These sundae cupcakes are great to celebrate a birthday party, Summer party, or anytime of year. Moist vanilla cupcakes topped with a buttercream frosting and chocolate sauce for a fun cupcake idea that everyone will love.
Why this recipe works
- Fun - These cupcakes are so colorful, fun, and look like your favorite ice cream sundae. They are a wonderful addition to any party or gathering.
- Delicious - Homemade, moist vanilla cupcakes are so tasty and fluffy.
- Versatile - Change up the colors or flavors of these cupcakes to fit your taste or theme.
Ingredients Needed
The ingredients used for these cupcakes are pretty simple and basic. If you are short on time, try using a boxed cupcake mix.
Cupcakes
- Vegetable shortening
- Sugar
- Eggs
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Milk
- Pure vanilla extract
Buttercream Icing
- Salted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
Decorations
- Maraschino cherries
- Chocolate ice cream topping like chocolate syrup or hot fudge sauce.
- Sprinkles
- Sugar cones
How To Make Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes
Step one: Cupcakes - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan, or muffin tin, with cupcake liners of your choice.
Step two: Mix together shortening, milk, and eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step three: Slowly mix in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until combined. Fill the prepared cupcake tin with cupcake batter, about half full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cupcakes cool.
Step four: Frosting - To make the delicious vanilla buttercream frosting, cream together the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Add milk in 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. You want the frosting to be kind of thick to resemble ice cream. At this point you can mix in food coloring if you like.
Step five: Topping - Use an ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop to scoop frosting on the top of the cupcake. Top with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and a cherry.
Tips For The Best Cupcakes
- Use a small ice cream scoop to get that perfect ice cream look.
- Try to fill the cupcake tin up evenly so that they bake evenly.
- Test to see if the cupcakes are done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If it comes out clean, they are done baking.
- These can be made into mini cupcakes using a mini muffin tin.
Sundae Cupcake Variations
Cupcake - You can use any flavor cupcake you prefer like chocolate or strawberry. If you are in a hurry, try making cupcakes from a boxed mix.
Frosting - Try leaving the frosting white or add different food coloring colors to fit your party theme.
Toppings - Try substituting the chocolate sauce with caramel syrup or strawberry syrup for something different. You could also try adding mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts and whipped cream. Pieces of broken ice cream cone also work as a topping.
How to store
Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container. They can be left out at room temperature for 2-3 days or kept in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
The key to making it look like ice cream is to make the frosting thick and scooping it with an ice cream scoop.
If you make these delicious cupcakes, let me know in the comments.
More cupcake recipes
📖 Recipe
Sundae Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 2-3 drops food coloring color of choice
Decorations
- 18 maraschino cherries
- colorful sprinkles
- chocolate ice cream topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, milk, vanilla, and eggs until fully combined with an electric mixer.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and mix until combine. Mix in milk and the the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined.
- Place paper cupcake liners in the muffin tin and fill them half full with the cupcake batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin and then remove and let cool on wire rack.
Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Mix in food coloring if using. (Thick and resembles ice cream.)
- Use an ice cream scoop and scoop approximately 2 tablespoons of frosting onto each cupcake.
- Top with about ½ teaspoon of chocolate sauce. Top with sprinkles and a cherry.
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