Why opt for one big cake when you can have lots of little cakes?! Cupcakes are no longer just a great snack option for the kids. These days the cakes also referred to as baby cakes, patty cakes, angel cakes and fairy cakes are pioneering their own brand of cake couture. There are plenty of unique ways to present and decorate cupcakes when it comes time to impress for a special occasion.
Here are a few of our favorites:
Burger Cupcakes
Decorated to look just like a hamburger, these cupcakes are put together using un-iced vanilla cupcakes lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds for the buns, a chocolate cupcake layer for the meat, yellow fondant for the cheese and slather of red icing for the sauce.
Statement Cupcakes
Ask her to marry you in fondant. Spell out his name or age in fluffy sponge. Cupcakes are commonly used to make a statement or sell a product and each tiny cake can be decorated with a letter, number or picture to fit the overall statement.
Themed Cupcakes
Use fondant to ice your cupcakes as characters like the Cookie Monster, Batman and Garfield or to fit the theme of your special occasion.
Cupcake Shapes
Use your cupcakes to build a shape like a caterpillar, alligator, snake or choo choo train.
Cupcake Tree
Tier your cupcakes into a tree shape for an impressive edible monument. You can use cake pillars and a combination of larger cake tiers to complete your desired shape and size.
Holiday Cupcakes
Decorate your cupcakes depending on the holiday. Red and green for Christmas, black cats and pumpkins for Halloween, turkey designs for Thanksgiving and stars and stripes for Independence Day.
The sky is the limit when it comes to designing cupcake creations for your next special occasion.
Just remember, some quick cupcake tricks:
- Fill your cupcake wells no more than 1/2 full before baking.
- Spray your cupcake pan with non-stick oil first.
- Mix your cupcake batter only lightly to avoid chewy cupcakes.
- Use ingredients at room temperature only!
- Use a toothpick to ensure the center of your cooking cakes are done.
- Use a piping bag when icing.
- If you need a spatula, make sure its flimsy rubber only.
Cupcake Decoration Video
Cupcake decorating can be fun but sometimes we find ourselves doing the same cupcake decors over and over again. Especially when decorating cupcakes for children, our designs should exude fun, pizazz and creativity. Cupcakes are made to be admired and of course, eaten. Therefore it is best to decorate cupcake with decors that are not only appealing to the eyes but to the taste buds as well.
Most people use different flavored frosting such as chocolate, cream cheese, buttercream, meringue and even cotton candy. But to some people creating this kind of frosting flavors can be tiresome and stressful. The most basic frosting, vanilla flavored, is the most versatile and easy to use when decorating cupcakes. One doesn’t even need to use professional pastry bags and decorating tips to decorate cupcakes. Just simple vanilla frosting, basic food color and resealable freezer bags with imagination, your cupcakes will surely be a hit with kids and adults, too.
Here are some simple yet drool worthy cupcake decorating ideas using those basic materials mentioned above:
• Vanilla frosting can be made into any different color you would prefer. Use a few drops of basic food color and mix it in the vanilla frosting. I personally use McCormick food coloring.
• Freezer resealable bags can be used as pastry bags. They are very effective and cheap. To use, invert the resealable bag in your hand, make a cup-like space and put in a dollop of your tinted vanilla frosting. Afterwards, bring up the sides of the bag and close it while making sure to seal it properly and press out all the air. If you want to make thin lines with your makeshift pastry bag, snip a tiny piece, probably an 8th of an inch off the corner of the bag. To make fatter lines, snip a quarter inch or so off the bag. With this done, you can make crisscross, vertical, horizontal lines, dots and just about any shape using your pastry bag.
• Have you always wanted to do a star burst effect or spider web decoration? Here’s how – Take two different color of vanilla frosting and pipe a spiral unto the top of a cupcake. Take another color of frosting and do the same spiral but on the inside of the first spiral. When that is done, take a toothpick and drag it gently from the center to the outer edge of the cupcake. This blends the two different color frostings making a beautiful spider web or star burst effect.
• Creating a marbleized effect with your frosting is easy. Take a dark and light tinted frosting as well as a plain white frosting. Combine all three frostings and mix them in but not entirely. You want to retain that marbleized look.
• Cupcake decorating is fun and easy because you can also use other toppings for decorations such as M&Ms, gumdrops, peanuts, sugar or coconut. To make colored sugar or coconut, simple put them in a resealable bag, add a few drops of food coloring and shake it vigorously until the sugar or coconut is fully covered in color.