A recent trend in bakeries is cupcakes shaped and decorated to look like cakes. These cupcake cakes or cupcake pull-aparts appeal to a variety of customers and allow quicker, cleaner serving than cake. No serving or eating utensils are necessary, so these “cakes” work well for parties or any type of group gathering. To serve, customers grasp the cupcakes at the base and pull them up and out of the design.
To create cupcake pull-aparts, arrange the cupcakes in the requested shape. Arrangements vary in size according to the shape requested and the number of servings needed. Then, either flat ice and smooth the icing or pipe the icing with large pastry tips. They can be decorated similarly to sheet cakes by adding piped details and edible or non-edible decorations. Decorating these cakes actually is less labor intensive than sheet or round cakes, and they add a new dimension to the decorator’s talents.
The following cupcake pull-apart designs are perfect for supplementing your current decorated cake ideas. Use your creativity to design cupcake pull-aparts unique to your bakery.
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| 1. flower On a half sheet cake board, arrange 7 cupcakes into a stem and 21 cupcakes in three separate petals. | 2. flower Use star tip No. 8 to ice the cupcakes. Pipe the center cupcake of each petal yellow, and pipe each of the three petals a different color. Add green icing to the stem cupcakes. |
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| 3. flower Outline the outer edge of each petal cupcake, and outline the outer edges of the stem cupcakes using tip No. 10 and a darker shade of icing. |
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| 1. clown On a half sheet cake board, arrange two dozen cupcakes in a rough triangle shape for a clown’s head. | 2. clown For the clown’s hat, pipe green icing on the top five cupcakes using a large open tip. Use the open tip to add white icing to the remaining cupcakes, and smooth it for the clown’s face. Pipe a green bow tie at the base of the cupcakes with an open tip. |
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| 3. clown Outline the face of the clown using an open tip. Add yellow hair with star tip No. 8. Pipe white eyes and a mouth with an open tip. | 4. clown Use an open tip to add the clown’s nose and the flower on the hat. Overpipe the eyes and mouth with a No. 8 open tip. |
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| 1. ghost Create a ghost using 24 cupcakes arranged in a swoop with a few cupcakes extending out about 1/3 of the way down for arms. Use dabs of icing to adhere them to the board. | 2. ghost Use a side icer to evenly pipe white icing over the entire ghost. Smooth the icing, and add a black outline with tip No. 10 and black icing or black gel. Use the same tip to add the facial features and an inscription. |
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| 1. gift Arrange 20 cupcakes into a five cupcake by four cupcake rectangle on a quarter sheet cake board. Stabilize them with a small dab of icing. | 2. gift Use a side icer to ice the cupcakes with blue icing. With the non-serrated edge of basket-weave tip No. 47 facing up, pipe a ribbon, bow and tag. Add an inscription and beaded border on the tag with tip No. 3. Pipe a border around the “cake” with the star half of tip No. 87 facing up. |
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| 1. rainbow Arrange 24 cupcakes into an arch for a rainbow shape. Adhere them to the board with a dab of icing. | 2. rainbow Use star tip No. 8 to pipe the three cupcakes at each end white. With the same tip, pipe elongated shells to create the rainbow on the remaining cupcakes. Add the following colors in succession: dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Sprinkle the rainbow with edible glitter. |
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| 1. birthday cake Place 24 cupcakes on a half sheet cake board. Arrange 16 of the cupcakes in a square, with the remaining eight forming a semi-circle below the square. | 2. birthday cake With an open coupler, pipe the eight cupcakes brown for a plate. For the “cake,” use star tip No. 8 to cover the cupcakes with long strokes. Add a shell border to define the top and bottom of the “cake.” Pipe an inscription with writing tip No. 8. Add candles and sprinkles to complete the design. |