Hi Hat Cupcakes
I did it. I finally made them. Hi Hat Cupcakes have consumed my cupcake thoughts since I first saw their tall chocolate dipped tops online after I started blogging. But, I have to tell you, I’ve been nervous to make them. They scare me. I knew for sure I would screw them up and end up with a melted mess.
But this weekend, I tried them. Mainly because I tasted my very first one a couple of weeks ago. Seeing them in person fueled my fascination.
So I decided to use the only recipe I remembered seeing. It’s from Martha Stewart.com and it did not disappoint.
> Update: I just realized this recipe is also from the book, Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivas – Confused it with Martha’s Cupcake book in her online description. Why I don’t have this one already, I don’t know. <
Chopped chocolate. A perfect way to start. I really liked this cupcake recipe. It’s great topless, too.
But even better with the frosting. I used a disposable pastry bag with an Ateco #807 tip. Basically one with a huge round opening.
If I had paid attention to the directions beforehand I don’t know if I would have been as eager to get started.
12 minutes later and a candy thermometer in check to make sure the frosting formed stiff peaks at the right temperature. Yikes.
Actually, it never made it to just the right temp, but after 12 minutes… I was over holding the hand mixer.
So I took a leap of faith it would work and piped it on the cupcakes… as tall as I could get it.
The cupcakes went in the freezer while I prepared for the scary part. The dipping. You’d think this part would be smooth sailing. But I was skeptical. I mean look at all that thick white frosting. It’s definitely going to melt when I cover it in chocolate. Melted heavy chocolate. Right?!
One bag of semi-sweet chocolate. I used the mini chips.
And melted them in the microwave with three tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Tasty.
Melt them on medium-low in 30 second intervals and stir in between until melted and smooth.
Then wait a few minutes to make sure the chocolate isn’t hot.
Now, take a deep breath and grab one of the cupcakes from the freezer.
Turn it upside down and slowly submerge the entire top in melted chocolate.
Okay, here goes…
A little more……
More…
Keep going…
I’m closing my eyes.
Now… take a deep breath and lift it out.
Holy cupcakes… it worked.
It totally completely worked.
And it’s beautiful.
Use a toothpick to touch up any spots at the base of the cupcake that may not have been covered… controlling your excitement…
And then go again.
And again…
And again.
We’re having fun now.
If you use a small, deep bowl, it will make the dipping easier. The one I used was a cup leftover from Easter egg decorating.
Mini hi hats anyone?
Aside from the obvious first impression *wink wink*… these are amazing.
Place the dipped cupcakes in the freezer for a few minutes to let the chocolate harden and then refrigerate until ready to eat.
You want to see inside don’t you.
I did too.
Oh my.
I’m still amazed.
Don’t be afraid to make some.
Oh my.. my kids are going to LOVE these :)
I am pretty excited to have the first post.. TWICE now :)
Oh My!!! These look so pretty and tasty! I love all that chocolate coated frosting!
You are a brave woman! These scare the pants off me. Maybe one day I’ll be brave. Those are gorgeous!
fabulous!! i love these!! you’re a genius. i can’t wait until you come to dallas for a book signing!!!
I have been putting off trying these forever but I think I just might.
Those are amazing! I wonder would it work with any other kind of frosting? Because I do not think I committed enough to hold a thermometer and a mixer for 12 min!! :)
These look so tasty! Maybe I’ll try them
YUM. Why can’t I make my icing look like that? Ever?
My brilliant hubby said that these would be the perfect cupcakes to bake in ice cream cones – a la the Dairy Queen dipped cone. Master of illusion!
oh my goodness! ive made these and was just as scared! i love them! they are too rich to eat as big cupcakes too. the mini ones are perfect
oh my goodness!! I have to try these sometime when I have the kitchen to myself…thanks for sharing!! :)
cute and delicious looking..
oh. my. goodness!
LOVE these!! The photos are GREAT! Can’t wait to try them!!
i think i’d like the mini cuz i’m not really into frosting. They look so cute tho!!
Love It!! I will make these soon!!
Those are the coolest things ever! Imagine them dipped in white chocolate, decorated all Christmas-y….I have to try these!
Or add green food coloring to white chocolate for a Christmas tree look
I’ve made these before and they are such a hit, people just love and are totally impressed. Yours look perfect of course.
