Sunday, October 4, 2009

Wilton's Giant Cupcake Pan

A friend’s 13 year-old daughter asked me to bake her birthday cake.

ME!

I was so excited. I bake cakes for my family, but this is the first time (well may be second) that someone outside the immediate family asked me to bake a celebration cake.

Here it is.


Ashlyn was very specific, she wanted a giant cupcake as her birthday cake. I went to Wal-Mart to buy Wilton's Giant Cupcake Pan , but Wally-World wanted 30 bucks for the pan. So instead I went to Hobby Lobby and with my 40% off coupon snagged it for $18. (Call me frugal not cheap.) I also bought Wilton’s matching Jumbo Cupcakes Pan. Like the giant pan, the jumbo pan also bakes the cupcake in two parts. Don’t you just love matching stuff?


The information sheet that came with the Giant Cupcake Pan said that one box of cake mix wasn't enough to fill the pan, so I mixed up two boxes and filled the giant cupcake and three of the jumbo cupcakes. While baking, the batter overflowed the top of the pans so I probably should have filled all four of the jumbo cupcake wells instead of three. Oh well, live and learn. In the end I just trimmed off the tops of the cakes and munched for two days on scraps.




On Amazon a bunch of people have reviewed the pan, and some commented that the top and bottom sections do not bake evenly and the baked cake stuck to the pan. I didn't experience either problem. I filled the giant pan to capacity and baked at 325 degrees for 55 minutes (electric convection oven). The sides of the cake came out dark brown (like a bundt cake) but the insides were thoroughly cooked. At the party I sampled the top and bottom sections and both were fine. The top was slightly "dry" and the bottom was slightly "moist", so I just let people know ahead of time and they selected a piece according to their personal preference.

I also didn't have a problem with the cake sticking to the pan. I used Wilton's Cake Release and dusted with a little flour just to be sure. After removing the pan from the oven, I let it cool for three minutes and then flipped the pan over. The cakes slid out without any problem.

Next came the decorating. I did a search on the web, and found a few examples of decorated giant cupcakes. My absolute favorite was choo_silwhui's posting on flickr. I loved the colors and the daisies perched on one side. Too cute.

Here I am rolling out my gum paste and cut a few yellow daisies, some green leaves and confetti dots.


Then I started to ice my giant cupcake. Someone on Amazon recommended that you ice the bottom section before placing the top, so that is what I did. I piped one row using Wilton tip #12 (smooth round) and then a second row using tip 32 (fluted round).



Next I positioned the top.



I used the same Wilton Tip #32 and piped an almost continuous stream of teal icing around the top. After I finished I realized I didn't like my swirly icing job as much as I liked choo_siowhui's smooth top. I thought about scraping the icing off and trying for the smooth look, but in the end I left it the way it was.

Next I added the gum paste decorations. Sorry, I got into the groove and forgot to take pictures of my progress so here it is after all the decorations were added.


You might have noticed that the cake started out on a gold cake board and then switched to a glass platter. After I had the thing totally decorated I decided that the teal and yellow decorations clashed with the gold cake board. I don't like things that clash, so I carefully moved the cake from the board to the glass platter. I was lucky, no major catastrophes.

Finally I added a Happy Birthday and a few of the leftover flowers to the platter.



And here is the birthday girl, Ashlyn, blowing out her candles. I also decorated the jumbo cupcakes to match the cake. She really got a kick out of that.



Happy Birthday, Ashlyn.




23 comments:

  1. that is awesome. I am going to try to attempt to make a cake in the next few weeks, just getting my supplies together. wow, you did a great job!

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  2. Thanks, S loves J!

    This is such a fun cake to make, I'm sure you will have a blast making yours.

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  3. I started to order this for my 19 yr old "baking" daughter for Christmas from Sky Mall after seeing it on a recent flight. However, the 29.95 price went up to 42.95 with (even the slowest) delivery and tax-OUCH! Then i found your post about Hobby Lobby and their 40% coupon (which I use frequently)!! Yay...what didn't I think of that-THANKS! Rosie

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  4. Anonymous,

    Gotta love Hobby Lobby. Happy I could help.

