Giant Christmas Tree Cupcake

Please note: This post was written a while ago but not posted, so the yesterday I mention is not really the day before I posted this. See bottom of post for more information.

I saw a picture online of a Giant Cupcake done up as a Christmas Tree and just HAD to find a reason to make one. I also bought the red “Big Top” silicone version of the Giant Cupcake pan and need an excuse to try it out, too. Luckily yesterday was a friend’s birthday, and I decided to hit two birds with one stone. It also helped that my husband was away from the house at work and I would have plenty of time to clean up all the baking evidence. I seized the opportunity and this was the result.

I usually am able to plan ahead when I bake and therefore I bake the cake one night then decorate it the following night. This cake needed to be done all in one night and I couldn’t get it in the oven until after my daughter went to bed at around 8:00 p.m. With my daughter safely and quietly sleeping, I anxiously unboxed my new silicone “pan.” I’ve never used silicone bake ware before but was really more interested in the face that the thing was in two pieces. Wilton’s pan is just one piece and the top always cooks faster than the bottom. It annoys me terribly! This new one is in two pieces so if the top gets done first…I can simply remove it from the oven. What a novel idea! The bottom portion of the pan also has a fill line on the inside, which is helpful for those of us who hate to measure or are otherwise disinclined to figure out on their own how much to put in each side of the pan (Um, that would be me). And to make this version even better, the kit includes a nifty little top that you put on the bottom section of the pan so that when you bake the cake, there is a built in recess for a filling. How awesome is that. No scooping necessary.

So, after discovering all these new and interesting things about my new bake ware and doing a dorky little happy dance, I mixed up the cake batter. In an effort to try something new, I decided to add some mini M&Ms to the batter. I thought this would add some color to the inside of the cake…I was wrong. You couldn’t even tell that I had added anything to the chocolate cake mix. Total bummer, but the cake baked up nicely and came right out without a problem. So, I decided not to get too down about the M&M issue.

In the interest of getting to bed at a decent hour, which didn’t happen by the way, I threw the cake in the freezer to help speed up the cooling process. It ended up being in there for about 45 minutes and perhaps that was just a little too long. When I took it out the edges were really crispy. Turns out it wasn’t just due to being frozen. It was a combination of that and the fact that I was watching television when I was baking the cake and neglected to take it out of the oven on time. Dang! Oh well, I could just tell people it was the new pan’s fault, right?

Anyway, I mixed up the icing and merrily got to decorating. It went together very quickly and turned out quite nice. I kind of wish that I had used the “grass” tip instead of a leaf tip. Maybe next time. I used more mini M&Ms to decorate the “tree” and added some yellow icing on top for the star.

---LONG DELAY---

Well, I started typing up this post before Christmas, but got distracted by an unexpected event, and then work got really, really busy. It is obviously after Christmas now, but I figured I would go ahead and post. I would like to add though, that I’m glad I didn’t use the “grass” tip (233 I think) instead of the “leaf” tip. I used the grass one last night on my nephew’s birthday cake and was very annoyed (more on that subject later).

This cake inspired my cousin to use her newly purchased Giant Cupcake pan. She and her niece had a great time decorating their cake.

I can also add that this cake was a huge hit with my friend and tasted very good. I didn't even notice the crispy edges at all.