I absolutely LOVE Memorial Day weekend. It’s like all the good things in the world come together in one weekend. I look forward to this three day weekend at the start of May. Not only is it my birthday weekend, but it’s also the unofficial start of summer, the start of outdoor grilling and parties with friends, and just all around good times.
If I had a lake anywhere near me, I’d be down at the lake all the time, just so I could say, “I’m going down to the lake!” That feels like an ultra summer thing to say. Lake or no lake, I feel a beautiful summer coming on.
And as if I couldn’t get more excited, I’ve discovered I can make ice cream cupcakes! These little gems are really easy to throw together and you can make them with any flavor combination you can imagine. The only slight downside is that they melt (as ice cream tends to do) when they’re not in the freezer. Melting won’t be too much of an issue because these don’t tend to stick around long. I’ve already eaten 5, and the party isn’t until Sunday.
How to Assemble Ice Cream Cupcakes
Start with cupcakes. I made mine mini cupcakes in a tiny muffin pan, making 2 bite ice cream cupcakes. You can use a regular sized cupcake pan if you like! You’ll just have bigger treats.
Make any sort of cupcake batter you like. I used cake mix (gasp!) because… I just did. Spray the muffin tins with nonstick spray. Fill the muffin tins only half as full as you normally would. For the mini muffin tins, this means using a little less than a teaspoon of batter. For the regular muffin tins, this means using about 1 Tablespoon of batter. Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees F and check them after 8 minutes.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven, let cool in their tins for 15 minutes. Loosen the cupcakes by running a knife along the edges of the muffin cups. Make sure that none of the cupcakes stick to the pan, but keep the cupcakes in the cupcake pan, cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 3 hours, or overnight is best.
Remove the cupcakes from the freezer when you’re ready to use them. If some of the cupcakes have domed up while cooking, remove them from their cup and use a small serrated knife to even out the top of the cupcake. Ideally, you’d like to have 1/2-inch little cupcake bottoms.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer to let soften before filling cupcake tins. Leave on the counter for 10minutes or defrost in the microwave. When ice cream is softened, use a quick hand to spoon and flatten ice cream on top of the cake. It’s a little messy, but don’t worry about that. When all of the cakes are topped with ice cream, return to the freezer to harden. I left my ice cream cupcakes in the freezer over night, but give them at least 4 hours.
Be creative and top your cupcakes with anything you like. Whipped cream, chocolate ganache or caramel would be lovely.
To remove the ice cream cupcakes from their tins, warm a small sharp knife under hot running water. Run the warm knife along the edges of the ice cream cupcake until it’s easily lifted out of it’s tin. This isn’t too hard a process, mine practically jumped out. Place the cupcakes on a plate and return to the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove from freezer and apply whatever topping and decoration suits your fancy. I chose chocolate ganache and colored jimmies. Apply the topping and decoration quickly and return to freezer on the dish you’d like to serve them on. When ready to serve, remove from freezer and eat promptly!
Update: If you’d like to make ice cream cupcakes in cupcake liners, I wrote another tutorial. Here it is!
OliePants
This is such an easy peasy way to make ice cream cupcakes and I loved it. My family loved it. Thanks!
http://oliepants.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/ice-cream-cupcakes/
Renae
Cant wait to make these for my daughters up coming 4th birthday… I know they will be a hit!!!
Crystal
Combining cupcakes and ice cream sounds like heaven. I have a friend who loves cupcakes and I just gave her my ice cream maker. Sent her your recipe – really hope she makes them!
Susan (Oliepants)
I made these and they were wonderful and super easy. Perfect for summer birthdays!
Katie
Wow, what a creative recipe. I love love love ice cream… it’s the downfall of my existence. I can’t say I’d complain about having an ice cream-cupcake-combo mix up in here.
PedoBear
I’m getting fat just looking at these!!!
Has anyone tried using crushed cookies instead of the cake base?
tiffany
i was wondering the same thing. if you try it let us know how it goes. otherwise maybe i will give it a try next weekend.
Stephanie
These are so cute joy! i love them!
Apron Clad Warrior
Simply put, Joy, you are a joy! I will make these up for our gang visiting over Christmas. Thanks for always putting a smile in my day and a recipe in my collection…not to mention filling my tummy!
Kristen
I am sooo going to make these when I have a kid…if I have a kid!
catherine
made them in this heat wave.. used YOUR vanilla cupcake recipe for the base.. then some Hagan Daz Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ice cream.. topped with your ganache.
Fantastic
Courtney
I made these for a party last night and everyone loved them. They were so easy and so delicious!
