The Cupcake Tray Hack Perfect For Filling Ice Cream Cones En Masse
Summer parties call for ice cream. Try telling the guests at your child's birthday party that you don't have a single scoop to spare and see what kind of chaos it brings upon the festivities (note: don't actually do this, as you will rue the day forever). Ice cream isn't just a guaranteed crowd-pleaser — it's also convenient, as there's virtually no prep required. Simply scoop into a cone and serve. Except, that approach isn't exactly efficient when you have a large group to feed. Fortunately, avid cook and social media star Babs Costello has a quick and easy hack that lets you serve even portions of ice cream in less than a second.
The last thing anybody wants is to face a long line of hungry children (and/or adults) demanding ice cream while they scoop as quickly as they can to no avail. Trying to match the pace of your guests' voracious appetites can be overwhelming, and in haste, you can easily end up dishing out uneven scoops. To avoid this, all Costello's trick requires is a few minutes of prep work and a tool you most likely own already: a cupcake tray.
Prep ice cream cones in advance with a cupcake tray
Babs Costello's cupcake tray hack, posted to Instagram, is dead simple. Although it requires some preparation, it'll save you a lot of time when it counts most — that is, when you're facing hungry guests. To start, line cupcake/muffin tray cups with paper liners. Use cheap paper liners for this task as they are both cost-effective and easy to peel off in the final step (more on that in a moment). Once you've done that, drop a scoop of ice cream into each liner. Then you can pop the tray in the freezer until you're ready to serve.
When it comes time to eat, take the cupcake tray out of the freezer. Grab an empty ice cream cone and press it into one of the pre-portioned scoops of ice cream. When you lift it up, the paper lining will still be stuck to the ice cream, but it can be peeled off in a flash and discarded. Then you can hand over the cone to your hungry guest. Using this method, serving ice cream cones can be done in just a single second, far more efficiently than scooping directly from the tub. If you have multiple cupcake trays, you can prep large batches way ahead of time. Another great feature of this unexpected use for your muffin tin is that it guarantees an equal-sized portion for every guest.
Plug the bottom of the cone to prevent a mess
Costello incorporates another ice cream cone tip into this quick and easy hack, which you may want to use even if you aren't serving big groups with the cupcake tray method. The most pervasive issue with ice cream cones is their messiness. When dealing with the classic sugar cone or waffle cone, there's almost always a hole at the bottom that melted ice cream leaks through. To avoid this issue, you can plug the bottom of the cone to block the drippage. In her Instagram post, Costello places a single mini marshmallow in the bottom of each cone before adding the ice cream.
It's a straightforward solution, but if you're feeling extra, you could take the marshmallow plugging concept one step further by making a Fluff cone. Inventor Aaron Cohen of Gracie's Ice Cream tells Epicurious, "It's just a crisp waffle cone that we dip into marshmallow Fluff and toast before filling the cone with ice cream." To make one, take a sugar or waffle cone and submerge the top inch of it in a tub of marshmallow creme. Dunk it twice to build up a thick layer, then brown the surface with a kitchen torch. Plop your pre-portioned ice cream on top, and voilà! "The trick is to get a good amount on the inside of the cone so that some of the Fluff melts and pools in the bottom when you toast it," according to Cohen.