How to Make a Giant Cupcake Cake

You have our giant cupcake cake pan but aren’t sure how to use it? Let us walk you through some easy steps and tips that will help you make anything from an adorable first-birthday smash cake to a quirky anniversary cake using just this one pan.  Read through our instructions below (or if you’re more the visual type, watch the video at the end) and get ready for a giant success.

1. Getting Started

A little prep work will take you a long way. Make sure you pick a heavy, dense cake batter that will help your cake keep its shape and support the top part after assembly. We like to use pound cake, but if you’re in a hurry, here’s a little cake mix hack to get you there faster.

Want to add color? Consider tinting your batter or using sprinkles or confetti to liven things up. Lastly, keep some aluminum foil on standby, you might need it (more on this later).

2. Preparing and Filling the Pan

Use Wilton Cake Release^TM Pan Coating, Bake Easy! Non-Stick Spray, pan spray, butter or shortening and flour to prep your pan, making sure you get every nook and cranny. You’ll need 6 cups total of batter: 2½ cups for the top part of the cupcake and 3½ cups for the bottom. It might look like there’s room for more, but resist filling them to the top— you want some room left for the batter to rise.

3. Baking & Cooling

Bake at 325 °F for approximately 1 hour. Check it halfway through at 30 minutes. If the top “swirl” part of your giant cupcake seems to be baking faster than the bottom, break out your foil and an oven mitt (safety first!) and make a little tent over it with foil to slow it down. Once it’s done, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before you unmold it, then pop it on a cooling grid until it’s completely cooled.

4. Putting it All Together

Now that your cake is completely cooled, pop out the bottom section onto a cake board or cake platter of your choice, level it with a serrated knife and spread frosting on it so that the top sticks to it.

Here’s a tip: After you unmold the top, pop it back in the mold and level it using the edge of the pan as a guide. This will keep the edge straight. Unmold, and place it carefully on the frosting-covered bottom. Take a moment to admire your creation.

That’s it! You can leave the bottom as-is, spatula frost the top of the cake and cover with sprinkles or berries, experiment with candy for a piñata cake or get some inspiration from our Blooming Cupcake, Cool Blooms or cupcake-embellished Giant Cupcake cakes.

After you give your giant cupcake cake a try, let us know how you did by taking a photo and tagging us on Instagram @WiltonCakes with the hashtag #GiantCupcakeCake . Hope your success is as big (or bigger) than this amazing treat!