Angela
Mine are freezing away, can’t wait! I made 1/2 with mint chocolate chip and 1/2 with raspberry chocolate chip, I think the moms at our play date will love these as much as the kids, great idea :)
Catherine
Wow, these were fantastic! I made mine with lemon cake, vanilla icecream and chocolate ganache, and man….seriously, seriously good. You rock!
Sandra
YUM! Cant wait to make these for my 2 year old daughter…she (obviously) LOVES ice cream!!!
baconista
These look amazing. What a great idea! I would love to try this with brownie instead of cake & raspberry ice cream…yum.
culinarynerd
brownies are pretty amazing but the baking time is a little longer
edith
Got quick ? .what kind of cake mix did u use? Homemade or by box? Didn’t the cupcakes freeze when you left the in the freezer? How did they not get hard?
Laura @ GotChocolate
Geez, talk about EASY to make and a plethora of flavor possibilities!
I absolutely love this recipe and the picture makes me want to eat my monitor!!!!!!
I’m going to make these but with ALL Chocolate ingredients.
THANK!!! :)
alicia allison
omg! the icecream cupcakes ARE amazing!! im making them again tonight for my husbands family i hope they LoVe them (: lol.
well thank you so much for the recipes!! this is great for summer and i will use them all the time :P
THaanks,,
ALiCiA ALliSoN
Holly
My husband’s birthday is next weekend. He is totally getting these as his “birthday cake.” Last year I made an ice cream cake but THIS eliminates so much of the serving fuss. I.LOVE.IT.
kickpleat
Oh my god. This looks too amazing, really.
Scoopalicious
These look SO yum! I do hope you will enter our roundup during the month of may…http://scoopalicious.blogspot.com/2009/05/cupcake-projectscoopalicious-ice-cream.html
We’d love to see a stunning creation of yours up there!
Bill & Janet
Hi Joy,
Your mom mentioned that you were nominated for some Internet award, and we think she said it was mentioned on your website, but can’t find it. Can you tell us it was, since we have Oscar on the brain today. Great website.
Kayla
yum! i made these for my brother (who showed me your blog, incidentally!) when he came home from college using a chocolate cake mix, cookies and cream ice cream, and your chocolate ganache. we loved them!
Zarina
What a great combination! I just bakjed the cupcakes and cut a slab of ice cream to go by its side!..heheh
Casey
they look so YUMMY! I’m definitely going to make some this weekend!
Haley
I’m Haley, Key Ingredient’s Chief Blogger. We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)
Haley
http://blog.keyingredient.com/
jennyearle
Those were so good it nearly makes me cry. I’m just glad I made them for a crowd because otherwise I think I’d have eaten the whole darn thing within hours!
dottycookie
I just made these for a six year old’s birthday party and I have to say – you;re a genius! Thank you!
Cami
I followed a link from The Crafty Crow. I love this idea! There are so many combinations to try. I like the idea of making the mini cupcakes to keep them bite-sized. I can’t wait to make them!
AlliCat
These look fantastic! I’m going to the beach next week with my extended family. I think I’ll premake the cupcake bottoms and do the rest down at the beach. Thanks for the idea!!!
Kelly
Thank you for this fantastic idea! I only followed your recipe generally (didn’t serate the tops to 1/2 inch, ice cream was a mess) & I used vanilla cake mix & chocolate/vanilla swirl icecream. I did this for my birthday party (last night and everyone loved them!
Kamili
Yummy those cupcakes look scrumptious I`d just like to make some right now but I have to do school work and study for test can you make some for me.hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kat
I love the look of these! I will make them soon as possible. I also finally have a use for my hundreds and thousands. Thank you!
lowercasek
Amazing idea. Thank you for sharing! I will be stealing your recipe ;) Thanks again.
julia:]
ahahhaa i made this for a school proyect<3
joythebaker
Karen- You’re absolutely right. Memorial Day is a very important day to recognize the sacrifice that our soldiers and soldier families are making and have made for our country. Thank you for the very important reminder. I really do appreciate it!
karen
fantastic idea; thanks for sharing
also, i would be remiss not to mention that Memorial Day is not just an extra day off and the start of summer and parties and “good times all around,” but supposed to also be a day during which we give at least a moment’s time and respect for those who have died in service to our country. Not to be a downer, but just saying. Raise a cupcake to them.
Julie
I made your delicious cupcakes for a pool party yesterday and they were a hit! So easy to make and pretty much fool proof, even my bff who is not a domestic goddess got to help make the ganache! Thank you for posting this recipe- it’s definitely going in my recipe book.
WE LOVE YOU JOY THE BAKER!!!
joythebaker
Nana and DillDoe-
Feel free to try these in a cupcake liner.
