Secondly, the cone: to be metaphorical here, the “cone” part of the cupcake would be the dirt that you dig out of the hole. You need that space in the cupcake to put in the ganache filling.

Another way to put it would be to visualize the piece of the cupcake that is scooped out by the melon baller. There’s the flat part, that’s the top, and the bottom that (when I made these anyway) was a little cone-shaped.

That’s what I mean by cone. It’s Cupcake Bakeshop nomenclature, by the way. I’ve read Cheryl use it on her site.

Anyhow, no when I made these, the top was not particularly flimsy. What I would suggest if you are finding them flimsy is that perhaps you are cutting out too large a hole on top and that you should reduce the size of the hole. You should really only be scooping out the very middle of the cupcake. Another thing I would suggest is to not leave just the very top layer of cake on the cone. Leave enough so there is still a substantial piece of cake to lay on top—that way, no ganache will escape and leak out into the hazelnut frosting.

Good luck!!