I’ve made something almost identical to these, but I used peanut butter frosting and sprinkled on chopped Butterfinger before the chocolate set.
They were super duper yummy.
Yours are gorgeous!! I’m so glad you gave it a go and fulfilled your hi hat dream!!
Have a fabulous week!! :)
Oh My! I’ve always wanted to attempt these, but I’ve always been so scared, not of melting, but that the frosting would just fall right off! Goodness! You are brave, but they turned out, I’ll give them a try sometime.
sooo cool! I’d be afraid of dipping the cupcake and it coming out without the frosting…lol! they look great!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… no wonder I am gaining weight!! I was doing so good post baby too… oh well. Life with out cupcakes(and cookies and candy and chocolate!) is like, well, death!
just bought some tools to make some of your totally cute cupcakes from your new book, thanks for the inspiration!
OMG!!! They look heavenly! YUM!!
They look amazing! I’m too intimidated to try them. Well, maybe the mini ones. I’d definitely start with minis. Great job!!
must try!
I recently saw a picture of some similar cupcakes…but they didn’t put the recipe.
but wow the inside…just beautiful and amazing!
Those are beautiful! Is that a mini top hat cupcake is see??? just when i think ive seen everything you can do you whip these out. great job!!!
Wow! They look amazing. You are so brave!
Wow, you couldn’t have posted this at a better time! Someone made these at a Cupcake Event I went to yesterday and I was thinking this morning that I really needed to find a recipe for them. Thanks!
I HAVE to make these now!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who tries to bake new things with one eye open. :)
These look awesome! Maybe around Christmas time you could use brown cups and dip them in green-colored white chocolate and then decorate them up like little Christmas trees – little colored lights and a star on top. That would be so cute!
me too bakerella..now i think it’s time i tried as well!!!
WOW! These look amazing. I wish I could eat chocolate! I wonder how “white chocolate” would work….
May I order a dozen of those for my daughter’s birthday. I live in the Philippines. Haha. Kidding. They are just so beautiful!
Your photos are amazing, I can’t get over how perfect they are!
oh.my.word. i was looking for something to make this next weekend for a friend’s baby shower…i think i just found that something!
Oooh my! I’ve always thinking about how to make cupcakes like that. I’ts just amazing!
i think that is the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen……
sue:)
That makes me want dairy queen! You should do a tribute to them and wrap the cupcakes in their ice cream cone paper some time!! Maybe even put the cupcake in their cones and then dip it.
They look AMAZING! I have a cookbook(Cupcakes!) by Elinor Klivans with this exact cupcake…the whole reason I bought the book! Now, you have given me the courage to try them! :) Thanks!
I have the Cupcakes! book that Martha attributes these to. Scared the livin’ daylights out of me, but I just can’t get them out of my mind! Now you’ve inspiried me & I’m going to do them “mini”! Thanks, Bakerella!!
I want a cupcake so badly right now! Love the cut away view!
I can’t wait to make these! Hope I can get them to turn out as perfect as yours are!
i made these with buttercream. They don’t hold their shape as well but they are still super tasty!
WOW! That’s so fun, and something I’ve not seen before. I’m definitely going to try that! I’m thinking bright orange cupcake holders to go with that chocolate would make very cute Halloween cupcakes! And bite-size? Yes, please!
Um WOW! They look AMAZING! You totally inspire me to try anything! :)
These look yummy! I cant wait to try them!!!!
My roommate and I are currently doing this to the cupcakes she made yesterday. We wish you were coming to Florida on your book tour!
They are beautiful. :) The half of the cupcake looks so cool.
I’ve been so nervous too but so intrigued!! This has inspired me to try! Does the type of cupcake matter? I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes..
Wow, I love these! I’m pretty sure I could hold the mixer for 12 minutes if I got to eat one of those in the end. Yours look perfect!
Oh man… those look so awesome. SO AWESOME. They look like ice cream cupcakes.
You continue to amaze! I’ve never seen anything like this. I might just have to try them!
I made some of these several months ago and they were so fun and delicious! Love all of your many pics of the process and they turned out lovely!!
Oh my! This looks really tempting!
omg, wow those are amazing! We used to do that with icecream at the place i worked at but my icecream ALWAYS fell off, i never got it to work. These are fab!
