I was perusing some pics, trying to get ideas for a couple of parties I've been asked to make treats for. Suddenly I have more questions than answers and I am swamped with panic!

First: Cupcakes for a Mommy Shower (like a Baby Shower but gifts for the Mommy instead). I saw some pics of cupcakes where the frosting looked like a perfectly sculpted shell within the wrapper (and perfectly lined up to the top too ). How do I do this? I'm doing Jumbo Cupcakes of that matters any. My other option is to do the swirly(?) top and place my drop flowers in there. Would that be any faster/easier?

Second: I'm doing my first stacked cake for a Farewell Celebration. I'm reading about a lot of cakes that collapsed, slid, tipped over, and in all other ways met an untimely end. Are there certain circumstances that create these unfortunate happenings? How can I prevent this? I plan on transporting the three layers separately and really assembling the cake on location, about two to three hours before the party starts. Will that be enough to keep my cake from becoming a catastrophe?

Thanks for all the help and ideas!

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, I can't really picture what you mean about the shell thing...I'm a visual person and have to "see", but I have done a few cupcake bouquets. I think the quickest and easiest would be the swirl top with a drop flower. I've done one where I made RI flowers a head of time and that way all I had to do was bake/swirl/and slap that RI flower on
As for the stacked cake. I think most of the mishaps happen during transport. So if you aren't going to transport it stacked then I think you should be okay. The other reason some slip I think is because of the filling. If you have a thick or gooey filling then the cake can slip if you don't have a good dam on the edge to keep it from doing that.
I wish you good luck and I'm sure everything will turn out fine.
Deidra

Ok, exactly what deeb173 said.

"Shell top"

"Swirly top"

I'm going to be using the Wilton Buttercream icing. I'm in the middle of Course II now and just too nervous about the cakes to try anything new. I'm not sure I have the time to experiment anyway. (6 parties in three and a half weeks, two baby shower gifts to make, one mommy shower gift to make, a birthday party for my girls to plan, a surprise grad party for my mom to plan, and I'm still working part time! Gee... maybe I need to add a signature so I'm not repeating myself all the time!)

Elizabeth[/url]

Looking through the photostream for the "shell" cupcakes, I'm almost positive they're topped with a circle of fondant. You can see they often match a fondant covered cake, and in one photo she does mention that they're fondant topped.

Swirl top will definitely be faster. You're very busy - do what is easiest and it will look great without adding unnecessary stress!