Cupcake Cake? And Another Question... :)
Decorating By amberele Updated 14 Feb 2007 , 9:06pm by leily
Okay, so a friend of mine tried the cupcake cake idea, and she couldn't fill the gaps without using a ton of frosting...does anyone know how to do these cakes without gooping the stuff inbetween? I am playing with the idea of doing this type of cake for my daughter's 4th birthday.
And...
She wants everything! I am trying to come up with a "rational" cake, or at least a compromise, I guess I am looking for something brilliant to fall from the sky. There will be a few boys at the party also, so I don't want to cater to only the girls. She wants princesses and rainbows, and noah's ark, and lady bugs... any ideas? I am running dry! She does like the outdoors, but also the really girly stuff, she loves video games... I don't know please help! 
thanks!
I would also love to know how to get these cupcake cakes so smooth on top without icing dripping down the sides!
I was just checking out kiddiekakes website and hers are so beautiful...and very very smooth on top!!! Love it! 
I couldn't look at the site because the bandwidth was used up for the day.. must be popular! Sooo, no one really knows then how to frost these?!
I was thinking maybe you frost parchment paper, and then put the cupcakes upside down, freeze it and take it out??? THat was my theory, but I don't know for sure, as I have never tried this! But if anyone does know the trick please share!! or at least hint! Thanks!!
You have to make sure you get them as close as you can to each other. I use a little buttercream to stick them to the board. I also put a heavy cookie sheet on them to flatten them out as soon as they come out of the oven so you have a nice smooth surface to decorate. It also helps fill in the gaps between cupcakes.
http://community.webshots.com/album/105830324epGFhn
This tutorial may help also!
When I have done my cupcake cakes I just use the basic Wilton recipe for buttercream (half butter half Crisco) and make sure it is pretty stiff. Put the cupcakes together on a board so that they touch each other as much as possible. Then use the big icer tip and go across the top of the cupcakes in rows. Smooth with a knife, let it crust some, and then smooth with whatever method you use (Viva, roller method, etc.). If your icing is stiff enough it will not fall through the cracks. HTH!! Tina
I just did my first CC this past weekend as a trial run for my son's Birthday for preschool.
It was so easy! Like mentioned already, as soon as they came out of the oven I put a cookie over them with something heavy on top ~ it smooshed all them to one size. I too used some BC to attach them to the covered board. When laying them out you can't go side by side or you may get the gaps, you kind of need to stagger/fit them in if that makes sense. Then, as I do with all my cakes I used the icer tip, smoothed and wahlah your ready for decorating.
I have made a few CCC's and found it worked best to "stagger" the cupcakes so there are really no gaps. I used a tad of buttercream on the bottom of each to help them stay put....and used a medium consistency buttercream. If you use a really stiff buttercream (even if you use the icer tip) you increase the risk of "moving" the cupcakes around when you try to smooth the icing...that's just been my experience. Also, once the cupcakes are smooshed together, I place spoons full of icing all over the cake, and just spread the icing out smooth...just like you would a cake!
I've got a few in my gallery. The biggest lesson I learned was that you HAVE to stagger the cupcakes or you get a cake that looks like the pink My Little Pony in my gallery. You can see the pock marks between the cupcakes b/c I tried to do them in perfect little rows. I was instructed on the idea to stagger them and the wreath and rainbow cakes turned out much better.
As far as getting the top smooth, I put the icing on the cupcakes just as if I were icing a normal sized cake. I let it crust and smoothed it using a Viva paper towel and my fondant smoother. Due to the cupcakes being anchored by icing they didn't move around at all.
Good luck!
Staggering is a good idea for sure.
To get my icing on evenly and cover the gaps I use the Icer tip and put a nice layer over the cupcakes then smooth. I have done a lot of cupcake cakes and have not had a hard time with the icing going inbetween the cupcakes very often. and if it does I just touch up a little bit and then smooth out.
HTH
Leily
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