I liked to be able to see the pale green ice cream and the choclate cake. I was going for the layered look, that’s why I decided against cupcake liners. Also, since these are minis and you eat them in 2 bites, I thought the consumption would be fast enough that you wouldn’t need a liner.
But go for it! Use a liner! Go nuts! Enjoy!
DillDoe
wouldn’t it be easier to remove if you used cupcake liners?
It would also make it easier to eat, just peel and bite!
anna Wooten
I love this idea instead of a big cake. You can make small ones. It would be nice to have on my diet. I could keep the ice cream on one side of the freezer and the cupcakes on the other side of my freezer. When I want a snack I can get of these to fix up. I hope every one else is in joying this idea Anna
Deb Schiff
That’s such a neat idea! I’m going to try it with coconut cupcakes and mango sorbet. Great blog!
Scoopalicious
Oh, I wish you had entered our round up! I am going to comment on this beneath our post!
http://scoopalicious.blogspot.com/2008/06/wow-its-been-one-month-since-stef-at.html
Yay!
Nana
Is there a reason you didn’t use liners? Seems to me that a liner would make things a little easier, both for prep and to eat…and a silver liner, or a decorative one, would add to the fabulousness.
Suganya
How clever. The possibilities are endless.
Stef
Happy late birthday! Your ice cream cupcakes look amazing! I hope you will consider entering them in the ice cream cupcake roundup that I am hosting this month with Scoopalicious.
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/04/enter-ice-cream-cupcake-roundup.html
We’d love to have you!
PaniniKathy
What a fantastic idea! I definitely want to make these – especially with the mint chip ice cream and chocolate ganache, they kind of remind me of massive Andes after dinner mints! Happy Birthday to you! :-)
dawn
Joy you have such talent! I swear I could eat like 6 of these in one sitting! How do you stay so skinny?
Gigi
i am definitely making these for my nephew’s birthday! too cute and delicious to pass up!
nayeli
Hi Joy!
Happy birthday!
Love your blog!! I have just discovered it and I can wait to bake and bake….
I tried your mini cupcakes this weekend and I had all intentions of taking them to a friend’s house for a cook out but I had 6 and then my hubby ate more and more and then I gave my baby one… so there we ate them all.
Sarah
I will not judge you for eating 5 of those little cuties before the party even started, I’d do the same! These are very cute and I’m sure make a lovely addition to a holiday BBQ. Adorable!
sharon
I remember seeing something about ice cream cupcakes awhile back and I forgot about it until now. Making them in mini muffin tins is sheer brilliance. All the goodness without all of the melting. I’m definitely going to try these soon. Happy Birthday as well! :)
Mike
That’s a very nice way to serve ice cream and its like two desserts in one! Also happy birthday!
Mari
Happy Birthday fellow Gemini! I knew there was a reason I liked you! ;-)
Paula
Yumm I love ice cream and I love cupcakes so this is the perfect little dessert!!
steph (whisk/spoon)
happy birthday and memorial day! wish i could come to your party and have a couple of these–you used mint chip, too and that is my absolute favorite! hope you get lots of presents!
cyndi
These are sure to be a crowd pleaser and I can’t wait to try them out! I especially love the mini size — that way I can have more and not feel as guilty about it. Gotta love that!
Happy Birthday!! (It’s my mom’s birthday this weekend as well!)
peabody
Great for a party.
giz
Love the layered appeal and the taste combo. Great stuff.
Mary
Those cupcakes would never make it to the party if I had them at my house! Happy Birthday!
Cecilia
These cupcakes look awesome. I’m definitely making some of these to start the summer right. Thank you for being such a generous birthday girl and sharing this recipe; most of the time, the birthday person receives, not give. I’m thankful that this isn’t the case here. Happy Birthday!
Stephanie
Happy birthday weekend! You deserve a cupcake! Shall I send you some?
Kim
Those look really good! I’ll have to try those!
Amanda
ADORABLE! Seriously, this is going to be like the best party favor ever this summer. I especially enjoy the chocolate ganache topping with the sprinkles. Eating something like this makes you feel like a kid all over again. Have a great birthday and a fantastic holiday weekend :)
Carole
Yum!! Then again, put chocolate and mint together for me in anything and you have a winner. I bet these would work really well with a brownie base as well. I really like the idea of the mini-muffin size for just the right treat on a hot day. These are on my list to make! Hope you have an amazing birthday!
joythebaker
Happy Birthday Allison! I’m so glad you like the raspberry almond cupcakes! They’re definitely a winner!
Enjoy your weekend!
Allison
It’s my birthday weekend too! =) Happy birthday! Oh, and those almond raspberry cupcakes were killer & so easy to make. I made 2 dozen just for the heck of it and sent my hubby off with them to work. Thanks!