Fantasyland Pull Apart Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. Prepare the cupcakes according to the package directions. Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.
• In a clean mixer bowl, combine 1 1/2 tubs of the frosting and about 1/4 teaspoon blue food coloring. Beat until smooth and no streaks remain, adding more color if needed to make a light blue frosting.
• Dollop a tiny bit of blue frosting on the bottom of the liner of one of the cupcakes (this will help anchor it to the serving tray), then dollop a generous amount on top of the cupcake. Anchor the cupcake to a serving tray large enough to hold all 24 cupcakes. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, arranging them in a 4-by-6 cupcake grid with the edges touching.
• Using an offset spatula, smooth the blue frosting across the tops of the cupcakes, adding more as necessary, so it appears as 1 layer and the individual cupcakes are no longer visible. Smooth the remaining blue frosting on the sides to cover the cupcakes but not the liners.
• Put the remaining 1 1/2 tubs white frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe the outline of a rectangle in white (about 5 by 7 inches) closer to one short edge of the cupcake grid to make the pool. Pipe around the outline of the rectangle all the way to the edges of the cupcake grid with white, leaving the inside of the pool blue. Smooth the white frosting with an offset spatula.
• For the decorations: Arrange a row of blue candy-coated chocolates on the white frosting around the perimeter of the pool, then arrange another row of blue candy-coated chocolates around the outer perimeter of the cupcake grid. Fill in between the 2 blue rows with rows of white candy-coated chocolates to make the pool deck. Chill the cake 30 minutes to set the frosting inside the pool.
• Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the blue gelatin until dissolved. Combine a mixture of water and ice in a measuring cup to make 1/2 cup. Stir into the dissolved gelatin until the ice melts. Chill the gelatin mixture while the cake chills. After 30 minutes, pour the gelatin into the pool. Chill until completely set, about 2 hours.
• Cut 2 strips of sour candy belt, each slightly larger than a graham bear, to make beach towels. Lay 1 bear on each towel and arrange them to relax by the pool. Add a drink umbrella over each to shade them from the sun.
• Cut the candy necklaces open where they tie to make 2 long strips. Cut 2 strips the same size as the length of the pool and arrange them over the gelatin for lanes. Gently pull out and discard the strings, keeping the candies in straight lines. Arrange 3 bears around a jawbreaker in the pool to play a game of volleyball. Stick a bear in each gummy ring candy for floaties and add to the pool.
• Cut the chocolate chew into 4 pieces crosswise to make legs for the diving board. Cut a 1 1/2-inch piece from the white taffy and attach it to the legs to make a diving board. Set at the deep end of the pool and press a bear at the end, ready to dive in.
• Cut the green taffy into a rectangle a little larger than a bear. With the back of a paring knife, score lines in the taffy to resemble the puffy parts of a blow-up raft. Stick a bear on the raft and add him to the pool. Stick the remaining bears in the pool to hang out.

Steps:

