Fried Ice Cream Cupcakes

First off, I’d like to make a disclaimer:  I have never eaten fried ice cream.  It sounds delicious, but I don’t usually order dessert when I go out to eat and I’ve never had the ambition to try making it at home.  Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I hope any of you fried ice cream connoisseurs don’t throw corn flakes at me over my cupcake version.

When I heard Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious were hosting the Ice Cream Cupcake Round-up again, I was giddy with excitement.  I loved seeing what people came up with last year.  And I discovered that ice cream cupcakes are the best!  Cake, ice cream and frosting in one bite.  Ah yeah!  I even made ice cream cupcakes a few more times after the round-up last summer. 

I was a bit stumped this time around and asked for some flavor inspiration from friends and family.  I got a few good suggestions, but nothing that really jumped out at me.  Finally, thanks to a bowl of Breyers, I decided to try my hand at fried ice cream cupcakes.

There are a few components to these cupcakes, but all of them are simple and easy to make so it didn’t take me long to whip these up.  I made a brown sugar cupcake sprinkled with a sugary cornflake concoction and topped it with caramel swirl ice cream and a dollop of cinnamon whip cream.  Cinnamon tortilla crisps garnished my little creations. 

These turned out better than I thought they would.  I, of course, tried a quickie version where I just plopped a small scoop of ice cream on top of a cupcake before I put them away.  Just to make sure they were edible.  I loved the crunchiness of the cornflake layer and the yummy brown sugar cake.  The flavors all melded together nicely.  One word of caution- I made the cupcakes the day before I served them (to other people) and stored them in a tupperware.  Unfortunately, the moisture from the cupcakes softened the cornflake layer so if you decide you want to make these and you like crunchy, I would suggest baking and assembling the same day.  No one complained about the softer cornflake layer.  It kind of reminded me of the texture of coconut actually.

I’m looking forward to the round-up and seeing everyone’s creations! 😀

Fried Ice Cream Cupcakes
makes approximately 2 dozen ice cream cupcakes

For the cornflake topping:

1/2 c cornflakes, crushed
1 1/2  T sugar
1  t cinnamon
1/2 T butter, melted

For the cupcakes:
recipe courtesy of My Sweet & Saucy (I halved her recipe)

1 1/2 c + 2 T flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 + 1 T sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 c milk

For the cinnamon whipped cream:

1 c whipping cream
1 – 2 T powdered sugar
1 1/2  t cinnamon

For the cinnamon tortilla crisps:

1 tortilla, cut into 16 triangles
3 T sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 T butter, melted

you will also need softened caramel swirl ice cream…I used this kind

1. To make the cornflake topping, combine the cornflakes, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix really well to evenly distribute the cinnamon and sugar. Drizzle with the melted butter and stir to mix the butter in. Set aside.
2. To make the cupcakes, line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 325.  Sift the flour and baking powder together into a medium sized bowl.  Whisk in the salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 – 4 minutes.  Add the eggs one a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  Reduce the speed to low and alternately add the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, starting and ending with the flour.  Beat in each addition until it’s incorporated into the batter.  Fill the cupcake liners about 1/3 full.  Sprinkle the tops generously with the cornflake mixture.  Bake for 15 – 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Then remove the cupcakes to a  rack to finish cooling completely.  Once they’re completely cool, put them back into the muffin tins.
3. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the whipped cream and cinnamon crisps. For the whipped cream, pour the whipping cream into a chilled bowl. Sprinkle the powdered sugar and cinnamon over the whipping cream. Whip on high speed with an electric mixer until peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. To make the cinnamon crisps, preheat the oven to 375. Lay the tortilla triangles on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Brush the tortilla triangles with the melted butter and lightly sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 6 – 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. To assemble the cupcakes, scoop ice cream onto the cupcakes until the liner is full (the cupcakes should be back in the tins at this step). If you’re weird like me, you can dip a butter knife into hot water, wipe it dry and then run the knife over the ice cream to smooth it out. Or if you don’t care, just leave it as is. Put the cupcakes in the freezer for at least 2 hours to harden the ice cream. Pipe the cinnamon whipped cream onto the ice cream cupcakes and stick a cinnamon crisp into the cupcake before serving.

Topping the cupcakes with the ice cream. The one on the left is what the cornflake topping looks like. Yummy, crunchy goodness.

Assembled with the whipped cream and cinnamon crisps.

The guts

I also served these the quick way which some might say is technically not an ice cream cupcake. Just a cupcake with ice cream on top. For those, you just place a small scoop of ice cream on top of the cupcake, spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of the ice cream and then stick a cinnamon crisp into the ice cream. Either way, they’re just as tasty.

I intended on making a chocolate sauce to drizzle over the cupcake, but this week was so crazy that I was lucky I got the cupcakes done in time. I was also hoping to have a second version of the fried ice cream cupcake where I place a cupcake in the middle of an ice cream ball, roll it in the above cornflake mixture and then actually deep fry it like real fried ice cream, but I’ve run out of time. I am still hoping to try it and get it posted up in the next few days. So if you’re curious to see how that turns out, check back sometime soon. 🙂