Giant Cupcake Family (Giant, Normal and Mini Cupcakes)

Have you ever seen a giant cupcake? Well you have now. This is a really creative cake and I really love the contrast of the giant cake with the little regular and mini cupcake. It is a really cool thing to bring for a party or to make for your friends because who wouldn't get excited about a GIANT CUPCAKE?!?!?!?!?!?

It is a very simple recipe and it is a slightly strawberry flavoured cake with a lot of delicious butter cream frosting on it! It does take a while to make but it is so worth it in the end!!

Step 1: Ingredients

Cake:

- 225g Unsalted butter at room temperature (not melted)

- 2 Cups of caster sugar

- 2 Eggs

- 3 1/2 Cups of Plain flour

- 4 Teaspoons of baking powder

- 1/2 Teaspoon of salt

- 2-3 Teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

- 4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

- 2 Teaspoons of strawberry essence (optional)

Butter Cream Frosting

- 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature

- 6 Cups of icing sugar

- 5 Tablespoons of milk

- 3 Teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

- Pink Food colouring

Step 2: Equipment

- 1 Giant cupcake baking tin (you can get these on-line I think from Wilton)

- Regular muffin tin

- Mini muffin tin

- Whisk

- Mixing bowls

- Spoons

- Measuring cups

- A cake palete knife/ a smooth cooking tool to smooth out the icing on the cake

- A star piping tip

- Piping bag and different sized circle piping tips

- Muffin paper liners

Step 3: Make the Cake Batter

To make the cake batter you will need a kitchen mixer or a hand mixer. The bowl you will use needs to be large as you will make more tat 6 cups of batter. The first thing to do is to beat the unsalted butter (225g) in the kitchen mixer until the butter becomes light and fluffy. Then add the 2 cups of caster sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla bean paste, strawberry essence and eggs to the butter and continue beat them.

Add the baking powder to the plain flour and whisk it together to get rid of any lumps then add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat it together. Then add 1/3 of the milk and continue to beat the mixture. repeat adding 1/3 of the flour and milk mixture alternatively until all incorporated. Finally add the 4 tablespoons of oil to the mixture and stir until combined.

Step 4: Prepare the Pans

For the giant cake tin if it is NOT stick free coat the tin with butter or oil on all sides then dust with plain flour until it is completely coated.

In the base of the giant cupcake place 3 1/2 cups of the cake batter and smooth it out. Then for the top of the cupcake (swirly pyramid shape) place 2 1/2 cups of cake batter and smooth the batter on the top.

For the regular and mini cupcakes line 1 or 2 of them with muffin paper liners.

For the regular cupcakes place 1/4 cup of batter in the muffin pans. and place 1-2 teaspoons of batter in the mini cupcake pan.

Step 5: Bake the Cakes

Giant cupcake: Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius fan-forced and bake the cake for about 1 hour until you can tough the cake and insert a skewer or knife until it comes out slightly clean, Then let the cake rest for 20 minutes in the pan. Let the cake cool completely on a wire cooling rack for about an hour. While this is cooling make the butter cream frosting.

Normal cupcake: Bake the cupcake for about 16-18 minutes until golden brown and spongy to the touch.

Mini cupcake: Bake the mini cupcake for about 8-11 minutes until golden brown and spongy to the touch.

Step 6: Make the Butter Cream

Place the unsalted butter in the electric mixer and beat until it is light and fluffy. Then add 1 cup of icing sugar to the butter and beat until incorporated, then add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix, adding alternatively until all milk and icing sugar has been added. Then add 3 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste and beat it all together. You will need about 4 shades of pink, each slightly lighter than the next and white icing to finish it off.

Step 7: Form the Cake and Make the Crumb Layer of Icing

When the cake is completely cooled and the butter cream frosting is done place about a tablespoon of icing onto a plate and place the cupcake 'base' on top of it. Then put about 1-2 tablespoons on top of the base and place the 'top' of the cupcake. Then with a think layer of butter cream frosting and your palette knife (or flat edged butter knife) go around the cake creating a crumb layer of frosting. This is just a layer that covers the cake to catch the crumbs so that they don't show up on your final layer of icing. Then over the crumb layer put another coat of white icing.

To make the cake seem more like a cupcake use the knife to make upward strokes of the icing to resemble the 'crinkles' of a cupcake paper liner.

Step 8: Decorate the Top With Pink Petal Gradient

To make the darkest shade of pink icing Take about 1/2 -3/4 cups of icing and add a lot of food colouring (i added about 1/2 a teaspoon of food colouring gel which is very potent). this will make the bottom petals of the op of the cake and the pretty mini flowers at the base of the cake.

First place 3/4 of the dark icing into a piping bag with a large round tip. Then pipe a circle or oval of icing onto the cake and with your flat knife lightly scrape it away from the middle of the circle so it looks like a petal. Then place another circle on top of the streaked petal from before and continue until you go around the whole cake. Reserve the rest of the dark icing for the base of the cake.

Continue this process for each lighter shade of icing until you reach the top of the cake then top it of with a small dollop of white icing.

Remember to save some of each coloured icing as you will need it for the mini cupcakes.

Step 9: Decorate the Mini and Regular Cupcakes

Spread the white butter cream icing on top of the regular and mini cupcake. Then repeat the process in the previous step for the small cakes if you are making them but with smaller piping tip holes.

Step 10: Finish the Decorations

With the left over dark icing place it into a piping bag with a star shaped tip and place the tip about 1/2 a centimetre away from the cake base, push on the piping bag until icing comes out then pull the bag away quickly so that it resembles a small flower. Then continue this action around the base of the cake and you are done!

Then it is very important to share this with your friends I would recommend refrigerating it if it is a hot day otherwise it can stay at room temperature.

Step 11: Give the Cake to Someone You Love!!

The most important part about the finished cake is to give it or share it with your friends. Trust me it makes the cake taste so much better!!! I gave mine to my friend Flavia for her birthday. She loved the cupcake family!!!