If you’re looking for a colorful, delicious cake idea that’s a little more unique than a classic sheet cake, then a pull-apart cupcake cake might be the perfect dessert for your next special occasion. From a fun rainbow for a birthday to a stylish football for your next watch party, the design possibilities are endless.
Like all decorated cakes, though, there are a few strategies you’ll want to practice to make sure your design comes out right. Learn how to make pull-apart cupcake cakes everyone will love with these expert tips.
Why a Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake?
One of the biggest perks of pull-apart cupcake cakes is that they are easy to serve. There’s no messy cake-cutting or worrying about getting too big or too small of a slice. Everyone can just grab their own cupcake and enjoy.
Plus, cupcake cakes give you more flexibility with your design. With traditional cake, you’re stuck with either circles or rectangles unless you want to hand-carve your own designs. With cupcake cakes, you can arrange the cupcakes into any shape you want and use icing and other decorations to create a unique design.
Guarantee stunning cupcake cakes every time with the following tips.
Bake Your Cupcakes in Advance
One of the first tips to remember when you’re making a cupcake cake is to bake your cupcakes in advance. This will give your cupcakes time to cool completely before you frost them. Warm cupcakes can cause your frosting to melt, so to avoid a messy, runny design, consider baking your cupcakes in advance so that they’re ready to go whenever you want to decorate your cake.
Stick to Solid Shapes
When you’re choosing a design for your cupcake cake—especially if it’s your first time making a pull-apart cupcake cake—try to stick to solid shapes. This will give you a larger, more solid canvas to work with. For example, if you want to make a cake that looks like a puppy, consider sticking to just the puppy face. This lets you work with a simple round shape rather than the more complex shape of a full puppy. More compact designs also prevent cupcakes from shifting around and moving the icing whenever you transport the cake. Don’t worry about the design being overly simple—you can always add more intricate designs and details with your icing, sprinkles, and other decorations.
Start With the Right Tools
As with any frosting job, the right decorating tools can make all the difference. Before you begin, make sure you’re ready to go with piping bags and a variety of tips. You’ll also want a spatula or cake scraper to spread the frosting evenly across your cupcakes.
When you begin decorating your cupcake cake, use a scoop, piping bag, or spatula to add a base layer of frosting to each cupcake. Then, use your spatula or scraper to spread it out in an even layer across the entire cake. This creates a nice, even base for you to add other frosting colors and details.
Keep Your Cupcakes Uniform
One of the biggest tips for making pull-apart cupcake cakes is to ensure all your cupcakes are the same size and height. Uneven cupcakes make for an uneven decorating surface. Use the same size pan and fill your cupcake linings evenly to keep them as uniform as possible. In addition to giving you a flat, even surface to work with, this also minimizes gaps between the cupcakes.
Bridge the Gap
The goal of a pull-apart cupcake cake is to make it look as smooth and neat as a sheet cake. One of the biggest obstacles in this is the gap between the cupcakes. If the gaps are small enough, you can simply spread the frosting across them and cover them up without any issues. However, if they gaps are too big, the frosting will fall into the open spaces, creating dents and holes in your design.
If necessary, get creative to bridge the gaps and keep your icing from collapsing into them. Sweet treats such as mini cookies or wafers can fill the spaces between cupcakes. Cut-up pieces of fruit also make for great gap-fillers. Alternatively, you can fill in the gaps and offset the sweetness of the icing with pretzel sticks, which act as a bridge for the icing and are small and easy enough to hide beneath layers of frosting.
“Glue” the Cupcakes to the Board
If you’re having trouble getting your cupcakes to stay in place as you frost them, you can stabilize the cupcakes with just a dot of icing on the bottom of each cupcake. This will help them stick to your cake board and ensure your design stays in one piece as you decorate and transport the cake.
Add Your Finishing Touches
When you’re designing a pull-apart cupcake cake, the only limit is your own imagination. As with any cake design, a bit of sparkle, fun colors, textures, toppings, and other decorations can make a huge difference in the final look of your cake. Whether you’re adding sprinkles, experimenting with fun icing tips, or going all out with candles and cake toppers, don’t be afraid to have some fun with your decorations. You never know what kinds of exciting and creative designs you can come up with until you try.
Present and Enjoy!
Once you’ve decorated your cupcake cake, simply unveil it and enjoy! The creativity alone is sure to delight your guests. Just make sure you snap a picture before everyone takes a piece of your design—cupcake cakes get messy fast, and they’re so fun and delicious that yours will be gone before you know it!
Try your own creative pull-apart cupcake cake with the cupcake making kits from Damask Cakes. Our kits include all the ingredients you need to make scrumptious cupcakes and colorful frosting. The step-by-step instructions make baking easy so you can focus on having fun while creating your cake design. See what kinds of creations you can make when you grab your favorite cupcake kit today.
