Don't forget to pin for later!
Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Cake
All my fellow ice cream cone addicts - here's a fun Chocolate Ice Cream Cone cake covered in sugar cone pieces and chocolate cake cones!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 786kcal
Equipment
- 3 8 inch round cake pans ( + 1 9x13 pan if you want to save some baking time!)
- Squeeze bottle (or small piping bag or spoon; for adding drip)
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks, room temperature)
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ cup vegetable oil
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese (one package, softened)
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cake Pop mix (for ice cream cones)
- 1 chocolate cake mix
- ½ cup butter (melted)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup frosting (from recipe above)
Chocolate Ganache drip
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
- 6 ounces heavy whipping cream (¾ cup)
Decorations
- 6-7 sugar or waffle cones (save three; crumble the rest)
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line with parchment rounds.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix bits of room-temperature butter into the dry mix on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large lumps of butter are visible, and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- (If you want to save some baking time, make your chocolate 'cake pop' cake now and bake at the same time as the vanilla cake layers!)
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they will crumble and break.
Chocolate Cake pop mix (for cones)
- Combine chocolate cake mix, butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix until combined, then beat for 2 minutes.
- Bake according to box directions. (I used a 9x13 pan and baked the mix cake along with my vanilla cake layers to save time, but you can also use 2 8-inch pans. Doesn't really matter; you're going to crumble it into cake pop mix!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.
- Once chocolate cake is cool, mash cake together with about ¼ cup of frosting until the mix is moldable into 'ice cream scoops.'
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first vanilla cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting, and sprinkle a layer of crumbled sugar cones and chocolate chips over the filling, and add your next cake layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like - a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part.
Chocolate Ganache Drip
- Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Place whipping cream in a small saucepan and bring almost to a boil over medium/low heat. Pour over chocolate chips and let rest for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth and silky. Cool until slightly warm but still liquid (you want it to drip - but not be so hot that it melts your frosting!)
Decorating
- I found a squeeze bottle worked the best for this ganache - it gave me the most control, but you can also use a piping bag or a spoon.
- I recommend a test drip - if it's too thick/slow, heat for a few seconds. If it's too thin/runny, allow to cool for 10 minutes until thicker. Drizzle the ganache around the top edge of the cake, letting small amounts run over the edge in varying amounts to create the ‘drip’ effect down the side of the cake.
- Scoop about ¼ cup of cake pop mix into each cone, pressing a bit of it down into the center of the cone to balance the weight. Arrange your ‘ice cream cones’ on top of your cake. Add small frosting swirls, sprinkles of broken cone pieces, and several chocolate chips around the upper edge of the cake and around edges of the cake base.
- ....and SCENE! Step back, admire your work....and enjoy! 😉
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice (1/16th cake) | Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g
Did you make this Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Cake?
Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
You can also leave a comment or recipe rating at the bottom of the page!
Related
Favorite Vanilla Cake Layer recipe
Favorite Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe
Other recipes you may love…
(Click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)
