How to Frost Soft Cupcakes

A delightful twist to traditional cupcakes, soft-serve cupcakes look like they came from a vintage ice cream parlor. Larger than standard cupcakes, these are made in king-sized baking cups in a king-sized muffin pan so that the longer base resembles a flat-bottom ice cream cone. Swirls of frosting rise to a peak like soft-serve ice cream, while tasty candies and colorful accents add the finishing touch. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Bake and cool the cupcakes according to the recipe. While any flavor of cupcake can be transformed into a soft-serve cupcake, vanilla and other light-color batters will bake into a shade that most closely resembles that of an ice cream cone.

Prepare the icing, taking care to achieve the right consistency. If the icing is too thin, it will not be suitable for shaping designs that stand or have lifted features. Medium to stiff icing is needed for this project and may require some experimentation. Thicken your icing with confectioner's sugar and thin it with water, if necessary. Apply ingredients gradually until the needed consistency is reached.

Attach a star decorating tip and a large coupler to an icing bag. Scoop icing into the bag and knead it toward the tip.

Hold the decorating tip about 1/4 inch above the cupcake at a 90-degree angle. Apply light pressure to the icing bag and pipe a spiral of icing onto the cupcake, beginning at its outer edge and working inward. Upon reaching the center, stop the pressure on the bag and carefully pull the tip away.

Pipe another spiral of frosting onto the cupcake but don't make it as wide as the first one. The goal is to create a tapered swirl of icing that looks like ice cream dispensed from a soft-serve machine. Stop the spiral at the center, release pressure on the icing bag and pull the tip straight up and away from the frosting. If the peak has too much of a point, use your fingertip to gently dab a little confectioner's sugar or flour onto it. This will flatten and soften the sharpness of the point.

Decorate the frosting with rainbow-colored sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, edible glitter or crushed peppermint candy. Top it with a red-hot candy, red sour ball or even a real cherry. You now have a cupcake that looks like an ice cream cone. Give your cupcakes the look of an old-fashioned ice cream sundae by inserting straws or striped candy sticks through the icing and into the cake

Tips

- The 1M open-star decorating tip has finely cut teeth that will allow you to create decorations that have many swirls and ridges.

- Any flavor or color of icing can be used, but if mixing with food coloring, make sure to use those that are taste-free. Some food colorings make icing taste bitter.