• Place 1/2 cup of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip for white piping.
• Divide the remaining buttercream into 2 large bowls and remove 1/3 cup of buttercream from each large bowl and place in 2 smaller bowls. Stir 3 to 5 drops of yellow food coloring into one of the small bowls, and 3 to 5 drops of orange food coloring into the other small bowl, adding more coloring to each if needed to make the colors vibrant. Transfer the yellow and orange buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a fluted tip so that the colors are side-by-side in the bag. Refrigerate.
• Stir in 5 to 7 drops of green food coloring into one of the large bowls of buttercream, stirring and adding additional color if needed so the buttercream is grass green. Transfer the green buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a grass tip.
• Add 8 drops of red, 4 drops of brown and 4 drops of orange food coloring to the remaining large bowl of buttercream, stirring and adding additional color if needed so you have a shade of rusty brown. Transfer the brown buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large flat tip (you can also use a large round tip).
• In the center of a large platter, arrange 6 cupcakes in 2 lines, making a rectangle. Place a cupcake on either end of the rectangle, so that it nestles in between the two lines. Arrange 14 cupcakes around the outside of the original 8 to create an oval. Place the remaining cupcake at the bottom left corner of the oval.
• Pipe the brown buttercream over the 14 cupcakes creating the oval plus the additional cupcake on the edge, creating the track (an oval with a square tail). Use a small offset to smooth the track and make it roughly 2 1/2 inches wide all the way around.
• Pipe the green buttercream in the center of the track so that it looks like grass. Place the platter of cupcakes in the refrigerator while making the hurdles and medalists.
• To make hurdles, use kitchen shears to cut each piece of gum in half lengthwise, and then again widthwise, so that you have 12 tiny strips of gum. Pull apart the strings of the pull-apart red licorice and cut twenty-four 1-inch pieces. Melt the white chocolate chips in 10-second intervals in the microwave, stirring between intervals, until smooth and melted. Dip one end of a piece of licorice string into the white chocolate and place on one end of a gum piece. Repeat with a second licorice string on the other end of the gum piece. Repeat this with the remaining 11 pieces of gum. Set the hurdles aside for the white chocolate to set, about 10 minutes.
• To make the medalists, pipe a V around the neck of 3 graham-cracker bears with the white buttercream. Use kitchen shears or a paring knife to cut 1/3 off the end of the gold, silver and bronze jelly beans. Dip the cut sides of the shorter piece of the jelly beans in the melted white chocolate and press them into the center of the V of each graham-cracker bear to make a medal. Set aside.
• Remove the cupcake platter from the refrigerator and carefully pipe a white border along the edges of the track, completing the outer oval as well as outlining the square. Pipe two lines down the center of the track and square, creating 3 lanes. Pipe starting lines and markers along the track.
• To make the podium, cut a quarter off of one marshmallow and cut another marshmallow in half. Place a whole marshmallow in the center of the piped field, place the slighter shorter marshmallow directly to the left, and the shortest marshmallow to the right. Hold the bear with the gold medal on the tallest marshmallow so it is standing upright and pipe a small mound of white buttercream behind the bear to keep it standing. Repeat with the bear with the silver medal to the left, and the bear with the bronze medal to the right.
• Gently place the hurdles staggered along the track in the individual lanes. Set the remaining 3 bears as runners along different spots on the track.
• To make the torch, stuff the sugar cone with the remaining half and quarter marshmallows. Gently push the cone into a corner of the field so that it stays upright. Pipe upright flames with the orange and yellow buttercream, covering the entire top of the cone.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 12-cup standard cupcake pans with paper liners.
• Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
• Combine sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
• Mix 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Mix in 1/2 of the coffee and 1/2 of the sour cream until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture alternately with remaining sour cream and coffee. Do not overmix. Fill the prepared cupcake cups evenly with batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until they spring back lightly when touched, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Core cooled cupcakes using a knife or cupcake corer, cutting about halfway down. Save cupcake centers for another use (such as for making a batch of cake balls).
• Prepare ganache. Add white chocolate chips and heavy cream to a large, microwave-safe bowl. Heat at 50% power until chocolate is melted and smooth, in 30-second intervals, stirring after each. Mix in crushed candies and peppermint extract until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Place ganache in a piping bag or resealable plastic bag with a corner cut off. Fill each cupcake to the top with ganache. Allow them to sit until ganache firms up and doesn't "smudge" when pressed lightly with fingertips, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Prepare frosting. Cream butter until smooth in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in 1 cup powdered sugar at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt. Add heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. If frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream--or if it is too thin, add more powdered sugar until frosting is a spreadable consistency that still holds its shape.
• Place a small amount of frosting in a separate bowl and add yellow food coloring for the ear muffs. Divide remaining frosting in half. To 1/2 of the divided frosting, add cocoa powder and red food coloring to achieve an auburn color. Divide remaining white frosting in half again. Color 1/2 peach using a very light amount of red and yellow food coloring. Color remaining frosting red. Put each into a piping bag fitted with a coupler.
• Arrange cupcakes on a large cake board or serving platter, starting from the top. Begin with 1 cupcake at the top. Follow with a row of 2 cupcakes, making sure they stay as close as possible. (If cupcakes slide around, affix a small amount of frosting to the bottom of them so they stick to the serving platter or cake board.) Follow with a row of 3 cupcakes, then a row of 5 cupcakes, a row of 4 cupcakes, another row of 5 cupcakes, and finally a last row of 4 cupcakes. Make sure the cupcakes are as close to one another as possible. If there are any large gaps, you can use large marshmallows, trimmed to fit, in order to fill them in and make a flatter, more cohesive surface to frost.
• Beginning with the top 6 cupcakes (the rows with 1 cupcake, 2 cupcakes, and 3 cupcakes in them), frost the hat portion of the cake using the red frosting and large round tip. Smooth center portion using an offset spatula, if desired. Use the peach frosting to frost the center 3 cupcakes in the row of 5 below the hat, leaving a cupcake on each side unfrosted for the ear muffs. Smooth with an offset spatula. Affix 2 dark chocolate chips upside-down for the eyes in the center of the peach frosting.
• Pipe the nose below the eyes, and then the lower lip below the nose using the peach frosting. Frost the cupcakes on each side of the face with the yellow frosting for the ear muffs. To frost the beard, use the auburn colored frosting and cover the remaining unfrosted cupcakes (that contain a row of 4, a row of 5, and final row of 4 cupcakes) with a thin layer of the auburn frosting. Smooth frosting all over the "beard-portion" of the cupcakes until mostly smooth and flat. Place a star tip on the auburn frosting piping bag, and pipe dots of frosting along the side of the face, then pipe the mustache between the nose and lip, and add some swirls on top of the beard, if desired.
• Allow cupcake cake to sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature (or place in the fridge) to allow frosting to crust. Serve.

