Stenciled Giant Cupcake Cake

A giant cupcake cake makes a wonderful birthday cake for a kids' birthday celebration be it, boy or girl. We add a feminine touch to the design on the bottom tier with an enchanted forest effect, as well as stenciling the giant cupcake. This video tutorial shares in detail the whole process of making this cake.

Love when kids know exactly what they want

Once in a while, you get customers who know exactly what they want. They come with an idea and all they want is for you to execute it. In fact, such customers can be a blessing on busy days when you are not in the mood to go through 100 different ideas. Right? Don't get me wrong, but when I have cake orders then a long cake consultation can be exhausting.

I made this cake recently for a bat mitzvah girl. And, she knew exactly what she wanted: a giant cupcake. In addition, she asked for my vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream frosting. And, the top has to be a whipped cream effect with a golden flag on it. I loved this little customer that already envisions her cake.

Tools and tips

• You will need a cake board for the bottom of the cake.
• You will need two cake circles. One for the top and one for the bottom. Make sure they are both the same size. They must be firm and not bend or flex.
• Tall metal bench scrapers are best if you ganache cakes often.
• A right angle will help make sure your cake is straight.
• A leveler works great to ensure that your cake is leveled. A level cake is especially important when you have stacked cakes.
• Use a straight spatula for the sides and an off-set spatula for the top.

Materials

• One bowl cake for the cupcake dome - I used my 8-inch ball pan
• One pudding shape cake for the cupcake bottom - I use a pyrex bowl
• 3 x 9-inch round cake layers for the bottom tier cake - see 50 plus layer cake recipes. I used my vanilla birthday cake for the cupcake tier and chocolate fudge cake for the bottom tier
• Buttercream Frosting - see 30 plus buttercream frosting recipes. I used vanilla buttercream frosting for the top cupcake tier
• Simple syrup to keep the cakes moist
• Cake Decorators Chocolate Ganache for cake decorating - Dark or
• Cake Decorators White Chocolate Ganache for the bottom cake.

This tutorial has two parts

• We make a giant cupcake as a single-tier cake
• We also learn some pretty stenciling and how to apply it to the cake using a panel method.
• And we learn how to make the top cupcakes dome.

As you can see the video is pretty detailed which also means it's a bit long. I don't want to bore you with long videos so I have sped the video so you can see the whole three-day process in less than 20 mins.

• Part I - How to torte, layer, crumb coat, and create the two halves of the cupcake design
• Part II - Decorating the giant cupcake cake

Level, torte, fill, and frost the cake - Part I

For baking this cake I have not used a giant cupcake pan but a pyrex bowl and a ball pan. The pyrex bowl is a bit more shallow similar to this Pyrex Bowl and the ball pan is one that I use to make my sport ball cakes.

Cake flavors - This is my Vanilla Cream Cake Recipe with Velvet American Buttercream and Homemade Marshmallow fondant. You can see the fondant is very pliable and stretchy.

Stenciling and decorating the top tier - Part II

In this video, we start decorating the giant cupcake. Stenciling the fondant cupcake wrapper. Covering the top whipped cream dome and them stacking the bottom and top half to create the Giant Cupcake.

Decorating the Bottom Tier of  our Giant Cupcake Cake Part III (coming soon)

In this video which is a bit more long. We create the drip effect on the cakes. Make all the other elements for the enchanted forest effect including the mushrooms and hand painting some grass.

• Bake and cool your cakes. I usually make sure I have at least two layers each 2 inches tall so the finished cake is a minimum of 4 inches tall.
• If you like to trim the caramelization off your cakes make sure to bake more cake or taller layers so you have 2-inch after trimmings
• Sometimes I freeze the cake for half an hour so it's firmer to work with.

Step by step instructions

Level, torte and fill cake

• Level the cake layers - cut the domes off the cake using a bread knife or cake leveller
• Torte each layer into two horizontally
• I like to use a turntable with a non-slip mat. The non-slip mat under my cake drum prevents it from moving around.
• Place one cake board on the cake drum with a little frosting to help keep it in place.
• Simple syrup each layer with a pastry brush
• Add a big dollop of frosting on each layer.
• Spread with a straight-edged spatula
• Place the next layer on top followed by more frosting until you have stacked all layers
• Use a cake level to ensure the cake is leveled. You may need to press down on the side that is higher to help shimmy the frosting around.
• Then use two bench scrapers on either side of the cake to ensure the sides are straight. (just so the layers are not peaking out)
• Place the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes - the frosting will set and the layers won't move when you are frosting the outside.

For the cupcake dome

• Roll some sugar paste into a long sausage. Place it on the dome in a spiral as shown in the video. Make sure it adheres to the buttercream well.
• Place in the fridge to chill for 20 to 30 minutes.Tip- Chilling it now is important, so the rope won't move while we frost the sides.
• Moisten the dome with water. Roll some white fondant and drape over the top. Cut off excess. Use your fingers to gently tease the fondant into the fondant sausage swirl you just attached.

For the cupcake bottom

• Roll a long sausage and cut into pieces the same height as the cake. Place them all around the cake as shown in the video. Make sure it adheres to the buttercream well.
• Place in the fridge to chill for 20 to 30 minutes.Tip- Chilling it now is important, so the rope won't move while we frost the sides.
• Roll a long strip of pin fondant. Make sure it is the same height and width as the cake
• Cover parts of the stencil you do not want to use with tape. Place the stencil on the fondant and stencil the design with petal dust colors. Gently pick the stencil and do the same until you have done the whole strip. I had to do this 5 times.Tip- make sure to clean the stencil well between each use for a clean finish.
• Roll the strip like a jelly roll (see video) then unroll against the cake. Making sure to touch as little as possible to prevent smearing the stencil. I used two rolling pins to press the fondant towards the cake
• Cut off excess at the top and bottom of the cake. Then using another cake board flip the cake upside again so the narrow part is on the bottom and the broad part at the top. Just like a cupcake.
• Dowel the bottom part with four bubble straws as shown in the video. Then stack the top dome on the bottom. Make as rope and create the bottom of the cupcake dome swirl.
• Use different colors of fondant to make the sprinkles and cherry.

The bottom tier

• Brush the cake with water making sure to get every inch of the cake to prevent air pockets
• Roll the fondant on a lightly dusted work surface dusted (cornstarch and powdered sugar)
• Drape on the cake, secure the edges first. Then smooth the sides. Cut off excess at the bottom with a pizza wheel.
• Use a fondant smoother to smooth the sides. Prick any air pockets with a needle or acupuncture needle. For this cake, you do not need sharp edges.
• Airbrush the cake with shades of green.
• Make the other elements like the doors, mushrooms, and trees. Place them on the cake

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