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Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!

 Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!

 

2014 was a special year for my family.  We celebrated both my daughter Ava’s first birthday as well as my Granny’s 100th birthday.  How wonderful is that? 

Birthdays are pretty wonderful no matter what age you are turning though.  It is a nice feeling to have someone plan a party all around you and I think that is true no matter your age. 

In fact, the 2015 Enbridge Birthday Survey found that 82% of Canadians agree that they feel special when someone puts a lot of energy into celebrating their birthday.

Like many Canadians, what really makes my day is spending time with close friends and family.  Preferably with a lovely cake or delicious cupcakes.

You really don’t need to be a skilled cake decorator to make an awesome birthday cake. 

I designed this super cute Owl Smash Cake for Keira’s first birthday and Ava’s first birthday featured a homemade princess cake and princess cookies in a jar for guests to take home. 

My girls might not ever remember those cakes, but when they look back at the pictures they will see the love and care that went into make their birthdays special. 

They will see the effort that went into making each subsequent birthday special too! 

 

How to make Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

Today I am sharing an adorable ice cream sundae cupcake recipe perfect for celebrating any birthday – from 1 to 100!  

If you want to make cupcakes that look like ice cream sundaes, you will not be able to achieve this look with just an ice cream scoop, you need to sculpt the buttercream a bit. 

You may need to make another recipe of buttercream depending on how generous your scoops are, I usually double the recipe for these.

 

Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!

Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 2/3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Butter, room temperature
3 Eggs
2/3 Cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Sprinkles

Buttercream Ingredients:

1 2/3 Cups Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Butter, Room Temperature

Topping Ingredients:

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Sour Cherry Candies
Sprinkles

 

Cupcake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Cream your butter and sugar together with a stand mixer then add in eggs, milk and vanilla until blended.

Slowly add the dry ingredients until smooth, being sure not to over-mix.

Line a muffin tin with baking cups and fill each with the cake mixture, filling each about 3/4 full. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Buttercream Directions:

Cream your butter then slowly add icing sugar and vanilla extract then beat for about 3-4 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy.

 

Decorating Directions:

Bring about a cup of water to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Set a heatproof bowl over the mouth of your saucepan.  Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. 

Pour your chocolate into the bowl and stir occasionally as it softens. Once most of the chocolate is melted remove the bowl from the heat and continue to stir. Stir in the vegetable oil until well combined and smooth.

Ensuring that the cupcakes are completely cooled. Use an ice cream scoop to to create mounds of buttercream on top of the cupcakes.

Use a butter knife to shape the buttercream to look like scoops of ice cream.

Spoon the chocolate mixture over your scoops of “ice cream” to replicate the look of chocolate syrup.

Decorate each cupcake with sprinkles and top with sour cherry candies.

 

Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!

Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!
Yield: 12 Cupcakes

Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 23 minutes
Total Time: 53 minutes

Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!

Ingredients

Cupcake Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Cup Butter, room temperature
  • 3 Eggs
  • 2/3 Cup Buttermilk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 Cup Sprinkles

Buttercream Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 Cups Icing Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 Cup Butter, Room Temperature

Topping Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • Sour Cherry Candies
  • Sprinkles

Instructions

Cupcake Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
  3. Cream your butter and sugar together with a mixer then add in eggs, milk and vanilla until blended.
  4. Slowly add the dry ingredients until smooth, being sure not to over-mix.
  5. Line a muffin tin with baking cups and fill each with the cake mixture, filling each about 3/4 full.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
  7. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Buttercream Directions

  1. Cream your butter then slowly add icing sugar and vanilla extract then beat for about 3-4 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy.

Decorating Directions

  1. Bring about a cup of water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Set a heatproof bowl over the mouth of your saucepan. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
  2. Pour your chocolate into the bowl and stir occasionaly as it softens. Once most of the chocolate is melted remove the bowl from the heat and continue to stir. Stir in the vegetable oil until well combined and smooth.
  3. Ensuring that the cupcakes are completely cooled. use an ice cream scoop to to create mounds of buttercream on top of the cupcakes.
  4. Use a butter knife to shape the buttercream to look like scoops of ice cream.*
  5. Spoon the chocolate mixture over your scoops of "ice cream" to replicate the look of chocolate syrup.
  6. Decorate each cupcake with sprinkles and top with sour cherry candies.

Notes

Note: You will not be able to achieve this look with just the scoop. You may need to make another recipe of buttercream depending on how generous your scoops are.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 Cupcake

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 545Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 359mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 2gSugar: 46gProtein: 5g

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Pretty cupcakes featuring a dense funfetti cupcake and rich vanilla buttercream, decorated to look like an ice cream sundae!
 

 

 

Susan

Monday 6th of July 2020

Little cuties! These were perfect for my kids’ birthdays in quarantine. It was really sad for them not being able to have their friends over but these cupcakes were so fun for them to help decorate (and even more fun for them to eat!) that they were a bit happier. I’ll defiantly be making these for birthdays in the future! Thank you Elizabeth!

Pat Morris (Augusta Pat)

Saturday 14th of March 2020

If this is not the cutest cupcake ever!!!!! I have three little nieces who will be in a play next week. I wanted to make them a treat; and couldn't decide what to make them that would be both delicious and cute--that is until I saw these ice cream sundae cupcakes. Thanks for posting. I feel like a kid again, myself!!

Shirley O

Friday 28th of February 2020

Great recipe! My grandchildren would love these!

Marina Alves

Wednesday 4th of September 2019

About how many cupcakes does this make?

Jaclyn

Monday 11th of March 2019

Have you tried using the chocolate hard shell syrup instead of melting chocolate? Just wondering if that would work as well?

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