My good friend Cassie’s daughter and I have a very special relationship….we love each other.  I have know Laurel, or Lola as she’s affectionately known, since she was in the womb and since it was her 5th birthday on Sunday, I decided that I would make her a giant cupcake.  That, and I was dying to use my new giant cupcake pan that I bought 3 days ago 😉

Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan

The pan comes with directions on how to use it properly, and I’m sure if you read them correctly, you will be fine.  I read them wrong!  The pan takes a full cake mix + a couple of extra cups of batter, not the opposite.  Yes, I took out cake batter from the mix….duh.  When I looked at the partially filled pan, I figured, “Well, they must know what they’re talking about.  Maybe it rises extra high in a pan like this.”  Uhh, no, read the instructions properly dufus.   Anyway, I still was able to make it work…just slightly less than giant….lets go with jumbo!

So step one is to follow the instructions properly.  Then, use a sharp bread knife, or other sharp cutting tool to level off the cake top and bottom.  This il give you a flat surface to join them together.

You want to work with the bottom of the cupcake first.  Ice the top with your favourite buttercream frosting.  Check the bottom of this post for the Buttercream Icing recipe.

Then decorate the bottom as you want….I had also just bought a bunch of new tips, so I was experimenting with number 22 and number 18.

When you have completed the bottom,  put the top on!  Just thought I should put that step in, in case you thought you were finished at this point.

For this shade of purple (lilac) I use a small amount of Wilton Gel Colouring in Purple.  Pretty, hey?

Tip No. 22 along the bottom

Tip No. 18 for the sides and rosettes

Tip No. 18 for the sides and rosettes

Mmmmm sprinkles....remind me of the Birthday Cake Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Shoppe at the Superstore...anyway....

Cake and Icing Sandwich

Lola with her cupcake

Lola and I

Final step…make a delicious leftovers sandwich.  These leftovers just happen to be cake and icing….mmmm. Delish.  Remember that spin to sin motto!

The excitement on Lola’s face when she opened the door to see a cupcake bigger than her head was great!  Was it the cupcake, or the box of candy that I also brought????  Whichever it was, her grin really brought a smile to my face after a long day…sob, sniff, whine….Thanks for the dinner Cassie and family, and of course, thanks Lola for having a birthday and allowing me an excuse to bake! Love you guys.

Buttercream Icing Recipe

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk