Cupcake cakes are easy to create, lend themselves to creative and unique designs and are faster to produce than decorating cupcakes individually. Offer these creative cakes as both custom orders and generic designs in your display case that customers can pick up anytime. When a customer places an order for a custom cake for a child’s birthday party, don’t miss the opportunity to suggest a cupcake cake for a classroom party at school as well. These fun pull-apart cakes are easy to serve and the perfect dessert to offer in places where knives, forks and plates are a hassle. Cupcake cakes also can help cut down on waste because you can use extra cupcakes from other orders to combine several flavors in a single cake.
You can create these cakes by using several different methods. Form a general cake shape that is iced and decorated similarly to a sheet cake. Or you can arrange the cupcakes into the specific shape of a certain object, such as the butterfly in this article, where the cupcakes are iced together to form a flat surface for decorating. Another option is to arrange the cupcakes into a shape, such as a caterpillar also shown here, and ice each cupcake individually.
No matter which method you prefer, several basic steps remain the same. Begin by arranging the cupcakes into the desired shape, and then keep them in place by using a dab of icing on the bottom of the cupcake and around the outer edge to secure it to the cake board. Use a cake icer tip to outline the perimeter of the cake and fill in the interior with lines of icing, and use an offset spatula to smooth the icing like you would on a sheet cake. For a completely smooth appearance, place a paper towel on the icing as you smooth it. Then, decorate.