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  5. i got one tooo x x my boyfriend bought it for me and sent it to ireland to me x got to say im a big fan of hobby lobby too

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  6. WOULD THIS WORK FOR A FIRST BIRTHDAY GIRL TO TEAR INTO IT.

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  7. what kind of Icing did you use?

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  8. Just a normal crusting butter cream. Nothing special.

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  9. How did you get your buttercream icing white

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  10. Hi Anonymous,

    I used a White Chocolate Almond Buttercream icing. Yummy. Here is a link to the recipe:

    http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7237/white-chocolate-almond-buttercream-frosting

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  11. how long did you bake the cake for and at which temperature

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  12. I baked at 325 degrees for 55 minutes (electric convection oven).

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  13. i tried to make one earlier but the centre did not cook properly but the outside was nearly burnt! any suggestions, its for new years as well?

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  14. What kind of cake? I used Betty Crocker French Vanilla. You don't want to use a mix that is too dense, select something (boxed or scratch) that will bake up fluffy and light. Something else you can try is a "cake nail". If you can find one that long. A cake nail is used in larger cakes to help the center bake evenly with the sides. You could also try to convert the cupcake pan into a bundt pan. Find a hollow food safe, heat proof metal tube, wrap it in aluminum foil (keep the top section uncovered), and insert it into the center of the cupcake pan. Secure it somehow so that it doesn't fall over into the batter. This might help the center cook evenly. Like I said, I've never tried this but it sounds like it would work. Let me know how it goes.

    Carol

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  15. hi i used a three egg mix for the top and 4 egg for the base, just finished baking and they have both cooked through but the top was a little burnt, going to leave it though as managed to get most of it off and decorating it later anyway! :) thankyou for your advice i may get a cake nail for next time i make one. I have been looking through your website and its amazing! some really nice recipes i may try (those lemon poppy seed muffins!). I live n the UK and am 16 years old, i love baking and the tin was a christmas present given to me :)

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  16. Ella, I'm glad your cake turned out well. Amazon has a lot of reviews on the cupcake pan and a few people mentioned the problem with the bottom and top sections not needing the same amount of baking time. Their suggestion was to bake in two runs: bake just the bottom section and once the pan cools bake the top section.

    If you love baking, think about joining the "Tuesdays with Dorie" blog group. It is a group that bakes once a week a recipe from a specific cook book. We just finished one book and are about to start another (Baking with Julia). It is fun and low pressure and makes you bake a lot of recipes you wouldn't otherwise try.

    Hope to see your there, and have a fun New Years.

    Carol

    Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-2105-5038-Giant-Cupcake-Pan/product-reviews/B000UPRAXA/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

    Tuesdays with Dorie: http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/

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  17. I know you did this so long ago, but what did you use to make the dots, and where'd you get the leaf and flower cut outs?

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    1. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure they came from Hobby Lobby. At the time I made this cake I was buying most of my supplies from them.

      Carol

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  18. Hi, How did you handle moving the cake from the gold cake box to the platter? I have a cake lifter, but even then, I would have to somehow nudge the cake to get on the lifter and then again push the cake onto the platter.

    -Lorraine-

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    1. Hi Lorraine, I used two large spatulas to move the cake, one on either side. Once I moved it to the new plate I just pulled the spatulas out. If you use a cake lifter try leaving an inch (or so) of the cake unsupported by the lifter. Support that edge with a big spatula. Once you place the cake on the new platter remove the spatula first and allow the cake to rest/stick to the platter. With one edge stuck to the platter you should be able to remove the cake lifter without too much effort/nudging.

      Hope this helps…. Carol

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    2. Carol, thank you so much! Wow, why didn't I think of that! :) I do have Pampered Chef's mega lifter (http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=33206). The thought just never occurred to me. Again, thank you for replying.

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  19. I want to use this jumbo cupcake pan for a giant blueberry muffin - any tips? (I know I need about 6 cups of batter but not sure of baking time for a muffin???) Thank you for any help that can be given!

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    1. Hi, Can't give any real guidance other than to just use a bamboo skewer or long toothpick to test for "doneness" at the center of the cake. When it comes out with only a few crumbs attached then you know it is done. I'm sure it will turn out great! - Carol

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