Hi,

I am so glad this board (especially cali4dawn) turned me on to cupcake cakes! They are quickly becoming my most requested item!

I have to do a pumpkin CCC for Sunday. I saw the pic at www.brenscakes.com and I love it, but I do not have an airbrush.

Does anyone have a picture they can post?

Thanks,

Amy

Amy, based on the look at brenscakes, I made a ghost cupcake cake monday. It turned out great. if I were you I would just use an orange tinted frosting and use piping gel for the lines and face. That is what I used and it worked well. good luck Kam

Wow! where are the instructions on how to do that! I have never seen anything like it. I would love to try.

Mrsfish94

Thanks Kam -- that was similar to my original plan, which I think is what I will do (except I will use buttercream instead of piping gel). I'm sure your ghost cake turned out great!!

mrsfish -- The cupcake cake instructions are listed by cali4dawn. She gives detailed and wonderful instructions. I have tried to copy the link. If this does not work, see her previous post on icing a cupcake cake. There is also a book for sale at the above mentioned website.

http://community.webshots.com/album/105830324epGFhn

Thanks!!

Amy[/url]

Since you're not airbrushing, I would definitely tint my icing a very soft orange. Then I would go one step further. Go to the grocery store and get a can each of yellow and red Betty Crocker Decorating Spray. It looks just like the Wilton stuff but absolutely no aftertaste like Wilton's has. I would then spray the yellow and red over it to soften the orange and give it more life and depth. I would spray the yellow toward the inside and the red toward the outer edges. Can't wait to see it!

Thank you so much for the suggestion! That was actually my biggest problem -- wanting depth and not just an orange blob!

I am going out right now to get the sprays!! Thanks so much!

Amy

I have a question on frosting the "cupcake cake" on the first layer. What happens with the little areas that don't have cake...like where the cupcakes meet? Does the frosting fall in them? What do you do to combat that? Have you had that problem?

Mrsfish94

These cupcakes cakes are easier than you think. I first did one a year ago when a customer requested this new thing called a "cupcake layer cake". After a few researching nights I just decided to wing it. The easiest way is to bake c.cakes then decide if you want to put them together in a circle or some type of pattern on a cake board. Dab the bottom of c.cake with a bit of your icing (I use a 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening recipe) to help them stay in the desired shape. Try to keep the c.cakes as close to each other as possible w/out damaging the cakes. Once they are all secured, then just blob, blob, blob away with your icing. I usually pipe the icing on with my 16 oz bag w/out the tip so I can control where it is going. Then you can spread the entire top smooth. It will amaze you how sturdy your icing is especially if you have put your c.cakes close together. I always pipe a decorative border around the entire shap to hide any missed spots I didn't get smooth with icing. Good luck. Hope this is easy to understand!!! The frosting has never falled in between my empty spaces because I really do put a lot of icing on and make sure the c.cakes are close as possible. Maybe try an icing with all shortening as your first try. It seems to be more stable. Good luck!!

mrsfish94:

I do it very similar to partiqueen. I have made a tutorial (with pictures) that "show" you how to do it. If you are more of a visual person, this may help you. It gives you three options on how to position your cupcakes before icing.