St. Valentine's Day Meringue Cupcake Cones

Ice cream cones in February?
Well, they are particularly appealing when they are Meringue Cupcake Cones!
This uber sweet and uber cute idea comes from Home Stories of A 2 Z.

Step One: Mix up your favorite cupcake batter and pour it into flat-bottomed ice cream cones.
Katie is using a gfcf cake batter into gfcg ice cream cones.

Be careful to give them a little head room as the batter does rise a bit.

Step Two: Make the Meringue "ice cream."
Keep your oven on from when you made the cupcakes, but cut it back to 300 F
Whip 6 egg whites on high and slowly add:
2 cups sugar
1/2 tea. lemon juice
1 tea. vanilla
2 pinches salt
Whip it until all fluffy and peaky. This will be a while.
Gently fold in  one bag of M & M's -Valentine colors, if you can find them, but reserve out 1 M& M for every cupcake cone you have made.
Drop blobs about the diameter of your cones on a cookie sheet.
You can plop one of the reserved M & M's on now, or wait until after. Either way is fine.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until dry.

Step Three: Next, make Royal Icing.  Beat together
1 egg white
1 teaspoon lemon juice
 Slowly add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.  .
Blend it on low speed until it's smooth and creamy.  Place some on the top of the cone. This is your "glue."

It doesn't matter if some leaks out the sides.

Place the meringues on top of the icing and allow them to dry.
If you didn't put them on before, now top with the reserved M&M's "glued" on with some icing.

You can wrap in treat bags and give them to special Valentines,
serve at a party or for a special family treat.
Keep in an airtight container.
These are best eaten the day they are made, so they are great to take to a party.