OMG!!! Gotta make those. Will start with minis and work my way up to jumbos. Perfect ending to a dinner party. Will add some ‘bedazzles’ and give all credit to you!
beyond cuteness…….
These look very yummy!! Idk if I could pull that off…
Yum!! Reminds me of my favorite chocolate-dipped ice cream cones at Dairy Queen growing up. :) I wonder if I could just make the icing and dip it… don’t know if I could handle all the sweetness of icing AND cupcake!
These have been on my mind since I first started blogging, too!! I’m scared to try them, but let me just say… yours look out of this world amazing!!! NICE job!!!
Holy DE-LISH!!!!
Those are super cute and, of course, look absolutely deeelish!!! Ok…so when you say mini….they aren’t regular size cupcakes?…they look regular sized…but mini would definitely be easier to dip and EAT!! (more than one for sure!)
such a sweet tutorial
Complete AWESOMENESS!!! =)
Gorgeous! My friend at http://www.bakingdom.blogspot.com did some of these a few months ago, and they look awesome! I haven’t been brave enough to try them yet, but your are so cute!
These are amazing. AMAZING.
How in the world did you cut that cupcake? You must have some AMAZING knives!
I’ve had a cupcake like this before and at their bakery they called them a DQ cupcake because they look like the ice cream cones dipped in chocolate from Dairy Queen!
How do you manage to do such great pics !!! It’s absolute torture for me to see this scrumptious “Hi Hat” and not be able to eat one !!!
Guess I have to have a go at making them !!!
Thanks for sharing!!! Gonna make these in a few weeks for my son’s 11th birthday!
So cool! I think these could be just the treat for my daughter’s Halloween party!
Oooh, they’re so gorgeous!! Can’t wait to make them!!
Reminds me of my first job at the Dairy Freeze…..dipping those tall ice cream cones upside down into the chocolate coating…..I can honestly say I fished out a lot of ice cream that belly-flopped into the choc vat, ha, ha.
I’m not a cupcake queen, but I think I’ll have to try these, mostly because I like the name High Hat. THANKS for the tutorial, Bakerella!
oh my god! those are incredible!!!! i’m so excited to try my hand at them now!
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! O….M…G…!.!.! I have died and gone to heaven! I am totally speechless……
stunning!
They look great! :)
gorgeous!
Magic! Can’t believe you managed to do that AND take pictures!!
those are a-maze-ing! as always you make it look simple. I wish I had one here to sample…
OH MY GOD.
hahah at the first impressiont thing, I didnt even think of that before you wrote it now I cant stop thinking about that when I look at them. they look delish anyway, is that wrong?
these look divine!! great job!
These are fun aren’t they? I used another recipe, not Martha’s and liked the results. A friend of mine found a recipe for cherry coke hi hats that I need to try.
Those look amazing! reminds of those dipped cones :) Thanks for the idea!!!
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww they look too scary to make !!!!!!! :P
These look so amazing! I cannot wait to try and make them myself!! They remind me of choc tops from the cinema….
YOU ARE THE BEST!!!! These look fantastic! I tried this recipe a few months ago and they were super tasty but not as good looking as yours…i mean of course, you are bakerella!!…Fantastic pictures too. Ciao from Italy
i really love it..! this are fantastic..YUMMY!
It’s like a little Dairy Queen dipped cone…but a cupcake. Genius!!!!
WOW!!!! Those look AMAZING!!!! I have never seen that done before or even heard about them. Cant wait to make them with my nieces : ) SO EXCITED to meet you in Portlan Oregon & get your book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
i am not understanding the melted chocolate. would you get the same desired result with chocolate bark and a double boiler?
I can’t wait to make those. They look like Dairy Queen dipped ice cream cones!
Wow I’m impressed.
These look amazing! They make me think of Dairy Queen for some reason. :)
oh
my
gosh.
amazing!
In one word….AMAZING!
Yes they do remind me of Dairy Queen. Must stop there today . Almost as much work as my Tiramasu cupcakes but worth it.
Beautiful!
Interested tp hear that you had problems with your thermometer, I have ruined a couple of recipes by waiting for the thermometer to say the temperature was OK. If I had trusted my own judgement I would have saved both recipes!