Friday, May 14, 2010

Rainbow Party Cones & Time Out

Our family has a wonderful tradition; when someone goes on time out, the non-offending children get to do something really fun. This is very effective because the person in trouble is doubly punished and it helps them be mindful to not break the rules in the future. It all started years ago. My eldest is a pretty self-contained unit and he made the terrible mistake of asking me what was the big deal with time out. The way his six year old brain saw it, time out was an oasis of quiet and a break from his brothers. This would not do. The next time he was sent on time out, I popped popcorn with my younger two hoping that the smell of his favorite food wafting up to his room would make my point. The next infraction, we skipped school and watched a cartoon - suddenly the point was much clearer to him.

This message has been played out many times over the years and I think it's a good one. Sometimes doing the wrong thing doesn't just cause you to receive punishment (like being fired) it can also cause you to lose blessings (like a raise or an opportunity). My boys understand this through and through - as a mom, what more can I hope for.

Now what does this have to do with the pretty vanilla cone at the top of this post? Everything. My 13 and 12YO got into an argument last week. We don't allow quarreling in our house as a considerate exchange of ideas is a lot more effective way to get through life than say, punching someone in the nose. Since their conversation was escalating, I put them both on time out to think about how they could have handled things better. Now I had to find something AWESOME to do with my 11YO. He isn't a TV kid at all so movies and video games were out. I'd been wanting to make cupcake cones with him for at least six months so we got to it. Sorry, I completely spaced on getting a picture of my cute boy.

Step One: Place the cones in a muffin pan. I've tried cookie sheets and its been a tippy disaster. 9x13 pans work well too.


Step Two: Make your favorite cake batter, we used Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Separate it into three bowls and color each batch of batter with food coloring. Be mindful of the batter color - yellow cake will turn blue dye green etc.



Step Three: Each cone holds about three tablespoons of  batter so gently layer one TBL of each color into the cones:


Now they're ready to bake. Afterwards they should look like this. Cool completely before frosting:



We frosted ours to mimic favorite ice cream flavors like chocolate chip mint. All this required was mint frosting and mini chocolate chips. They looked real enough that they fooled my husband :-)




As things inevitably go, Brayden and I got tired of making ice cream cones after about this many:


So we decided to try a multi-colored piping technique I'd seen on TV. All you need is a zip loc bag (or disposable pastry bag), paste food color and white frosting. 

Paint lines of food color up the sides of the bag:



Add frosting:



And pipe your heart out, cool 'eh?

Want to see these babies in action? I call the first one Psychedelic Chomp:



Thanks everyone for hanging out to the end of this tutorial. Hope you make these with your family (without someone needing to be on time out first).

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15 comments:

Cheryl Valadez said...

Hi, Nicole! Looks delish! Love your philosophy behind "time out". I had always wondered that same thing...who wouldn't want 15 minutes alone? Sounds like heaven. HOWEVER, when you have to give up Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes....OUCH! That really hurts ;D

Michelle S said...

Wow Nicole, these look yummy!!! I've got to try these, they're fab :)

Dara Lynn said...

Those are so awesome. I am 46 years old and have never seen these done before. My mouth was watering!!! lol Having raised 3 sons, I am passing on a high five on your time out technique. Even more so, with the different personalities, finding that niche that makes the point crystal clear, I commend you!! I bet my hubby would love these cupcakes though :)

Natalie said...

Very cool cupcakes and frosting technique! I love it.

Gonna talk to the hubby about your time out idea! It intrigues me.

Anonymous said...

I love that frosting technique! Very cool. They look like punk cupcakes.

Carmen said...

Oh my word! These look stunning. Too good to eat??? Naaaaah!

Unknown said...

These will be PERFECT for Hayden's 4th of July birthday - they look like fireworks!

Erin said...

I LOVE the frosting idea. It looks so cool with the "stripes"! I can't wait to try it out!

Foundinthe-ALI said...

The fact that you do something fun when the one kid is in time out is hilarious ...yet probably effective.

love these cute little cupcakes. I don't have any kids.. but when it comes to cupcakes my boyfriend acts like an 8year old :P so ill have to make these for him :)

Mary C. said...

My grandsons are coming next month and we are totally doing this! They look awesome! I loved the hairy looking ones you made at the end. Cool.

Bec said...

You have become one of my new-found favorite blogs so I nominated you for a blog award! The post with your nomination will go up tomorrow (Sunday)!

Maggi said...

What fun! I will definitely put these on my list of "To Dos" when Toot is older! lol

Mima said...

Those frosting ideas are great!! Especially love the mixed colour ones, never seen that done before.

Your time outs are very clever - I'm sure they have a much more concrete effect!

Sonda T said...

So cool Nicole!! Really wish I could have made these cone cupcakes with Bay.

Evil Brat Child I said...

That mint chocolate chip had me fooled too! I will have to remember this the next time I run out of cupcake liners.