OK peeps, let’s make some adorable mini cakes!
I made a whole bunch of these cuties for a Pop-Up Holiday Sweet Shoppe I had right before Christmas and they were a huge hit! Well duh! Who wouldn’t LOVE to get one of these beautiful little mini cakes piled high with sweet goodies as a gift? AMIRIGHT?
So I though I would show you some of the tips and tricks I used to make these lovelies quick and easy. Sound good?
OOOHHH-LA-LA!!
So let’s start out with
TIP #1
I use a KINGSIZE MUFFIN PAN made by Wilton to bake my cakes. The reason I love this pan is I can bake the whole cake in one piece and then treat it as a giant filled cupcake. So NO torting, leveling, damming to keep filling in or crumb coating. You get to skip all those steps! Plus you can bake 6 at once, that’s a double WIN. Sweet!
Ok that brings us to
Tip #2
I want my mini cakes to be nice and tall. The pan is pretty tall but not quite as tall as I would like my cakes to be. So I line the cups with a ring of parchment paper that sticks up a few extra inches so the cakes can be extra tall. Like so!
Then you want to fill the cups almost to the top of the pan which is about 2/3 of the overall height of pan plus parchment. You will get some nice tall cakes that are 4.5 to 5 inches tall, Yay!
It’s time for
TIP #3
This cupcake corer is the bomb! Why? Because it has a large diameter so you get a TON of room for delicious filling. Oh yea baby!
See that last photo? I like to cut the end off of the core I took out and plug the hole with it. I usually don’t do this step if the filling is a buttercream. That way you get just a little more of the delicious filling. But if the filling is something more liquid-y like a fruit compote or curd I put the plug in so the filling doesn’t leak out.
How about another tip?
TIP #4
When filling a piping bag, fold over the top few inches then put the piping bag down into a cup or jar. Fold the top edge over the outside of the cup to hold it in place. The cup holds open the piping bag for you and you have two hands to fill your bag. Easy Peasy!
For the frosting I pipe on a closed spiral of buttercream then smooth it (or leave a texture or pattern if you like). Then pop it in the fridge for an hour to get nice and firm. I have an AMAZING fresh strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream recipe that would be divine topped with chocolate dipped strawberries and other pretty berries (ooohh now I need to make more mini cakes so I can do that!)
Now you want some delicious ganache drip!! Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate or even some yummy caramel sauce (check out my recipe for Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce). It’s not easy to get a pretty looking and even drip on your cake. But I have a tip, of course!
TIP #5
Use squeeze bottles for your ganache. You have so much more control as opposed to trying to pour the ganache out of a bowl or spooning it on. When I started using the squeeze bottles my drips were FINALLY as pretty and clean as I wanted them to be! Plus you can just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds if the ganache is cooling and getting too thick.
Now, don’t forget the awesome assortment of little sweet treats to top it off! I LOVE making mini macarons, mini cream puffs and pretty meringue swirls. And my favorite candies are assorted Ferrero bonbons, assorted Lindor Truffles and assorted Ghiradelli Square chocolates. Also think about using some chocolate pearls or other types of sprinkles. Different sizes, shapes and textures of toppings and treats make for a very visually impressive cake!
And voila’ ! Adorably delicious Mini Cakes!
Now wouldn’t YOU love to get one of these as a gift? Heck Ya!
Have A Sweet Day!
How did you get the packaging you used? So cute and what do you think is a good price?
Hi Shannon, thank you! I got the pretty clear boxes from PaperMart.com. I charge $18 per mini cake, you should determine your pricing by cost and labor involved. So glad you are enjoying the blog, thank you for joining me!
Oh I just love these! I was wondering about the boxes as well, thanks for the info on those.
You’re welcome Angela!
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Shani, could you tell me the size of the clear boxes you use? You’re mini cakes are adorable! Thanks.
HI Ginny, thank you! The boxes I used are 5″x5″x7″. Unfortunately the company I got them from has discontinued them, boo! So I am currently looking for an alternative. If I find one I will let you know where to get them 🙂
Oh darn ? Yeah, let me know if you find an alternate. Thank you Shani.