One Cute Cupcake From Nordic Ware
I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes, but I am a huge fan of Nordic Ware baking pans. Hence, when I was offered the Nordic Ware Cute Cupcake Cake Pan as a sample from my editor at Al Dente, I was happy to take it home and put it to the test. The pan consists of two cake halves, which form one giant cupcake when stacked together.
My husband recently had a birthday, so I decided to make a cupcake cake for the celebration. I enlisted my teenage daughter who thought the pan was ultra cool. Even before we started working with the pan, she said she wanted to use it to make birthday cupcakes for her friends.
My daughter wanted to use a boxed cake, which is not something we usually use. Hence, I bought a basic cake mix and my daughter mixed it up. We sprayed the pan with Baking Pam and preheated the oven. Unfortunately, the cake overflowed in the oven, because I didn't have the sense to read the front of the label where it clearly states that two large cupcakes can be made from one standard 12-cup cake mix! Duh! I know better. Haste definitely made a little waste.
Nonetheless, the cupcake released beautifully from the pan and when we were ready to frost it, I simply trimmed the cupcake accordingly. To "glue" the two cupcake halves together, I smeared a little homemade frosting on the base, but my cupcake was a little too top heavy in the end. To remedy the situation, I grabbed a kebab skewer and used that to secure the two halves by poking it straight through the top. In the end, we loved our Cute Cupcake even though it was a bit unstable and wonky to say the least!
For those who buy the pan and want to make the cake from scratch, rest assured that there is a Vanilla Cupcake recipe included on the back of the label! I'm quite certain you won't need a kebab skewer with that recipe!
Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer
--Melissa A. Trainer
Beth Miller on September 01, 2010 at 06:42 AM
Interesting to know what size these cupcakes really are. One large cupcake= 1 layer if using regular round or square baking wear and basic boxed mixes. I use the mixes but can never get them divided evenly hence my use of my single Bundt pan. so if you want to use all your mix you still need to use another pan, which would mean different cooking times....
Melissa Trainer on September 01, 2010 at 07:12 AM
Beth,
I think the best way to approach using a box cake mix is to plan on baking two rounds of the cute cupcake, obviously cleaning and regreasing the pan between baking sessions.
Missy
HopeSew on September 02, 2010 at 09:07 PM
Beth Miller, do you think weighing the batter would help you divide it more evenly? You could either weigh each pan as you fill, or you could weigh your empty mixing bowl then your filled bowl and pour out accordingly. Of course, you'd need a kitchen scale that could handle the capacity, but it's a good investment that makes food prep easier.
The giant cupcake is a cute presentation. You could even disguise the skewer as a candle if you have to use one. How do you serve the cake though? Make slices like a normal round cake?
Melissa Trainer on September 03, 2010 at 05:45 AM
HopeSew,
Great question on how to serve the giant cupcake. I didn't really figure that one out. I tried to cut the wedges but that wasn't the best way. Another option might be to just slice through the whole cupcake and serve thin slices...
Missy Trainer
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