How to Make a Birthday Cake Out of Cupcakes

Cupcakes help add dimension to a birthday cake, and they will feed more people than a traditional cake. A cupcake birthday cake requires careful planning and attention to detail, because you will essentially stack the cupcakes on a cake using butter cream icing. You can customize a birthday cake made from cupcakes by using your preferred icing colors, sprinkles and embellishments.

Things You'll Need

• 2 boxes cake mix
• 1 box cupcake mix
• 2 round cake pans
• Cupcake tins
• Cake board
• 3 pints buttercream icing
• Spatula
• Marshmallow flavoring
• 4 bowls
• Food coloring
• 4 sandwich bags
• Scissors
• Round piping tip

Instructions

1. Make two round cakes by following the directions on the back of the cake boxes. When you purchase the cake boxes, make sure you buy all the ingredients listed on the back.

2. Follow the directions on the back of the cupcake box to make the cupcakes. Make as many cupcakes as you desire if you want extra cupcakes for the party.

3. Allow the cupcakes and cakes to cool completely.

4. Place one of the round cakes on a cake board. If you do not want the cake to shift, apply a thin layer of buttercream frosting to the bottom of the round cake to adhere it to the cake board.

5. Apply ½ cup of buttercream icing to the top of the round cake. Use a spatula to make the icing smooth. Then place the other round cake on top.

6. Cover the sides and top of the second round cake with the rest of the buttercream.

7. Place the cakes in the refrigerator to chill for 1 to 2 hours.

8. Divide the remaining 2 pints of buttercream icing into four bowls. Add 1 ½ tsp. of marshmallow flavoring to each of the bowls, and then add your preferred food colorings. Stir each of the bowls to mix in the food coloring and marshmallow flavoring.

9. Spoon the buttercream icing into separate sandwich bags. Place ½ cup of each color into its own bag, and then cut the corner of each bag. Place a round piping tip onto the corner of each sandwich bag.

10. Remove the layer cake from the refrigerator. Use the sandwich bags to pipe out different sizes and colors of dots onto the layer cake. Cover the layer cake with dots.

11. Use the rest of the icing to frost the cupcakes with different colors. Once you finish frosting the cupcakes, stack them in a pyramid on top of the cake. The pyramid needs to have three levels. For best results, place 7 cupcakes on the bottom, 3 cupcakes in the middle and 1 cupcake on top. You can alter the design on the pyramid to suit the cake. Place any remaining cupcakes on the cake board around the layer cake. You can stack these or simply place them on the board in a single layer.

References

• Food Network: Cupcake Layer Cake Recipe
• Webshots: Home and Garden: Cupcakes