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins with cupcake liners. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the butter, granulated sugar, sour cream, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 21 to 23 minutes, rotating the pans once about halfway through baking. Cool the cupcakes in the pans for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the frosting: Beat the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and salt using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes more.
• For the assembly and decorating: Put 1 cup of frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and set aside. Put the jimmies in a shallow bowl. Frost a cupcake, using about 2 tablespoons of the remaining frosting per cupcake, and then gently dipping the top into the jimmies, turning the cupcake until the top is coated. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving plate or cutting board. Fit a marshmallow between each cupcake, 5 marshmallows per row, to fill in the gaps between the cupcakes in the rows. Using the frosting in the piping bag, pipe thick cross shapes between where the cupcakes meet one another and over the marshmallows so there are no visible gaps between the cupcakes. Coat with sprinkles.
• To make goal posts for the cupcake "field," microwave the chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl until just melted, 30 to 45 seconds. Keep 2 cookie sticks whole for the bases of the posts. Cut off and discard (or eat!) the bottom third of the remaining cookie sticks. Dip the top of one of the longest cookie sticks into the melted chocolate and adhere it to the middle of one of the cut cookie sticks so that they form a capital T shape. Next, dip the cut ends of two short sticks into chocolate and adhere them to either side of the cross on the T. Lay the goal post on a flat surface and repeat with the remaining 4 cookie sticks to make the second goal. Allow goals to fully harden, 15 to 20 minutes, or place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
• Using the decorators' icing, pipe 10 lines across the cupcake field to represent yard lines. Pipe out the number 50 in the middle for the 50-yard line. Heat the Tootsie Rolls in the microwave on high in 5-second intervals until they are soft and pliable. Mash them together and form into a football. Use the icing to pipe the lacing on the football; use a toothpick if necessary to help define the lacing. Place the football on the field. Place the gummy candies on the field to represent players and then stick the goal posts into cupcakes at each end of the field.

Steps:

• On a 13-by-11-inch cake board or serving platter, arrange the cupcakes into milestone birthday numbers (or the initials of the person you're celebrating!). Plan to have about two dozen cupcakes on hand to work with and 6 to 8 cups frosting. (The cupcakes that are not used for the pull-apart cake can be frosted and served on the side.) Place approximately 1/4 cup frosting on top of each cupcake using two spoons. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting into an even layer across the cupcakes. Transfer 2 cups of the frosting to a disposable pastry bag or resealable plastic bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe stars of buttercream onto the surface of the frosted cake. Decorate with candy pieces and fresh edible flowers.