Okay, I know that everyone seen them. Yet, I will like to make them. PULL APART CUPCAKES!!!!!

Does my frosting need to be thick to make the base of the top decoration? What are some pointers regarding do's and do not's for this type of decoration?

I am feeling pretty nervous about it (lack of knowledge is the culprit)......

Do you mean a cupcake cake with seperate cupcakes glued on a board with icing?? or like a pull apart cinnamon bun thingy..

When I make cupcake cakes, I just trim off the very top of the dome on each cupcake, place them on a cake base (with no icing underneath), put a fairly thick layer of regular buttercream on top and decorate just like any cake. The cupcakes need to be staggered from row to row to minimize the spaces between them. I usually put a border around the cake, following the edges of the outside cupcakes. HTH!

@Kiddiekakes-pull apart cupcakes=individual cupcakes glued (with frosting) to the cake board.

@Marianna46-thanks for the tip on staggering. It seemed obvious but didn't think of that. The border tip is a good one. I was wondering how to minimize any excess frosting falling between the cupcakes.

Just adding my 2 cents.

i put a very small amount of buttercream on the bottom so they stay in place when I'm spreading my icing and it doesn't shift in the box. i don't trim the tops (unless they're REALLLY domed nor do I stagger them, I place them side by side. so for example if you're doing 20 cupcakes, make a 4x5 rectangle on your board. i then take a boarder bag and outline the outer edges of the cupcackes in buttercream, then i ice over them.

if you're not comfortable with just icing them over you can cover the top of each cupcake with the same boarder bag (a little more than you would if you were just icing one cupcake) and then spread from there so you're basically just smoothing out the top while taking off any excess icing. Just make sure your layer is thick enough because if your cupcakes are chocolate and the icing is too think it will turn a rusty brown looking color.

its all a matter of personal preference though. However you choose to do it...goodluck!!!!

I've only made one once, but my instructor gave me a great tip. She suggested I bake the cupcakes in the same shape as the final product. I wanted a circle, so I put my filled liners on a pizza pan and baked them like that. It eliminated the gaps between cuppies! I also used a large icing tip to frost and then smoothed the icing after it was already on, rather than trying to apply the icing with a knife or blade. The cuppies moved around too much. Good luck!

@mandysue-how are you baking these in the shape that you want them to become? Are you using the individual tin foil cupcake liners (seems like the obvious answer but just checking)? The large icing tip trick sounds very managable.
Thanks everyone for the posts.

Yep, I just used cupcake liners. The cupcake won't be perfectly round when finished. It will be mishapen so it can fit next to the other cupcakes, but I don't think that matters. The frosting looks bad when they are pulled apart anyway. Good luck!

I just couldn't wait to post this: BUT THE PULL APART CUPCAKE TIPS WORKED
I put frosting on the bottom of the cupcakes as suggested. I was more so nervous about the frosting bit. In some areas the frosting sunk a little between the cracks and crevice. Yet the design held up.

ONE Note: Make sure that the cupcake sizes (the tops shapes) are similar in shape. It makes frosting easier. I used to different types of muffin tins. A MISTAKE!!!! It affects the size of the cupcakes (width and height). Make sure that there is some consistency and everything should work out fine.
(Just to add: I frosted 2 pullapart cakes 2 dozen each for two classes: a monster from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and a scarecrow. )

Nice!!!
glad you were able to get it done! and yeah, the cupcakes all being the same size will make a huge difference in how easy it is to ice them!!!!!