candy is completely melted.
5. Dip chilled cone into melted orange candy, holding the pointed end of cone with your fingers (icing goes down). Cover as much as possible. Pull up and out of candy coating slowly.
6. Before candy coating hardens, hold cone over a bowl and coat with orange sprinkles. Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle until all areas are covered. Let excess sprinkles fall into bowl so you can reuse.
7. Set cone onto parchment paper, icing side down, until hard. This is a good time to touch up any areas you missed, especially the tip. They firm up quickly and will actually be quite solid once set. Do not worry if they are a little wonky or knobby. Real carrots aren’t perfect either!
8. Using a toothpick, make a small hole in the top center of the carrot. Insert a few pieces of edible grass and trim to desired length.
ENJOY!
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STYLING IDEAS:
– Stand carrots upright in a popcorn cone holder. I attached a white wooden fence to my popcorn holder for an extra little touch. Spoon crushed Oreo crumbs around the carrots to look like dirt.
– Bake extra cake batter in a loaf pan. Cover this cake with icing and crushed Oreo crumbs. Use this as your ‘display stand’ by inserting carrots into cake.
– Simply lay carrots on a plate covered with crushed Oreos or extra edible grass.
– Place carrots in individual cellophane bags and tie with a green ribbon to create favor or portable treat.
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71Comments
Simply Genius! Gotta try these :)
could these be done with orange tinted icing instead of the melts or would it be too runny? I’ve used the candy melts in the past and thought they were so gross tasting, I hate to use them again :(. They sure LOOK fantastic though!!
Julie P SAYS:
The candy melts are MUCH firmer than regular frosting, but I understand what you mean about the flavor. Just use a good frosting, but be prepared for a mess when eating! ;) maybe leave the bottom-most part unfrosted, for less messy eating. :)
Anyone try putting these in “Dirt” cake? Im curious if the cone would get soggy in the pudding or if the chocolate coating would protect it?
I love this idea, it is so cute! I don’t have that cake rack and my oven is not the best for baking so I doubt if the cones would work out for me. Thanks for the alternative idea Carrie! Think I might try it with a carrot cake mix and cream cheese frosting. Thanks for the cute tutorial!
While this a a very cool idea I was not impressed with making them. As the cones heated up the bottoms (tip) became soft and the cones bent over and fell. they were snug in the cooling rack but the heat made them bend.
I had much better luck just putting a regular cake ball (truffle) in the cone and finishing the directions as listed.
What’s popcorn come holder??
Amanda SAYS:
I meant cone holder? Where do u get or buy or how do u make??
Wow!!! These are great!!!!
It all looks so delicious and creative ~ magical ~thanks, namaste, ^_^
I found it so much easier to dip the tip end first, sprinkle, harden, and then dip the other side! Way less messy and looked better too!
What a cute idea!
I had issued making these…the cupcake and baking part was ok. Tipped batter all over the oven, but it turned out. it was when you go to dip them in white chocolate (colored orange). This turned for the worse and became a huge waste. They were frozen but once you dip the first frozen, iced, cupcake cone, it ruined the chocolate with debris from it. Also, the timing before they harden to get on the sprinkles and grass has to be just right or something?!…. so cute but not easy to make!
Thank you so much for the idea. I made these tonight. Granted they need some work but my family is happy. Thanks again!!!
This was a fantastic idea!!…. For someone else :( I had it in my mind that I am going to make these for Easter. I am a baker and love to bake any chance I can get. I followed the directions to a T and even used the exact same cookies cooling rack that you are using in your pictures. I even took foil and wrapped through the cones to use as little “walls” so they wouldn’t fall over. Needless to say 5 minutes into baking I checked on them and every single one of them were laying over to the side. I stood them back up and tried again. Again they went over to the side. I kept baking and fixing. Needless to say after 15 minutes the batter was still not even remotely cooked and I had a messy oven and flopped over cones. I threw the whole thing out. It’s a cute idea and I’m sure someone with more time and patience on there side could really pull this off, but it wasn’t for me. :(
I tried dipping the cones as specified into the orange chocolate melts, but didn’t end up with a smooth anything. It was all clumpy. They didn’t look anything like carrots, but more like a pointed hat for witch. (which I will be trying for halloween, lol). Love the idea, but even with patience the orange chocolate melts don’t get as runny as the dark chocolate. I used the Wilton chocolate melts. Please advise if you used different chocolate that melts a lot better.
DoraM SAYS:
Mariana, next time try mixing in a teaspoon or 2 of vegetable oil to the candy melts after you have melted them. It will make the candy thinner and more fluid. At cake supply stores, there is a product called Paramount Crystals that is made to thin out candy. All it is, is hardened shortening flakes but it works great!
Forgot to mention I ended up modifying the idea. I ended up making these look like the regular icecream cone with the swirl icecream. Except this was dark chocolate cake with Pastry Cream Icing. They were very cute and tasty. Not a waste. Just more practice required on the dipping part or better quality chocolate.