Giant Cupcake Cake!

As I've hinted in my earlier post, almost immediately after my first order, I received my second order, for a dear friend Ee Wen's birthday. She's a friend I've known since kindergarten. That's a long friendship that's hard to beat! I was thrilled! For a friend, anything!

We brainstormed and she indicated she'd like a giant cupcake cake. I was intrigued. The first and only time I've seen a giant cupcake cake was in Sydney last October, at the Cupcake Bakery on Pitt Street. They were huge and were sold at AUD 40 each.

The large cupcakes were impressive, but as I've observed, quite tricky to decorate to create a classy look which maintains the 'cute' look that a cupcake should have.

We sat down and brainstormed one more day, and dropped by the cake supply shop for equipment to create the perfect giant cupcake cake. In addition, Ee Wen wanted regular sized cupcakes surrounding the giant cupcake. She knew exactly what she wanted. Cupcake with a large sunflower on top. The cake itself is to be her favourite cake, carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting.

So a challenge is borne. I did a test bake of the cake with the new giant cupcake tin and the carrot cake recipe that Ee Wen requested, and it turned out great. She wanted mini oreos on the top of the cupcakes to serve as the sunflower's "centre". No mini oreos were found so I replaced with mini Chipsmore biscuits instead.

It's always good when a customer / friend knows exactly what they wanted, it's less hassle for me to figure everything myself. But also it brings the difficult challenge of whether I can recreate the idea in her head into a real 3-D cake, hoping it turns as she's imagined. It's definitely more challenging than I imagined.

After one day of baking, rolling fondant, colouring, shaping the fondant, piping, icing and washing up, the final product was completed, in time for the dinner yesterday night.


The ensemble! The candles had sparklers in them which intermittently gave mini fireworks. She chose a candle in the number "30" as well, to symbolize the special milestone. All in all, she was happy with the cake, and even said it looked like a toy!

A waitress from the restaurant even came up to me to ask whether I made it or bought it because she wanted to buy it. ;)

The guests enjoyed it, though I found it a tiny bit too sweet (even though I reduced the sugar) and the birthday girl said it the cream was a bit too sour. I made mental notes to tweak the recipe to improve it in future.

The restaurant was Las Carretas @ Taipan USJ. It's a Mexican restaurant, with a beautiful mural painted on one side of the wall.


The food was pretty good and healthy! Clockwise from left, Fajitas, Tortilla, part of the mural and Burrito. Basically many variations of rolled cornflour pancake with different fillings.

So this time I'm feeling more confident, steady and calm. I went about the task of baking, decorating, boxing and transporting the giant and regular cupcakes without breaking a sweat. I'm finally getting the hang of this! And may I add, it is infinitely more rewarding than completing a 15 hour day at work, or finishing a good piece of legal submission.

The lovely carrot cake recipe is below, adapted from Australian Women's Weekly. A classic recipe that is timeless and an all time favourite.

Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
185 g butter
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
3 eggs
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cup grated carrots

Cream cheese:
60g cream cheese
30g butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp orange rind

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time.
3. Mixed in chopped walnuts and carrot.
4. Sift in the flour and mixed spice.
5. Add to mould / cupcake liners and bake at 170 C until skewer comes out clean.

Frosting:
1. Cream butter, icing sugar and butter until combined.
2. Add orange rind and mix well.