How to Make Ice Cream Cake Cupcakes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SunsOutSpoonsOut #CollectiveBias

My son turned 13 this weekend and we hosted a cookout for our family to celebrate.  In Texas the summer gets hot and there is rarely a day that we are not craving some ice cream!  Instead of cutting birthday cake and serving ice cream on the side, I decided to make ice cream cake cupcakes for individual consumption.  When having an outdoor party, the easier it is to serve food and dessert – the better.

How to Make Ice Cream Cake Cupcakes

How to Make Ice Cream Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • Cake Mix (store bought or homemade)
  • Ice Cream
  • Cupcake Wrappers
  • Whip Cream
  • Sprinkles (optional)

Cupcakes

First mix up your cake batter for the bottom layer of your ice cream cake cupcakes.  I personally used a box mix from the grocery store but feel free to get creative and use your homemade version.  Since I was serving these ice cream cupcakes at a birthday party I went with the Funfetti cake mix.  Because well… it’s fun, colorful and has sprinkles.

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 1

When adding your cake mix to your cupcake holders within the baking pan, make sure you only add a little batter.  You are not baking full size cupcakes since you want to add a layer of ice cream so just enough batter to cover the bottom is plenty.  Trust me.

While the cupcakes are baking set out the ice cream so it can soften.  Since you are not adding as much batter to your cupcake pan as you normally would, the baking time will be less.  It took mine roughly 13 minutes to be completely done.  I kept watching them and testing with a tooth pick.

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 2

Cake batter rises and you need enough space within the cupcake holder for the ice cream to mold in shape.  In order to easily fill the cupcakes with the top layer of ice cream you need the ice cream to be very soft.  Wait until your cupcakes are cooled before adding the ice cream.  This way the heat of the cupcake will not cause the ice cream to seep into the cake causing it to be soggy.

The most difficult part of making these cupcakes was selecting which flavor of Blue Bunny ice cream to purchase.

Blue Bunny at Walmart

There were so many flavor combos I wanted to try.  I ended up going with my teen’s favorite, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for one batch and the Bunny Tracks  flavor by Blue Bunny for another.  I love me some caramel.

Blue Bunny Ice Cream

Walmart had Blue Bunny ice cream on rollback which was pretty obvious when so many cartons of ice cream were sold out.  I used about half a carton of ice cream on one batch of cupcakes.

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 3

After the cupcakes are cooled down and the ice cream has softened it is time to add the next layer to your ice cream cake cupcakes.  When adding the ice cream feel free to top each cupcake off. You no longer have the worry of it rising since the ice cream will freeze into place.

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 3-1

If you are using an ice cream that has chunks of goodness in it, it is okay if it is above the paper.  As you can see some of the chocolate chips and cookie dough pieces were sticking up.  I covered this when I added the whip cream.

As soon as each cupcake is filled with the layer of ice cream place the entire baking pan back into the freezer.  You do not remove the cupcakes from the pan.  This will hold your paper cupcake wrappers into place ensuring that your ice cream molds into the same shape as the cupcake.

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 4

The time it takes for your ice cream to re-freeze depends on how melted it had become.  I recommend leaving the cupcakes in the freezer for at least two hours.  I left mine in there for half a day.  I do recommend covering the cupcakes if you can.  Once mine were fully frozen I moved the cupcakes to plastic storage containers within the freezer until party time.

Ice Cream Cupcakes

The paper cupcake holders were simple to peel right off.  Everyone loved the yummy cold treats.

Which ice cream and cake combo would you try on your ice cream cake cupcakes?

Ice Cream Cupcakes Step 5

Right before serving add whip cream to the top of your cupcakes.  Plus sprinkles!  Who doesn’t love sprinkles?  You could even top it off with a cherry.

I attempted to add whip cream to a few of the cupcakes and then freeze again until party time.  The whip cream did not freeze in place.  It slowly fell.  You never know if you don’t try, I suppose.

Adding Whip Cream to Ice Cream Cupcakes

I used the spray whip cream during the party when passing out the ice cream cake cupcakes and it went very fast.  A lot quicker than dipping ice cream and cutting cake.

The Best Ice Cream Cake Cupcakes

What is your favorite Blue Bunny ice cream flavor?

14 Comments

  1. This is such a great idea! I’m probably behind the times, but I’ve never seen this before. I will definitely be making them for our next child’s party. (Also stealing the cool whip icing idea because I hate icing. lol)

  2. I love that this puts everything in one place, and it’s done before the party! My kids both have winter birthdays, so we’ll be indoors for sure, but this sounds like a fun addition or school treat! Thanks for sharing your recipe.

  3. These look fantastic! I used to live in Texas as well so I know about the heat…and I have a 13 year old son too! He loves ice cream cake and this would be a fun treat to try with him on a different occasion 😀 Thanks for sharing! (Visiting from Creativity Unleashed Link Party)

  4. Fun idea! I just made a standard size ice cream cake for my husband’s birthday (cake, ice cream, cake) and this definitely would have cut down on the stress of stacking my cakes :)! I’ll keep these in mind as long as I have the freezer space!!

  5. What a great idea, we would love these Ice Cream Cupcakes! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

  6. Congratulations!
    Your recipe is featured in The Top Ten on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you are having a great day and enjoy your new Red Plate.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *