Princess Cupcake Tower

by Nicole D
(Rockville,MD)

Pillow Cake

Cupcake

Tiara

So this is a cupcake tower with a 6 inch pillow cake on the top. The pillow cake is chocolate pound cake made using the smallest pan in the Wilton pillow pan set. You have to bake two cakes to get the full pillow shape.

After both cakes were baked, I then filled and iced them with chocolate ganache. I let it set in the fridge for 10 or 15 minutes and then covered the pillow with buttercream flavored fondant that I tinted purple with gel food color paste.

The quilting on the cake was achieved by using the stitching wheel from Wilton. I made diagonal lines going across the cake in each direction. At each point where the lines met I made an indentation using the smallest side of the Wilton ball tool.

With the Wilton veining tool I made lines around each indentation so that it would make the pillow look "cushiony".

In the indentations I added sugar pearls that I stuck on with some "gum glue" (a little gumpaste dissolved in water). The roping is 50/50 paste (half gumpaste and half fondant) that I tinted purple that I rolled out into ropes and then twisted together and adhered to the cake with gum glue.

For the tassels I put some 50/50 paste in the garlic press and then glued it at the points where the ropes met. I added a sugar pearl in the center. And that's it for the pillow.

The Tiara is made from gumpaste and needs to be made about 1-2 weeks in advance to allow adequate time for drying.

I used a coffee can wrapped in wax paper to form the tiara on. I used a little shortening on the wax paper so the gumpaste would not stick. Under the wax paper I had a tiara template that I printed from the internet.

I then rolled pieces of gumpaste into ropes and laid them on top of the can according to the template, and glued together the meeting points with gum glue.

You want to assemble the tiara while the can is lying down so the gumpaste does

not slide off. Let the tiara dry for 3-4 days in this position and then set it upright. It should start to separate from the can and at that time gently remove it from the can and allow to dry an additional 1-2 days so the back is dry. After it is all dry you can decorate as you wish.

I used Wilton food spray gold and painted the purple accents with purple pearl dust mixed with purple gel food color and vodka. Since the tiara would not be eaten I hot glued some craft jewels on it for some bling.

The cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing. For the two toned look you use a toothpick dipped in food coloring and paint it in a line on the side of your piping bag.

Fill your piping bag as usual and then pipe out frosting. You might have to do a test swirl but after that you will get two toned frosting.

The crowns on top are made from candy melts that I melted down and poured into a crown candy mold. After they set I popped them out and "glued" sugar pearls at each point, using melted candy melts as the glue.

The cake board is covered in fondant and the lettering on it is made from gumpaste.

Lastly, the stand itself I also made. I went to the dollar store and bought 2 pizza pans, 1 round serving dish, 2 drinking glasses, and 3 plastic bead necklaces(Mardi Gras beads). You will also need epoxy, glue gun with glue sticks, and spray paint.

I then hot glued the beads around the edges of the pizza pans and serving dish. After that dried I used the epoxy to glue the pizza pan to glass being sure to center the glass and repeat with the rest of the items.

Let dry overnight with heavy books on top to add weight. After the epoxy is completely set spray a coat of the paint on. Let dry completely and spray another coat. Let dry and there you have it!
You can customize this anyway you like! Have fun!